Yesterday was science. Today is HISTORY!

Tip Of The Day: Go On A Cemetery Scavenger Hunt

Eeeewww! That’s what you might be thinking, but this is a REALLY cool activity. And, like yesterday, it’s a great way to keep learning while enjoying the great spring weather.

Why the cemetery? It’s chock full of history!

What in the world do you do in the cemetery? Lots!

*Do rubbings or drawings of the symbols on the stones, then research the meanings of the symbols when you get home.

*Find the oldest dated stones. How old is the cemetery?

*Find ten stones of men from a certain time period (say 1850-1900) and calculate hoe old they were when they died. Do the same for ten women of the same time period. On average, who lived longer? What were some possible reasons? (war, childbirth)

*Write down the longest, shortest, most interesting, funniest, most inspiring…..epitaphs.

*What were the most common names during a certain time period?

*Find a stone that’s unreadable and do a rubbing to see if you can figure out what it says.

*Measure the tallest, shortest, longest….stone.

I hope your mind is rolling with more ideas! If not, I’d be happy to send you a copy of a scavenger hunt I made for a group field trip we did this past fall. Just email me at cindykwest@hotmail.com with the subject of cemetery hunt.

Related Tags: cemetery, scavenger hunt, history, outdoors, learning