Ancient China Activities
Ancient China Lesson Plan
If you are an Ancient Civilizations teacher and need some activity ideas for Ancient China, you are in the right place! We’ve compiled our top free and paid Ancient China Activities and resources to help you have a successful Ancient China unit. We want to help you succeed, whether you use these as an outline or to help supplement your existing unit! All links and resources below are what we personally use in our Ancient China unit.
Ancient China Activities for Middle School
Introductory Vocabulary Activities
Like all of our units, we like to start off with vocabulary-based activities, as they’re a great practice tool for students. These vocabulary activities for Google Drive are fun ways for students to work on Ancient China vocabulary words in a variety of ways. They range from matching, fill-in-the-blank, synonyms and antonyms, quizlet links, everything you would need for vocabulary!
Ancient China Word Wall
Along with our vocab activities, we always find that word walls are a great vocabulary tool! Our resource includes 22 Ancient China vocab words ready to print and display on a bulletin board. And because images are included on every card, they’re also helpful for your visual learners! Even better, an editable Google Slideshow is included with all words and images, so you can edit definitions as needed!
Never used an ancient civilization word wall before? This blog post will teach you how to set up, organize, and use them effectively in your classroom!
Ancient China Unit Introduction
One thing we try to do is make our lessons relevant to students, so connecting present-day China to Ancient China is something we find important. To do that, we take a more modern approach to our unit and have students complete this unit introduction activity. Students research key details about modern China, and when we shift back to ancient times, that prior knowledge makes it easier.
Ancient China Bell Ringers
If you’re looking to improve your classroom management and help students review material, these bell ringers are perfect! This set includes 20 Ancient China Bell Ringers for Google Drive that are 100% editable and ready to use. These warm-up prompts cover a variety of topics that come up in an Ancient China unit while also building helpful skills! Topics covered in this resource include geography, Confucianism, the Silk Road, and more!
Ancient China Slideshow + Note Sheet
We find it helpful to share background information at the start of the unit, so students can make connections during other activities. With this Ancient China Slideshow for Google Slides, teach your students about the GRAPES of Ancient China! This 45-slide Google Slideshow provides a detailed overview of Ancient China, including geography, Han Dynasties, Daoism, and much more! This no-prep resource also includes both printable and digital note sheets!
Ancient China Geography Activity for Google Slides
When it comes to geography and China being so diverse, we want to help students visualize the different landscapes better. This postcard activity allows students to create digital postcards that include information on different landscapes and further research specific sites. We’ve also found that some students don’t know how to write or address postcards, so this activity slips in a little life skill as well!
Chinese Philosophies
A China unit isn’t complete without discussing the Chinese Philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. With that, we have a couple of different options. The first one is from SHEG, as they’ve created a wonderful free resource comparing Confucianism and Daoism. The goal with this is trying to determine what the most ideal type of government is between them. The second option is our philosophies debate, which covers not only Confucianism and Daoism, but Legalism as well. With this debate, students learn key information of each philosophy and apply the teachings by creating school rules around them. Once those are decided, students then debate which one is the best approach to govern a school.
Chinese Philosophy Jigsaw Activity
Looking for more ways to teach about Chinese Philosophies? This Chinese Philosophies reading activity is a great way to teach your students about Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. This resource includes printable and digital reading passages about each of the philosophies (2 pages each). There is also a graphic organizer students can use to record important beliefs and key details for each philosophy! Each of the three reading passages explains the founder, major beliefs, and legacy of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. There are also some significant quotes from Confucius, Laozi, Shang Yang, and Han Feizi that students can analyze.
Chinese Zodiac + Lunar New Year Activity
Need a resource that helps connect Chinese history with the holiday of Lunar New Year? If so, this Chinese Zodiac and Lunar New Year Activity is exactly what you need! This resource can be incorporated as part of your Ancient China unit or simply an activity for Lunar New Year. Students will read about the history of the Chinese zodiac and how it connects to the holiday in a 2-page reading passage. When finished, they’ll learn about the 12 animals (and their corresponding personality traits) and complete an activity.
TED-Ed Silk Road Video
Another important topic in an Ancient China unit is the Silk Road. We’ve found a great starting point using TED-Ed’s YouTube video on the subject. Their videos have great animations, make content very digestible, and it’s no different with their introduction to the Silk Road. You can use this as an intro to your students and have discussion afterwards, or make it an assignment for comprehension.
Silk Road Game-Based Simulation
One of our absolute favorite resources we’ve ever created is the Silk Road Simulation. With this simulation, students have the chance to travel on the Silk Road going through key destinations. There are 5 rounds in total, each with different goods available depending on where they choose to go. It helps with geography, understanding trade, and there are trivia questions to test comprehension. Students will be able to see exactly what was traded and get a glimpse into what traveling the Silk Road was like. Chance elements are also involved to showcase both good and bad experiences that were possible while traveling.
Plan Out a Road Trip along the Silk Road
If you’re not up for a full-scale simulation, we’ve also created a Silk Road Road Trip Project. It gives students a visual on the distance of the Silk Road and the cultural elements surrounding different destinations. The project is something that students can complete individually and features student choice and problem-solving skills. It’s also a great tool to briefly discuss how to plan a road trip!
