'Feely' bag

'Feely' bags involve students feeling objects without seeing them and then guessing what each object might be.

Sew 15–20 bags with elastic or drawstring tops. Put one artifact related to the topic into each numbered bag. Place the bags around the room. Have the students go from bag to bag, feeling the artifacts and making notes to describe its shape, texture, size, and how it feels.

The students then write down what they think each object is and the reason it may be significant to the topic, or write an open question that could be asked to elicit more information.

When each student has 'felt' each bag, a class response time may be used to reveal each artifact. Alternatively, the activity could be repeated at the end of the unit, when each item could be revealed with a discussion as to the significance of the artifact.