Stone Age Activities & Crafts for Kids
Updated: Feb 1, 2023
We've searched the internet for the best activities and crafts to transport you and your kids back to the Stone Age.
First, build yourself Stone Age weapons and jewellery to look like a Cave Person. Then immerse yourselves in the everyday lives of the early Homo Sapiens with some prehistoric jobs and pastimes.
Why not plan a full Stone Age Day?
Stone Age Jewellery
Stone Age people started making jewellery not long after they started making weaponry. Their jewellery included beads on necklaces and bracelets, pendants and hair pins. They made these beads from shells, animal teeth, animal bones or stones. They would then thread these beads onto string often made from plant stems or thin strips of animal hide. They would even sometimes decorate their jewellery by carving designs into the bead's surface.
Activity:
Make your own Stone Age jewellery using salt dough and twine.
Using salt dough you can shape your beads into animal teeth, bones or even shells. Don't forget to decorate it with paint or carve a design on to your beads.
Find the full directions on how to make your Stone Age jewellery here.
Stone Age Axe
Early Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens invented lots of tools and weapons to help them survive. One of the earliest inventions was an axe. This was made by taking a sharp rock and strapping it to a strong stick using rope made from plant stems. It was relatively easy to manufacture and was used for all sorts of jobs including hunting, preparing food, chopping wood and even making other tools.
Activity:
Make your own Stone Age axe.
Using newspaper and paper mache, form your sharp rock and stick. Then combine together and decorate using paint and twine.
Find the full directions to make your own Stone Age axe here.
Stone Circles
Now you're equipped with Stone Age weaponry and are starting to look like an early Homo Sapien, its about time you performed some Stone Age jobs.
Homo Sapiens from the Neolithic (that's the new Stone Age) would often construct Stone Circles. These are monuments of large stones placed upright to form pillars and archways and positioned pin a circle or semi-circle. Nobody knows quite what these monuments were used for. Possible uses include burial sites, religious uses, healing places and more. Some even believe they were the landing sites for aliens! There are 1303 Stone Circles across the UK and Europe. The most famous Stone Circle is called Stonehenge.
Activity:
Build your own mini Stone Circle just like the Homo Sapiens from the Neolithic in this fun activity from BBC History.
This pack includes information on some of the most well known Stone Circles plus details on how to design and construct your own.
Find out all of the details on how to make your own Stone Circle with BBC History here*.
Cave Painting
What would Stone Age people do on long winter nights stuck in a cave? Sounds pretty boring. But the they found a way to keep themselves busy as well as having an artistic outlet: Cave Painting.
Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens painted on the walls of their caves using paints made from ground up rocks mixed with animal fats (and even their own spit!). They would apply these paints using their fingers or brushes made from animal hair or plants. They often painted hunting scenes, animals and other humans. But these paintings weren't just a way of livening up a boring evening in the cave. Some experts believe they were used to give advice to other cave dwellers on hunting techniques. Others think it was linked to ancient beliefs where they depicted hunting scenes as a way of bringing success in real life hunts.
Activity:
Create your own prehistoric Cave Paintings at home. Check out what Stone Age humans included in their Cave Paintings & how they were made here then give it a go yourself. Try using similar colours to those used in the real paintings such as browns, reds and yellows. Copy the style of the paintings and include images of Stone Age animals, prehistoric weapons, handprints and more.
Want to take it further?
Why not create your own Stone Age paint using rocks and soil from your garden? Check out this guide on how to make your own prehistoric paint at Kinder Art*.
Here's a great suggestion from "Teaching Ideas":
"taping paper to the underside of the tables and letting children draw while lying on their backs, as if they were working on the walls and ceiling of a cave. Pull down the blinds and turn the lights off to mimic painting in a dark cave."
Want to learn even more about the Stone Age? Then you'll definitely want Imagining History to bring their 'A Handy Guide to Survive the Stone Age' Interactive workshop to your school.
Our Award-Winning sessions combine role-play, storytelling, demonstrations and drama and performance to bring history to life for your students.
* Web links marked with * are for reference only and are in no way affiliated with Imagining History. Imagining History has no control over what content is included on these web links so discretion is advised.
Further reading from the Imagining History blog:
