Fourth grade standards focus a lot on Native Americans and California mission history. Santa Barbara was the perfect place for my son to learn about these topics. When teaching social studies it is best to use primary sources as much as possible. Primary sources would be actual artifacts or documents from the point in history one is studying. A textbook is written through the eyes of the author and often through a particular cultural lens or even viewpoint of a company or organization. It’s best for my child to see these things for himself and draw his own conclusions. Obviously, he cannot go back in time to witness this history.  Visiting the historical sites and seeing real artifacts is the closest he can get. Naturally, we read books on the subjects and had projects related to the information so that he could delve deeper into the subject and synthesize what he had seen and read.

Santa Barbara has a lot to offer.  We had to narrow it down because we only had a four day weekend and of course one of those days was taken up with the marathon.  Another factor was the budget. Hotels are not cheap in Santa Barbara so we chose carefully about what to do when we were there, hoping not to go broke.  Even if you have a short amount of time and a limited budget you can still have a fantastic educational trip! I’ll share with you what we did.

Chumash Painted Cave

The Chumash Indians are one of the most studied tribes in our area.  After reading many books about the Chumash Indians, we were excited to go this cave where paintings that they created are still there! You will see their actual paintings, how cool is that? They are blocked off with bars so you cannot touch them, but it is very visible.  To get to the park, you have to drive up a big mountain.  My kids marveled at the view and commented on how it looked like we were above the clouds.

Just a couple of days ago we were talking about our trip and my kids were guessing how the Chumash got up there. My boys wondered what was it like to live up high and how the Chumash got food. Because they visited this place, they have a better understanding of the environment that the Chumash lived in. Therefore, they can see why the Chumash developed certain habits or traditions.

This is a California State park so it is free to visit. The constraining factor is parking.  To give you an idea of what the parking is like, see the picture below. You have to find spot on the side of the road that is clear of trees and doesn’t look like you will fall of the edge!  We went early in the morning and had no trouble finding a spot just up the road from the site.

Click here to visit the park’s website. It is not in Santa Barbara, but it is a very reasonable driving distance from it.

Santa Barbara Mission

Twenty one missions were built in California. One of them is right in Santa Barbara. Peek into history by visiting the Santa Barbara mission.  You will see the garden, cemetery, church, and much more.  Your child will have a better understanding of what a mission is by seeing one for him or herself. There is a fee to enter, but parking is free.

For more information on Mission Santa Barbara visit their website: Click here

Goleta Butterful Preserve

Goleta is a short drive from Santa Barbara and is a very special place. It is a stopping point for migrating Monarch butterflies. This is a seasonal event. From November to February you can see the butterflies hanging in the trees resting for the next leg of their migration. At first, they can be hard to see since they have their wings closed and the brown of the outside of the wings blends in with the trees. But, if you look carefully, you will notice them, especially if the begin to flutter their wings.

Pictures were hard to take. The small spot of orange on one of the trees is a butterfly fluttering (picture below). It was hard to discern the butterflies at first, you had to observe carefully. Once you learn how to look for the resting butterflies, it’s amazing to see. It was really interesting to see how they all hung on the branches together.

Not only can your child see migrating Monarchs, the rest of the park provides an exciting landscape to explore.  It’s a natural lesson in geology and biology.

The park is free to enter and parking is free too.  For more information about this park: Click here

Besides, do you really need an excuse to go to Santa Barbara? This place is gorgeous!

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Let the race begin!

The race has four stations with an activity to complete at each one. Every activity reinforces the concept of Mardi Gras. To win the race, the kids will race each other to be the first one to complete all four stations.

I did this race with my own boys. Before we began, I walked the boys through each station explaining what they were supposed to do and the significance of the activity.

Station 1:  Put On Your Costume

We learned from our book that during Mardi Gras there is a big parade.  People often dress up as kings, queens, jesters, or clowns.  You often see people wearing masks.  The very first station had  jester hats in Mardi Gras colors (purple, gold, and green) and masks to put on.  Once they had their hats and masks on they rushed to the next station.

Station 2:  Find The “Baby”

I explained to my kids that during Mardi Gras people eat a special cake called a King Cake.  Hidden in the cake is a small plastic baby.   The person who finds the baby in their piece of cake has good luck and they have to buy the King Cake next year.

In this activity, the kids will have to find the “baby” hidden in Mardi Gras colored pasta.  I did not have a baby small enough to hide, so I thought of Lego figures.  To make it even more challenging, I actually only hid a Lego head in the pasta mixture.

The “babies”:

Hide the “babies” in colored pasta:

See the baby?

Now it’s hidden!

Ready to go:

Outside, ready to go!

Searching for the Lego head (a.k.a baby)

Station 3: Throw The Beads

It wouldn’t be Mardi Gras without those plastic beaded necklaces.  Parade goers excitedly try to catch beaded necklaces that are tossed out.  In this activity, the kids have to throw the beaded necklaces around the wooden posts (our parade goers).  This was the trickiest station.  It was very challenging for the boys and my youngest just ended up placing the beads on!

Each kid had three necklaces to throw.  They were told ahead of time who got green and who got purple.

Their attempts:

Station 4: Make Music

To finish the race, the boys had to pick one instrument and do three laps around the yard playing their instrument. This activity reinforced the importance of music!

That’s the end of the race!

To continue our Mardi Gras learning, we will read these books:

We will practice our French with these super cute cards:

We will also make our very own King Cake and hide a Lego minifigure in it (after baking of course!)

*This post contains affiliate links

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Movie at the Information Center

When we first got the park, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center.  Here you can purchase tickets for a bus tour, see a movie, walk through the small museum, and get information on their Junior Ranger Program.  We did not do a bus tour, because my sister was with us.  She was our expert! We did our own thing, using the map to guide our travels.  We did see the movie at the visitor’s center.  Doing this first helped us understand some of what we were about to see, such as the Little Round Top and Devil’s Den.