Ancient China Timeline Activity
If you’re looking to make your Ancient China Unit more hands-on and engaging, this printable Ancient China Timeline is the resource you need! In this interactive timeline project, students construct a timeline that features reading passages, maps, and images. The information included in these features covers the Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, Zhou Dynasty, Warring States Period, Qin Dynasty, and Han Dynasty. Not only will this activity give students the chance to physically build a timeline, but it will also become a learning tool that they can refer back to throughout the unit!
China and Rome Inquiry Activity
While we have not used any of their lessons fully, C3Teachers has a free resource on the Silk Road. It’s an inquiry assignment asking if Chinese and Roman travelers knew about each other in the context of the Silk Road. Students will read a variety of resources to figure out why and answer some other corresponding questions.
Great Wall of China: Did the Benefits Outweigh the Costs?
Getting into the Great Wall of China, there’s a DBQ from the DBQ Project that we’ve used regularly in our Ancient China unit. It asks if the benefits outweighed the costs of the Great Wall of China. This DBQ can be a really helpful exercise for students to think about the pros and cons of the Wall. If it is something your district would consider purchasing, we recommend it.
Great Wall of China Activities and Reading Passage
If you’re looking for something a bit shorter, we have created a Great Wall of China reading passage and graphic organizer activity. It’s great for reading comprehension, and leaves an element of mystery for students while they figure out the graphic organizer. It’s also a fun tool for students to gain some background knowledge as well! With that, we also highly encourage you to find different YouTube videos on the Great Wall of China to give your students a real-life look of what it is.
Ancient China Job Fair
A project we’ve brought up in other Ancient Civilizations, our Job Fair Project is a great chance to combine different people from ancient times and job skills that students often don’t get. Our Job Fair for Ancient China includes resumes for Confucius, Qin Shi Huangdi, Emperor Wu of Han, and Empress Wu Zetian. After students analyze each resume, they decide who would be hired for various jobs. They not only gain critical analysis skills, but also get to see the perspective of hiring and how resumes are set up!
Ancient China Early Finisher Activity or Emergency Sub Plan
We always like to have an easy, printable activity sheet students can do whether it’s used as an emergency sub plan or an early finisher activity. With this specific resource there is a timeline activity surrounding the Chinese Dynasties and a word search containing some Ancient China vocabulary. It’s nice to have this in your back pocket if something comes up or if a student finishes an assignment much faster than anticipated.
Legacy of Ancient China
Help your students understand the impact and legacy of ancient China with this printable and digital activity! This no-prep resource includes a detailed Google Slideshow that covers 12 different innovations of ancient China and an analysis activity. To use this resource, present the slideshow to your students. Then, they will work on the corresponding graphic organizer. On the graphic organizer, students will summarize how these innovations were used and identify how they’ve affected our lives today.
Ancient China Printable Bookmarks
These printable Ancient China Bookmarks are a fun addition to your Ancient China unit! This set includes four different designs that feature images and clipart that are related to Ancient China. The bookmarks are 100% black and white so that students can color in the images or personalize them as they wish! These coloring bookmarks make a great prize, a short early finisher activity, or can even help students save time when using their textbooks!
Ancient China Test + Study Guide
At the end of your unit, you can assess your students using this Ancient China Test and Study Guide. The test is perfectly aligned to the other resources mentioned in this activity guide, 100% editable and available in 2 different formats: Google Forms (self-grading) and Google Docs. The day before the test, have a review day with the provided study guide, and then give the exam in whichever format works best for you!
Ancient China Daily Agenda Slides
Need a way to stay more organized during your Ancient China Unit? These Ancient China Daily Agenda Slides Templates will help you save time and better immerse your students in the unit! These slides for Google Drive are editable, and each template features a photograph of Ancient China in the background, as well as Ancient China clipart. They can be used to share your daily agenda, bell ringers, and more!
Never used agenda slides, or looking for more options? Check out our recent blog post for more info on daily agenda slides!
Ancient China Unit Plan
When teaching any ancient civilization, it’s always important to have activities that make the content fun and engaging for students. If you liked any of our Ancient China activities, you’ll love our Ancient China Unit Bundle! This bundle contains 20 resources and is a great way to supplement your textbook or curriculum materials about Ancient China! We’ve had great success with these resources, and our students had a blast!
As of 2024, we now have all of our Ancient Civilizations unit bundles available on our own website, which you can check out here. We believe the organization to be even better than how you can receive the files on TPT, and it also helps if your school district blocks Google Drive files from TPT!
Looking for ideas and inspiration when planning your Ancient China unit? If so, this free Ancient China resource guide can help! It showcases each of our Ancient China resources to help you decide which options will be best for your students. For more details about how we put fit these resources together and how long we spend on each activity, you can also download our free Ancient China unit plan!
If you liked this list of 13 Ancient China Activities for Middle School, consider watching the corresponding video here!
Are you looking for some new teaching ideas to engage your students in your social studies class? If so, you’ll love our FREE guide: 5 Creative Projects to Ignite Student Engagement in Your Social Studies Class. These activities have both printable and digital options and can work for any social studies subject!
