Colonial Times for Kids | Learn about the colonial America

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What would it be like to work for 16 hours a day, days a week? Nowadays, that is very uncommon in the United States. But during colonial times, that was the way life was for most people. In Colonial Times for Kids, you will learn about the daily life and habits of people who lived during this period of American history.

Let's start by talking about the children and what typical life was like for them. They had the chance to go to school, but they had better access to education if they lived in the city rather than on a farm. Many farm children learned to read and write from their father or church minister. Wealthier families might hire special tutors to teach their kids or send them to schools in England. Boys and girls did not have the same educational opportunities, though. In fact, many girls never learned to read or write.

Unfortunately, this was also a time during which people employed indentured servants, laborers brought over from Britain, or owned slaves. Indentured servants agreed to work for about seven years in return for their passage to America. But slavery grew in the colonies because the indentured servants were not easy to control and more difficult and costly to obtain. Some of the first African American indentured servants were forced into slavery rather than gaining their freedom after the seven-year work period.


Houses of this era were generally small, sometimes containing just a single room. The frames were made of wood, roofs of dried grasses, and floors of dirt. A fireplace inside was used for cooking and producing heat during the winter. Eventually homes on plantations grew larger, adorned with glass windows, wooden or carpeted floors, and quality furniture.

We hope you and your student(s) enjoyed learning about this period in American history! If you want even more information, head over to our website and download one of our many lesson plans, full of activities, worksheets, and more!