Junior Ranger Program– “Enlist in the Army”

Next on our list was the Junior Ranger Program’s “Enlist in the Army”.  The kids actually signed a piece of paper to “enlist” in the Army and train as a Union soldier.  The Captain (a park ranger) led them through what to expect in the Army, each article of clothing they had to wear, and how to load their rifle.  Only one child actually wore the uniform as a demonstration, but they all got to see it. At the very end was when the Captain taught the troops how to load their rifle.  Much to my nine year old’s displeasure it was not a real rifle. After that they learned how to march, turn as a group, and come together.  One child carried the colors (the flag) and another was a drummer. Once they all learned their roles, the pretended to advance on Confederate troops.  After their mock battle, they returned to the seats and the Captain had only a couple of kids stand symbolizing the number of the people who survived.  Overall, this experience provided a great foundation for kids to understand some of the historical aspects of the battles of the Civil War and provide insight into how it might have felt to be one of the soldiers.

Sorry, I don’t have pictures of this.  There were many kids there, and for privacy, I do not want to put up a picture with someone’s kid in it without their consent.

David Wills’ House

After lunch in downtown Gettysburg, we decided to visit the David Wills House.  This house is famous because it is where Abraham Lincoln stayed before he gave his Gettysburg Address.  It is a very small museum, but you get to walk into the room where Lincoln slept. And, according to the information found in the room, the bedspread on the bed is the actual bedspread from when we spent the night!! That’s pretty cool. A lot of the information we learned from the book, Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln, by Jean Fritz helped us understand the significance of the house and of the Gettysburg Address.

The actual bedspread from Lincoln’s stay

National Cemetery

The National Cemetery was our next stop.  We took a short walk around the grounds.

Jennie Wade House

Jennie Wade was the only civilian casualty of the Battle of Gettysburg.  She was shot in her kitchen as she made bread for her family and the Union soldiers. Her house was preserved with two original artifacts still inside- one being the bread table that she standing at when she was shot. You can see bullet holes in the walls of her house, including her fatal shot.  Being there, gave us a perspective on just how vulnerable she and her family were in that house and how scary it must have been to have fighting right outside your house! After Jennie died, her family decided it was too risky to be in the house and went into the cellar to hide.  We actually went down into the cellar, which gave us a glimpse into what it felt like to be in the small, dark, cramped space.  It reminded me of the book we read about the cemetery keeper’s family hiding in the cellar, The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg by Linda Oatman High.  Our experience helped us relate the family hiding in the cellar, helping us better understand what we previously read.

Little Round Top & Devil’s Den

Standing on the rocks at Little Round Top

Little Round Top was a key to the Union’s victory.  It’s easy to see standing high atop the hill how this position was crucial for them.  It was easy for the them to spot the Confederate down at Devil’s Den.

We learned so much about the Battle of Gettysburg by visiting the park. Seeing the landmarks, battlefields, standing where the people in history stood, and watching my son’s reenactment (and him doing it!) was better than any textbook. The course of American history changed during this battle and it’s important for my son to learn the history of our country.

To see the books we read, check out this post: Books About The Battle of Gettysburg

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I love when my children can learn something first hand.  There is no substitute for seeing something and experiencing it for yourself!   This summer I was very excited to take my son to Gettysburg, PA to see the battle fields and historical landmarks of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Before we visited, we read quite a few books about the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, and Abraham Lincoln.  Below are three of the books we read.  Even if you can’t make it to Gettysburg, these books can help your children learn more about this point in American history.  In my next post, I will share how these books helped us understand what we saw when we got to Gettysburg National Military Park (park info).

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The Cemetery Keepers of Gettysburg by Linda Oatman High

Peter Thorn was the cemetery keeper of the Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg.  When he was sent to fight with the Union, his pregnant wife Elizabeth stayed to care for the cemetery with her three boys.  They survived the Battle of Gettysburg by hiding in their cellar. Afterwards, they worked to bury some of the fallen soldiers.  When Abraham Lincoln came to present his speech, the family was honored for their service.

This book was a great read aloud.  It gave historical insight into Evergreen Cemetery which is still there for people to visit.  It also gave a visual image of the family hiding in the cellar.  With only one civilian causality in the Battle of Gettysburg, families mainly survived by hiding in the cellars.

Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln: The Story of the Gettysburg Address by Jean Fritz

This book highlights Lincoln’s life at the time of the Gettysburg address.  He was worried about his sick son at the time of the address. The book also explained Lincoln’s purpose for the speech and that he intended to keep his speech short.  Edward Everett was also mentioned in this book. Everett spoke at Gettysburg before Lincoln and was considered one of the greatest orators of his time.

This book was an easy reader book.  I like that the book came from the angle of Abraham Lincoln’s life at the time.  It did not detail events of the battle.  The reader sees the writing of the Gettysburg address as if they were watching Lincoln. It adds another perspective to Gettysburg history.

American Battle Fields: Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863 by Brendan January

Set up in chapters, this book is very informative!  It covers the factors leading up to war to the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg.  There are many pictures to provide visual aids.  This book is a great middle ground—not too dense, but not too basic.

Most of the detailed information about Gettysburg came from this book. The first two books provided some of the bigger picture ideas of the battle and this book filled in the details.

All together these three books provided so much information and context for our trip to Gettysburg.  I’m so glad that we found these books before our trip so that my son could connect things that he learned from the books to the real life experience.  And, after the visit it was a good idea to look over the books again and gain more insight based on our new experiences!

Coming up…..

Our trip to Gettysburg!

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