Lesson Plans

Artists painted George Washington’s portrait many times during his lifetime and after. Some portraits show scenes from Washington’s life. Explore your creativity by downloading these templates to create your own portrait, along with your own dollar bill, Mount Vernon postcard, horse puppet, quilt block, and fan. 

Explore Mount Vernon’s website and virtual tour to complete bingo! Play in a group or by yourself.

There are many shapes and colors on the Mansion. Use the virtual tour to find more shapes you can find!

This lesson compares the lives of Frank Lee and Doll, two individuals who were enslaved at Mount Vernon. It provides simplified biographies and guiding questions.

For millennia, humans have used recipes as a way to pass on culture and history. Pepper Pot Stew started as a stew commonly made in Africa. However, it followed the Transatlantic slave Trade from Africa to the West Indies and North America. Recipes like this one are some of the many ways African culture influenced American culture. 

Find a book about horses, pigs, sheep, or cows - all animals at Mount Vernon! - and use this book report to record your findings.

Have you ever looked at the top of the Mansion and noticed a bird? That's a replica of the weathervane that George Washington had made for his house! Using this activity, you can make a replica of your own. 

George Washington was very interested in his family tree and kept notes on it in their family Bible. His records for his plantation also help us trace the families of some of the enslaved people who lived at Mount Vernon. Using this activity, create a family tree for yourself, a friend, or a historical figure. 

Learn about the people who lived and labored at Mount Vernon with this helpful notetaking guide geared towards all learners.

Spies in the American Revolution used tools like cipher wheels to secretly pass messages that were crucial to the war effort. One of the most important spies for the Continental Army was James Lafayette, an enslaved man from Virginia that served as a spy for the Marquis de Lafayette.

Use this activity to learn about James Lafayette, cipher wheels, and spies in the American Revolution! 

Did you know that horses are measured using hands? This measurement has been used for centuries! George Washington was an avid horseman and owned many horses during his life. One of Washington's horses, Nelson, was 16 hands high! 

This activity explores primary sources to deepen participants' understanding of the eighteenth century. It also encourages them to practice their measuring skills. 

George Washington's fireplace mantle in the New Room is decorated with carvings of farming scenes and livestock. He filled the New Room with these symbols to show his interest in agriculture to his visitors.  If you were to design your own fireplace mantle, what images would you use? What would it say about you? This activity gives you a chance to find out. 

At the end of the First Continental Congress, delegates planned to reconvene with the Second Continental Congress the following spring in case Parliament did not respond. However, as war had broken out in Lexington & Concord, they also became the head of
the war effort. Explore some well-known and not-so-well-known delegates to the Second Continental Congress through this matching activity. 

These scaffolded Activity Suggestion Sheets give quick, grab-and-go activities for you to implement into lesson plans. The sheets cover the lives and stories of the people enslaved at Mount Vernon.

These sheets were created by 2024 LifeGuard Teacher Fellows Kristin Pankey and Andrea Thompson.

Many different animals and insects lived at Mount Vernon in the eighteenth century, and many of the same breeds live at Mount Vernon today. Through this matching activity and primary sources, explore the importance of these animals to Washington and his estate.

Due to modern technology and trade, it is possible in the United States to get most foods year-round. However, in the eighteenth century, people were limited based on when food could be harvested or caught. This activity compares modern recipes to seasonal eating in the eighteenth century. 

As a teenager, George Washington copied the Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company in Conversation to practice his penmanship. The 110 rules covered many of the social graces of the time period. We have many of the same rules in society today. Complete this matching activity to learn some of the rules' modern equivalent. 

Use this helpful notetaking sheet to have young students record observations about an archaeological artifact.

Use these matching cards to name the types of animals that live at Mount Vernon.

These grab-and-go activity suggestions support instruction in colonial textiles and foodways, using archaeology and other primary sources to demonstrate different aspects of colonial life.

These activity sheets provide grab-and-go activity ideas about the foundation of the U.S. Constitution, government, and presidency. With different options for Elementary, Middle, and High School students, these activity suggestion sheets have something for every grade level. These sheets were created by 2024 LifeGuard Teacher Fellows Emily Finch and Tamera Johnson.

George Washington's name and face is all around us. Using this scavenger hunt, you'll be able to find him not just about Mount Vernon, but all over your neighborhood!