Hands-on History - The Redcoats are coming!

I'm loving teaching American History this year!   Our Coop class is the perfect group of kiddos - grades 3rd-6th for doing hands-on projects.

I just have one question...how did anyone homeschool before Pinterest?  I found this post with the cutest clothespin soldiers!   Here's my version:

Start with a bag of wood clothespins and bases.  I found mine at Hobby Lobby - just $3.99 for 30 of them!

 





Next, we painted about 3/4 of the pin white - for the soldiers shirt & pants.  Leave the head wood colored for his face.

Paint the bottom and base black for his boots.

 

 

 

 

 

We took blue and red paint and painted on their coats. 

 

 

 



 

 

Small wooden dowels, about 1 12 inches long make great arms.  Leave the tip (where you hold it plain for the soldier's hands).  You can hot glue these onto your soldier's body once the paint is dry.

The final touches are so fun!  Be creative.  Our hats were pom-poms (ours were kinda large - so we gave them a bad haircut...)  We also used small felt pieces for hats.   
Add some faces with a sharpie marker.

 

Who's ready for a battle??