Take the kids to a battlefield

We have some around here.  Bunker Hill, Concord, Lexington, Bennington, Ticonderoga, Saratoga, gotta be some more but I can't think of them right now.  To make it really educational, get a book about the battle and have the kids read it.  Bring the book on the trip.  They usually have a walking trail with sign posts.  Have the kids read each sign post aloud.  If there is a guide, join up with him and listen to what he has to say.  Observe the terrain.  Point out the importance of the high ground.  Find the high ground.  Find the places our side defended against Redcoat attacks.  Pace out a fair musket shot, about 150 paces is extreme range for a smooth bore flintlock musket.  Pace out the distance required to see the whites of their eyes.  That's so short a range that nobody can miss.  From Concord, follow the road the Redcoats used to retreat back to Boston after the shoot out.  Point out that patriots fired upon the retreating Redcoats all the way.  In Wales, England, Carnavon Castle, a famous Redcoat regiment has their home and museum.  That regiment (Cold Stream Guards? can't remember for sure) was at Concord in 1775 and made the retreat to Boston.  The diary of the regimental surgeon is in the museum, open to the page for Concord.  It reads some thing like , "Oh the colonials were beastly that day.  Unsporting.  Fired upon us from behind stone walls."