I had purchased a gold digging kit from Target a little while ago and the boys have only just found it. They kept begging to do it, so I finally got round to putting a small unit study on the Australian Gold Rush and the Eureka Stockade together.
First, the boys completed the gold finding kit. Digging for gold was fun, but very hard work. As is was messy work, we did do this outside. I’m glad we did, as the boys did get a bit dirty while ‘digging’. We did this slowly, over two days, finding a total of 10 pieces. The box said that there were supposed to be eleven pieces of gold, but we crushed that block down till it looked like sand and still could not find the last piece.
Even though this wasn’t real, it was a great experience for the boys. After all their hard work, they now realise how hard it must have been for the real life gold diggers, working it hot weather, not knowing if they will be able to find gold or not. When we found the gold, the boys were very excited! Once we cleaned it, it looked a lot brighter.
The boys also completed a gold rush picture each. This picture showed what they thought the area would have looked like. (They were very young wen these pictures were done). They also went a but overboard with the gold glitter.
I also created an Australian Gold Rush and Eureka Stockade mini pack.
Materials Needed
- white paper
- printer
- laminator
- colouring pencils
- scissors
- lead pencils
- eraser
- Australian Gold Rush and Eureka Stockade books
This printable pack contains information on both the Australian Gold Rush and Eureka Stockade.
There are answers provided, but your child will need to research this subject using the links provided in the printable pack or books to complete the answers.
To download a copy of the pack, click on the link below:
*** Australian Gold Rush and Eureka Stockade ***