Cuneiform Cookies - Living history lessons

Honestly growing up I hated history.  It was boring and about people who were dead.  I hated remembering dates and names.  Well as I got older I started getting more and more interested and was sad that I did not pay more attention when I was younger.  One of my goals as a home school mother is to encourage my children to love history and want to know more about it.  

This year we are learning about Ancient History and beginning American History.   The main curriculum I am using is Story of the World the Ancients.  I have the book, audio CD's and activity guide.  Most of the time the kids listen to the CD's in the car.  When we complete a lesson I have them review the lesson of the week.  Usually they listen to the CD again with a map and color page in front of them.  They circle things on the map that they hear and write down key information (dates and key people).  I normally read along in the book as we listen and pause the CD from time to time to ask questions.

 After we listen to the information we sit down to do an activity together.  I try to pick activities that allow the kids to get a glimpse of what life was like long ago.  So last week we learned about the first writings.  Last year we created cave drawings and the kids loved that.  This time we created Cuneiform with knifes on cookie dough.  I was going to let them use sticks but they wanted to eat the cookies when we were done. 

  

We took refrigerated cookie dough and I cut it into four balls.  The kids then each rolled them out on wax paper (make sure you put flour down so it does not stick).  After the kids rolled it out I helped them shape it into a rectangle so that we would have a "page of clay" to write on. 

Each child then took the knife and started putting the symbols that spell their name in the clay.  Mommy had to help Abigail some by putting her stick where it needed to be.  Then Abigail would push it down.  Even at 3 she had a great time and seemed to understand what we were doing.  

We discussed how the Sumerians would have baked the clay for important information so that they could keep it.  If it was something not important (a note or list) then they would leave the clay wet.  We decided our names were important so we baked them in the oven.

The kids had a great time completing this project plus who does not love cookies?  

After we put our bricks in the oven we talked about what we thought would happen to our symbols.  Would the dough rise and hide them or would they stay? 

Shelby's name with the chart she used.

 They all decided it would rise like bread but they figured they would still be able to recognize the symbols. 

 

 

My name in Cuneiform

Once the cookies were done they kids discovered that the dough did rise some.  If you do this project at home make sure your impressions are deep in the dough.  Almost all the way through.  The marks that were more shallow we could not see once it was cooked.  

The best part!  Eating their creations.  I have overheard them talking about Sumerians and cuneiform when playing.  I have seen them pretend to be Egyptians hammering in stone and then Sumerians marking in clay.  This was definitly a project that helped the kids reinforce what they learned.