Travel in a Time-Machine Tunnel

Travel in a Time-Machine Tunnel lesson plan

Travel through time and test your knowledge of history while having fun outdoors! Use Crayola 3-D Sidewalk Chalk to draw a timeline, add historical events, and play a game!

  • 1.

    Draw a long straight line on a safe place on the sidewalk or school playground with Crayola 3-D Sidewalk Chalk.

  • 2.

    Use another color to mark one end of the line for today’s date. Mark the other end for a period of time that you want to go back to, such as 1776, 1861, or other significant dates in national or world history.

  • 3.

    Add important events that happened on and between the two dates. Place each event approximately where it fits on the timeline. Mark as many events as you can with the Sidewalk Chalk Tools! Put on the 3-D glasses to see the timeline pop up from the sidewalk.

  • 4.

    With a few classmates, travel through time. Start at today and tell something about the most current event. Then move to the next date. Keep moving back in time until you get to an event that you can’t describe. Stand there.

  • 5.

    Play continues with the next player, who must state something different about events than previous players said. The first player to reach the beginning of the timeline becomes the history king/queen for that game!

Benefits

  • Students design their own timeline and determine which events are most important to include.
  • Students use spatial math skills as they space their events on the line and arrange the time periods of events.
  • Students recall unique historical facts about events placed on the timeline.

Adaptations

  • Create personal timelines next to each other. Ask families for information such as first teeth lost. Compare and contrast significant events as students walk along their lives!
  • After reading a common novel, work together to create a timeline based on events in the book. Or create timelines for the main characters.
  • Assessment: Students will be successful if they produce a logical timeline with at least a pre-determined number of events in chronological order.