The Liberty Bell Timeline Scavenger Hunt

This Liberty Bell Timeline Scavenger Hunt will make it easy to teach kids all the interesting facts about the Liberty Bell.

Symbols of America, like the Liberty Bell, should be a part of your history lessons.

To make it easier for them, use a fun American history activity to help tweens keep the timeline of this iconic symbol straight. Something like this a Liberty Bell scavenger hunt.

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Whether you’re studying American history in your homeschool or you’re looking for a unique way to celebrate Independence Day, have some fun focusing on our country’s Founding Fathers and the activities that took place in Philadelphia, PA during the summer of 1776.

The Liberty Bell Facts

Aside from the American Flag, the next most iconic symbols of America’s independence is the Liberty Bell.

The Liberty Bell had very humble beginnings. The colonial Assembly of Pennsylvania originally ordered it to hang in the State House. They would ring the bell to announce meetings and important events.

Over the years, however, it has become a symbol of freedom and has traveled across the United States.

Did you know:

• They inscribe these words on the bell: proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof (Leviticus 25:10).
• The bell was used throughout the Revolutionary War, but near the end of the war, they moved it out of Philadelphia and hid it so advancing British soldiers would not melt it down to make ammunition.
• The old State House bell was first called the Liberty Bell by a group trying to outlaw slavery. These abolitionists remembered the words on the bell and, in the 1830s, adopted it as a symbol of their cause.
• Beginning in the late 1800s, the Liberty Bell traveled around the country to expositions and fairs to help heal the divisions of the Civil War.
• The bell weighs 2080 pounds and is made of 70 percent copper, 25 percent tin, and small amounts of lead, zinc, gold, and silver.

There’s a lot to learn about the Liberty Bell, which is why I created a fun timeline scavenger hunt for tweens.

Philadelphia

For an introduction to the city’s history and many famous landmarks, we turned to one of our favorite tour guides, Dave Stotts and his Drive Thru History series.

For this lesson, we watched Episode 6: The Founding Fathers of Philadelphia, which includes information about Ben Franklin, The Declaration House, The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

He even includes a stop to buy a Philly cheesesteak, because why wouldn’t you?

The Liberty Bell at the Magic Kingdom

Since we aren’t able to make a trip to Philadelphia to see the original bell, we kept our learning closer to home and visited Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom instead.

Did you know that a second generation Liberty Bell can be found in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom? This bell was cast in 1989 from the same mold as the original bell that hangs in Philadelphia.

Liberty Bell Timeline

Like I mentioned, there are so many interesting facts to learn about this famous bell.

I created a short printable activity that will help your kids further their Liberty Bell studies and keep track of what they’ve discovered.

Liberty Bell Timeline Trivia Scavenger Hunt

 Tweens can search for the answers using these websites:

• The Liberty Bell Center
• Ben’s Guide to U. S. Government for Kids
• USHistory.org The Liberty Bell page

Fun 4th of July Activities

Aside from this Liberty Bell Timeline Scavenger Hunt, there are lots of fun things to do to celebrate Independence Day

• Make some 4th of July Clothespin Stars.
• Use this Fourth of July Bucket list to plan your festivities.

What’s your favorite resource for learning Liberty Bell facts?