What did colonists do for fun?

Colonial life was filled with work, but it wasn't always hard or boring. Early Americans knew how to turn work into fun by singing or telling stories, having contests, or working together in spinning or quilting bees. Some liked to dance to fiddle and fife music.

What did the New England colonies do for fun?

Between all the chores, bible lesson, and schooling, children found time to just be kids. They played games like marbles, flying kites, bowling, ring toss, walking on stilts, having sack races, Blind Man's Bluff, and spinning tops.

What did the colonist do in their free time?

Shooting and woodchopping competitions were popular, and, making the most of two important forms of colonial transport, boat races and horse races became common forms of entertainment.

What did men do for fun in colonial times?

In taverns, colonists could enjoy a range of games, including whist, backgammon, chess, checkers (one of Samuel Sewall's favorites), dice, dominoes, cribbage, lotto, billiards, and piquet.

What did the middle colonies do for fun?

In the middle colonies the Dutch Calvinist and Quaker influences initially put a damper on exuberant play, but later people enjoyed whist, croquet, tennis, lawn bowling, and badminton, even a rudimentary game played with "gouff sticks." In both New England and the middle colonies, taverns served as a center for ...

A Day in the Life of a Colonial Kid, part 1

What did kids do for fun in colonial America?

Many poorer children did not go to school. They learned to farm, hunt, cook, and sew from their families. Even though colonial kids worked hard, they still found time for outdoor fun, like swimming, fishing, and flying kites.

What did kids in the middle colonies do for fun?

Even with all the work they did, colonial children still found time to have fun. They cared for their pets, played with dolls, shot marbles, pitched pennies, and went fishing. They also played tag, stickball, and blindman's buff. By the time they had reached age 14, most children were already considered adults.

What did girls do in colonial times?

Women trained girls to be wives and mothers by having them help around the house. Girls helped with cooking, preserving food, caring for children, cleaning the house, washing clothes and gardening. They milked cows, churned butter, and made cheese.

What toys did kids play with in colonial times?

They made dolls from cornhusks and rags. Leftover wood and string could be used to make spinning tops. Hoops from barrels could be used in races and other games. Many times the children made up their games and needed no equipment at all – they improvised with what was around the farm they lived on.

How often did English colonists take baths?

So a good, soaking bath was a luxury of only the well served, and few of them tackled the job more than a couple of times a year. Everyone knew that too much bathing would destroy your natural oils and leave you wide open to the ravages of various diseases.

What did colonist sleep on?

Early Americans slept on wooden bedsteads with rope or leather sacking, topped with mattresses of corn husks or horsehair, plus featherbeds, bolsters, and pillows. Betsy Ross made beds as well as flags, and some Native American tribes used wooden bedsteads too.

What did kids do in school in the colonial times?

Dame schools began in England, and Puritan colonists brought them to the New England colonies. Teachers used various educational tools and methods as students grew older. Since education often centered around religion at this time, the teachers used sermons to teach children about morality and cultural values.

What was colonists daily life like?

For the majority of colonists, daily life consisted of supporting the profession the family was centered around. Nearly all rural communities were supported by farming while the larger, more concentrated port cities were hubs for mercantile businesses and artisan trades.

How did Puritans have fun?

The Puritans participated in their own forms of recreational activity, including visual arts, literature, and music.

What were the fun activities in the 1700s?

Card games such as whist and piquet were favored in social gatherings. Outdoor activities and sports also held a prominent place in leisure activities. Cricket, horse racing, fox hunting, and fencing were among the sports that gained popularity, particularly among the aristocracy.

What would colonists do if they were sick?

Most sick people turned to local healers, and used folk remedies. Others relied upon the minister-physicians, barber-surgeons, apothecaries, midwives, and ministers; a few used colonial physicians trained either in Britain, or an apprenticeship in the colonies.

What was life like in the 13 colonies?

Much of colonial life was hard work, even preparing food. But colonists found ways to mix work with play. They also enjoyed sports and games. For most of the 1700s, the colonists were content to be ruled by English laws.

What games did kids play in the 13 colonies?

Colonial kids typically played board games, puzzles, and cards. Some of these included chess, checkers, and backgammon. Wealthier families had wooden tables in their homes with boards carved into the tops of them. These games were popular among adults as well.

What was dating like in colonial times?

So "dating" wasn't really a thing then. Dads did the dating for people. Marriage was a business arrangement that two men would make, their bargaining chips being their sons' inheritance and their daughters' dowries. The goal was to marry wealth and property together; the people were incidental.

What were girls taught in the 1700s?

Some mothers taught their daughters in the middle class until boarding schools began to take place. These girls were often taught writing, music, and needlework. While boys studied more academic subjects, girls were believed to only need to be taught subjects that were more on the line of abilities.

Could girls go to school in colonial times?

Secondary literature shows that young boys and girls began their education at home. Mothers were responsible for teaching their children basic skills until they were old enough to attend a local school managed by the selectmen, a dame school in a woman's private home, or a boarding school in a larger city, like Boston.

What was the daily life of a woman in the 13 colonies?

The main job of the woman during colonial times was to manage the home. They were responsible for raising the children, cooking meals, sewing clothes, weaving cloth, and keeping the house in order. Women worked extremely hard during colonial times.

What were the punishments for children in the colonies?

What happened when children misbehaved in colonial times? They were punished harshly. They got whipped or they were hit by a switch (a birch branch). If they forgot their lessons, they had to sit in the corner with a dunce cap on their head.

What did colonists eat?

Colonial cooks fried, roasted, baked, and boiled. They used many of the same foodstuffs found in today's groceries: beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fish, vegetables, and baked goods. Then as now, coffee, tea, and chocolate were popular beverages. Beyond these common roots, though, little was the same as it is today.