The Palmetto Historical Park’s traveling trunk is basically a field trip in a box. The trunk contains activities to help your students learn about pioneer life in Florida. When people were first settling this area, daily life generally revolved around one thing: chores. To start a dialog about pioneer life, talk with students about chores they do today (ex. Feeding pets, folding laundry, making bed, etc.). Discuss how pioneers would have had different chores than we have today.

The book Strawberry Girl, which tells the story of a Florida pioneer, has been included in the trunk in case you’d like to read aloud. There are also old-fashioned clothes to help students really feel like a pioneer. We have included supplies and instructions on the following chore-based activities for your students:

• Laundry– soap, diapers, washboard & tub
• Sweeping– broom
• Water Supply– buckets to haul
• Chopping Firewood– plastic ax & logs that snap apart
• Churning Butter– condiment cups, cream (not included in trunk!) and crackers
• Letter writing– lined stationary and envelopes

To take these activities to another level, we encourage you to have your students write plays that depict pioneers doing these chores. We’ve complied a script booklet for students to use, complete with a page for a Cast of Characters and another for Props (everything in this trunk can be used as a prop!). We’ve also included an opening scene that we hope will set the stage for students to think like a pioneer, but still allow them to use their own creativity.

While some of the writing activities in this trunk are geared toward students in 2nd grade and older, we believe most of the activities will appeal to a wide age range and can be adapted to fit any group. To checkout the trunk, please email us to schedule a pick up time.