Learning About Ancient Rome: Activities And Resources For Elementary Students

We've been studying various ancient civilizations this year. So far we've covered Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome and have plans for China and the Aztecs. We had an especially fun time with Rome so I thought I would share some of the activities we did and resources we used.

Activities:

Laurel Wreath Crowns
The ancient Romans wore crowns made of Laurel leaves as a sign of status. We made our own Laurel wreath crowns out of a paper plate and construction paper.

For this activity you will need:

-Construction paper in two different shades of green. If you don't have more than one shade of green, you can use green and yellow like we did.

-A paper plate

-Scissors

-School glue or paste

Start by cutting the edge off the plate. Discard the inner part, the edge is the part you will be using. Cut a slit in one side of the paper plate so it will better fit your head.

Look at a few pictures of Laurel leaves online (Google Images works well for this). Then draw lots of Laurel leaves onto your various colors of construction paper and cut them out.

Start gluing them onto your paper plate rim starting at one side of the slit and working your way towards the center. Then start at the other side and work towards the center again.

Once it's dry, your Laurel wreath crown is ready to wear.

Try pairing it with a homemade toga, they are pretty simple to make with an old white sheet or table cloth. All you have to do is wrap your sheet or table cloth around your body under your arms and tie two edges up over one shoulder. Add a rope around your waist and now you have a toga!

Prepare A Roman Meal
Try eating like a Roman! For our simple meal we had cheese, green olives, and ancient Roman style bread. Here's the bread recipe we tried:
Roman Spelt Slipper Bread

Other popular ancient Roman foods you could try are:
-Dates
-Fish
-Broad Beans
-Cucumbers
-Radishes
-Wheat Pancakes with honey

Ancient Roman Mosaics
Spend some time looking at ancient Roman mosaics. A quick Google Image search will give you lots. Then try making some mosaics of your own out of construction paper! For this activity you will need:

-Several colors of construction paper

-A pen

-Paste

Start by drawing a simple design or picture on a piece of black construction paper.

Choose several colors of construction paper for your mosaic and rip them up into tiny pieces.

Using your paste, glue the colored pieces of construction paper onto the design you drew to make a picture.

Additional Resources:

Learn About Ancient Roman Mythology:

-Ancient Rome- Gods and Mythology from Ducksters

-Roman Mythology from History For Kids

Learn About Ancient Roman Architecture:

-Ancient Rome- Engineering and Construction from Ducksters

-Ancient Roman Architecture from History For Kids

-Roman Aquaduct and Road STEM Activity from Lueker Munchkins- School and Play

Miscellaneous Information About Ancient Rome:

-Ancient Rome For Kids from Ducksters

-Roman Numerals For Kids Video from Homeschool Pop

-Kids Math- Roman Numerals from Ducksters

If you enjoyed this post, check out:

-Activities And Resources For Learning About Ancient Egypt

-Learning About The California Gold Rush

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