To be able to examine artefacts and identify similarities.
Pictures of a variety of ancient Greek vases.
Groups with drawing materials.
After looking through the website or a visit to a museum with a good collection of Greek vases, ask the children if they can name what kind of things are often portrayed on Greek vases. Myths? Sports? Banqueting? Everyday life?
Then ask the children if they noticed any other similarities on the vases apart from the figured scenes. Are there any similar motifs or shapes?
The children can now design their own Greek vase. You could perhaps divide the class and have different groups try a myth, another group tries a sport, and so on.
More able children to could find out about the different styles of Greek vase e.g. Geometric, Black Figure, Red Figure.
For more information visit the 'explore' section in the 'Daily Life' chapter.
You may find the following Background Information sheets useful for this activity:
Greek Vases - www.ancientgreece.co.uk/staff/resources/background/bg5/home.html