It’d been a while since we had done some fun hands on stuff, so when we read about the Phoenicians I knew this was the time. So I came up with some fun Phoenician activities.
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By far my most popular Phoenician activity was building a trading ship.
First I did a Google search of Phoenician ships, and printed off a few for us to imitate.
Next I gathered our supplies:
empty cardboard milk carton, Craft Sticks, Low Temp Mini Glue Gun
Mommy step (or trusted kid): cut off top of box completely
Mommy step 2: hot glue the front flaps together and hold for a few seconds
Mommy step 3: hot glue a couple of popsicle sticks together and then glue them into the box at about the level of the sides you cut off, it will naturally make a shelf when you put it in there.
Kiddo step: apply lots and lots of paint
Wait very impatiently for it to dry for next steps. In the meantime if you’re decorating a few peg dolls this would be a great time.
Place the piece you cut off in the box to provide the upper deck. Cut holes in the sides for the popsicle stick oars, and hot glue a dowel rod you’ve cut to about 4-6 inches onto the top.
Hot glue a mast and sail on (hey, normal glue takes time to dry).
Lesson behind the Phoenician ship
Because I can’t just build the ship for fun, okay I could, but I had ulterior motives.
The oars provide extra speed when the ship is becalmed or when trying to outrun pirates.
Ships were usually manned by slaves who spent their time chained to the oars, imagine being the oarsmen on the lower level of oars, smelly.
Cargo was kept below decks, protecting it from the elements. Sailors often slept there or whatever empty space they could find. Bunks are a relatively recent idea.
And of course at the end they spent a good hour playing with their ships, and making more and more weapons.
by the end I had no pipe cleaners left, and precious few of my peg dolls.
My next Phoenician activity: translate the alphabet
I wanted them to remember how the Phoenicians were big traders, but I also wanted them to learn about their radical idea, the alphabet, a truly unique concept at the time. After a bit of searching I found a “translate the message” Phoenician activity to give a try and show the difficulty in translating even when you know the alphabet and what it should look like.
The boys loved this, but Princess wasn’t as big of a fan.
Other Phoenician activities links I found
writing as if a sailor
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