Ready to start a fun-filled educational history unit about Ancient Mesopotamia? Read on to see the different hands-on activities we completed as well as educational resources we used to enhance our learning.
When I first started planning our Ancient Mesopotamia studies, I first gathered all of our reading materials as well as researching what I’ll use online. I also made a printable Unit Study Planning Sheet where I filled in this information and kept track of our daily lessons.
What is the history of Ancient Mesopotamia?
It is one of the first civilizations that began around 5000 years ago. “Mesopotamia means between the rivers” as it sits between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. It is located in modern day Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, and Syria.
What were some of the inventions of Mesopotamia?
For our spine, I used the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History. While perusing through the pages, I saw a few things that stood out to me that I could turn into hands-on activities. Ancient Mesopotamians made homes out of mud, they invented the pottery wheel, they invented writing, and they attached the wheels to chariots to move around. So with their inventions came our hands-on activities to basically tie in what we read.
Cuneiform Writing Activity
Our first hands-on activity was to write on clay- this type of writing was called cuneiform writing in Sumer (Mesopotamia). So to adapt, we rolled out play dough, used skewers (in place of a reed pen), and looked up the symbols to write on our clay.
Build A Mud House Activity
The next activity was to make bricks out of mud. We used our DK How To Be An Engineer Book for this. Basically we went outside, dug up dirt and grass, mixed it with water, and put it into ice cube trays that were lined with parchment paper. We let it dry for about two days in the sun. After it dried, we carefully removed it from the ice cube trays, and then built with the mud bricks.
Create Clay Pots Using A Pottery Wheel Activity
After we learned about the Sumerians inventing the pottery wheel, we made our own clay pots! This was the most exciting activity for my kids yet! I bought this pottery wheel and watched a YouTube tutorial so I would understand how to use it correctly. Highly recommend doing that first.
Build A LEGO Chariot Activity
Finally, for our last hands-on activity, we learned that after the pottery wheels were invented, the Sumerians then put wheels on chariots to help them move around. For this, we used various LEGO sets to construct a chariot.
This was a really fun and amazing history unit about The Sumerians and Ancient Mesopotamia. Other online resources we used that were free included downloading a lesson plan by ClarendonLearning and CoreKnowledge. I used Clarendon Learning for my oldest son whereas I used CoreKnowledge aimed towards my youngest. Video resources include those from National Geographic, Curiosity Stream, as well as Disney Plus. I’ll post the links below so you can find it easily. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below!
Resource Links- Ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians):
Ancient Mesopotamia- Clarendon Learning
Ancient Mesopotamia- CoreKnowledge
Ancient Mesopotamia 101- National Geographic
We watched Catalyst Ancient Writing, Rise of Continents Eurasia
Lost Cities
Check out our Ancient Egypt Lessons and Activities here:
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*Adult Supervision Is Required For All Activities*