100th Day of School

A month ago, my Facebook and Instagram were full of pictures of kids and teachers dressed-up for the 100th day of school. They were all so adorable! It looked like so much fun that I wanted to celebrate our 100th day of school but I did not feel like powdering my hair. Not to mention dressing like you are 100 years old when there is just you is not real exciting. Sooooo, I decided we conduct a a normal day of school from 100 years ago, in other words, like it was 1917.

Now I will be completely honest, I was nowhere near 100% authentic. I think I was wearing a knit dress and leggings, and I was not giving up my bathroom. However, we came up with enough ideas to be not only super fun but also give the boys the experience of how things used to be done.

Here is what we did:

The day started with getting dressed for school in cotton shirts and denim jeans. I explained that shirts were made out of flour sacks in 1917 and the coolness factor went way up. Also, no socks or shoes. It wasn't Sunday and it wasn't snowing, so no shoes.

The sink and fridge were off limits for drinks (no traditional indoor plumbing in schools). The boys had to ladle their water into cups out of a "bucket". It was actually a great eye-hand coordination exercise.


N favorite part was conducting school without utilizing paper. Everything was copied onto his slate from the board (math and phonics) or was a verbal quiz (reading). Copying and writing on a slate was a great exercise and I really should do this again to help strengthen his penmanship.

E's favorite was recess! We learned a "schoolyard" game. It was cold outside so I taped a square on the carpet and taught the boys how to play marbles. It took them awhile to figure out how to flick a marble (J never quite got it) but it was a lot of fun.

The week before, N and I did a unit on Alexander Graham Bell and discussed  different means of communication used before the advent of the internet and cell phones. So, for science/history on this 100th day of school, we learned about Morse Code and telegraphs. We made our names utilizing Morse Code by using: ponybeads for the dots, pieces of drinking straws for the dashes, and threading them on pipe cleaners. It was a simple craft (you can find samples of the Morse Code alphabet on Pinterest) but very successful. N has struggled with the idea of codes before but he grasped this concept fairly quickly.


But life in 1917 would not be complete without after school chores, 1917 style. So, N had the job of making butter for dinner. I placed some marbles in a large glass mason jar with heavy whipping cream and let he shake away. It definitely took some perseverance but after a little help from my electric mixer (teacher put to much cream in the jar, newbie mistake), we made butter! He got to do the semi-gross job of  rinsing the butter and squeezing the buttermilk out. All in all, we were shocked that it really worked and making butter was fairly easy. Who knew...

Our version of school in 1917 actually required very little extra work or planning from me, most of the items I had around the house. The boys had a blast.  And honestly, for a fun day we actually got a lot accomplished.

Items Used: cotton clothing, a large pot and ladel, a small chalk board, some chalk, masking tape, marbles, pony beads, drinking straws, pipe cleaners, a large mason jar, and some heavy whipping cream.

Concepts Covered: Besides the obvious historical information, we also worked on fine and gross motor skills, penmanship, eye-hand coordination, and logic.

What Would I Change/Add: Next year I will slow bake potatoes in the oven for lunch, along with an apple and cheese.