Civil War Days: Discover the Past with Exciting Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes (Paperback)

~ (Author), Cheryl Kirk Noll (Author) "In the spring of 1862, the Union navy formed a blockade of ships around Charleston Harbor..." (more)
Key Phrases: revolving serpent, ask your adult helper, clay dough, Civil War, Grandma Esther, Fort Sumter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

American Kids in History™ Dozens of projects and activities that will take you back to the days of the American Civil War Travel back to 1862 and spend a year with the Wheelers, an African American family in New York City, and the Parkhursts, a white family in Charleston, South Carolina, Eleven-year-old Emily Parkhurst and twelve-year-old Timothy Wheeler are eager to share the fun, adventure, and hard work of their daily lives. Along the way, they’ll show you how to play the games they play and make the toys and crafts they make. Make your own apple pandowdy and whip up a batch of tasty gingerbread. Send top-secret messages in Morse code, gather materials for crafting evergreen wreaths and pinecone turkeys,and sculpt a miniature sheep out of homemade clay dough. Play the exciting African game of mankala—that is, if you have time after making your own potato-print wrapping paper, papier-mâché bowl, and marzipan decorations. Civil War Days is filled with interesting historical information and facts about growing up in days gone by. Discover how different—and how similar—life was for American kids in history. Watch for Victorian Days, the next exciting book in the American Kids in History™ series! Also available: Pioneer Days, Colonial Days, and Wild West Days For Children Ages 8 to 1 2

From the Back Cover

American Kids in History^™ Dozens of projects and activities that will take you back to the days of the American Civil War Travel back to 1862 and spend a year with the Wheelers, an African American family in New York City, and the Parkhursts, a white family in Charleston, South Carolina, Eleven-year-old Emily Parkhurst and twelve-year-old Timothy Wheeler are eager to share the fun, adventure, and hard work of their daily lives. Along the way, they’ll show you how to play the games they play and make the toys and crafts they make. Make your own apple pandowdy and whip up a batch of tasty gingerbread. Send top-secret messages in Morse code, gather materials for crafting evergreen wreaths and pinecone turkeys,and sculpt a miniature sheep out of homemade clay dough. Play the exciting African game of mankala—that is, if you have time after making your own potato-print wrapping paper, papier-mâché bowl, and marzipan decorations. Civil War Days is filled with interesting historical information and facts about growing up in days gone by. Discover how different—and how similar—life was for American kids in history. Watch for Victorian Days, the next exciting book in the American Kids in History^™ series! Also available: Pioneer Days, Colonial Days, and Wild West Days For Children Ages 8 to 1 2

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 98 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (March 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471246123
• ISBN-13: 978-0471246121
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #490,338 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teachers----Buy This Book!, May 8, 2000

By A Customer

Are you looking to enhance your students' understanding of life during the Civil War? If you want students to appreciate the daily drudgery and simplicity of this era, King offers numerous projects that are historically accurate and developmentally appropriate for the gifted to special needs students.

Besides offering unique insights into American's daily lives, historical perspective is also addressed. In addition to providing readers a bibliography and index, a glossary is included for readers.

Students of American history will delight in creating and designing hands-on activites.

3.0 out of 5 stars Civil War DAYS, October 21, 2009

By	SandwichinWI - See all my reviews

While this book does a nice job providing projects which represent Civil War TIMES, it does very little to enhance a study of the actual WAR.

Most projects are handicrafts, cooking projects or children's games. There are patterns for several different kinds of dolls, pastimes children of the day might have engaged in (flower pressing, for example) and games like hopscotch and mankala.

There is a narrative story woven throughout touching on the lives of a Southern white family who lives in Charleston and is anti-slavery and a black family living in the North. These are perhaps perspectives which are otherwise under-represented in other books about the Civil War, so that is a plus, but I don't know that it was truly representative of Civil War DAYS. Keep in mind that these are just two of many perspectives of the times.

The directions for the projects are clear and the projects nicely support the narrative, but I was really looking for projects which enhanced our study of the WAR. Only two projects even touch on this: a flag of Fort Sumter and a recipe for hardtack.

This might help to build perspective on the times, but is not a useful resource for studying the war itself.