The purpose of this activity is to give you a sampling of the daily lives of the colonists who lived in the 13 original colonies. The websites have been carefully chosen to interest you and the questions challenge you to make a personal commitment to what you like, believe, or feel. Good luck and have fun learning about the lives of the colonists in the 13 colonies!

The following links come from all over the Internet and represent a variety of viewpoints. You may answer the questions independently or by working with a partner.

Sites to Explore

Social Studies for Kids: The 13 American Colonies Questions:

1. Name the first permanent settlement in North America. When was it settled and what cash crop helped it be successful?
2. Describe the characteristics of the colonies by filling in the table.
3. Define Intolerable Acts. Choose one that you found unfair and support your reasons with examples.

1. Compare and contrast the homes of colonial families to your home today.
2. Describe the methods of transportation the colonists used. Which do you feel was the most important?
3. Compose five creative questions you would ask the Delaware Indians based if you were to interview them.

1. List the crops that Samuel Daggett grew on his farm for his family's income.
2. Each family member played an important role in producing food, clothing and household goods for the family.Summarize the roles Anna Daggert and her children had in Colonial America.
3. Describe the methods of communication the Daggert family used to learn about what was going on in their community and in the world.

1. Discriminate the differences between a boy's and a girl's educational experience.
2. Compare how your school day is different than that of a colonial student.
3. Identify the methods of punishment the teachers used for misbehavior.

1. When we play games we usually play them for fun.During the colonial time period the games were played for fun, but served other purposes as well. What other purposes did the games teach the children?
2. Where did colonial children get their games? Who did colonial children play with? Where did they play?
3. Recall a game that you like to play from the list given. Describe how the game is the same today or how it has changed. Predict how a child from the colonial times would feel if they were to play a game we play today. What game would you teach them?

1. Categorize the 13 colonies according to what region they are located.
2. Choose a colony to read about that you would have liked to have visited. Who founded it? Why was it founded? Paraphrase a few facts about its history as a colony.
3. Write a slogan persuading a colonist to come to the colony you chose above.

Conclusion

While exploring this sampler on the lives of the colonists, we hope you had fun, learned, and most importantly connected with some part of this topic. If you did not, please go back and explore some other links and look deeper inside yourself. Be prepared to explain how you feel more interested in or connected to the topic now than before you tried this sampler.