Morning: Kids Activity

You are the Steward - Take a Household Inventory

Are you good with numbers? Here is a counting activity to help you understand the job of the house steward a bit better. The steward was responsible for keeping an inventory – a count and description – of all of the linens (bedding, tablecloths), plates, glasses, and silverware in the house. Let’s see how much you have in your cupboards! Grab a piece of paper or a notebook and a pencil.

Create an inventory of items for each category below. Name the item and tally how many of each you have in your house. You will probably have more than the Elizabethan’s did. We can get many of these items fairly inexpensively today. In the 17th century, glasses were hand-blown in Venice, Italy; plates and spoons were made of silver (by silversmiths) or pewter (made by pewterers) molded in iron molds; and the linen for tablecloths was woven by hand from thread made from the flax plant. There were no large factories with machines in the 1600’s!

Categories:

Sheets

Pillowcases

Plates, large

Plates, small

Ceramic mugs

Glass vessels (glasses)

Spoons

Butter Knives

*The Elizabethans did not use forks, so you don’t have to count those!! Phew!!*