Plimoth-on-Web Plimoth Plantation's Web Site! Fun Facts about Pilgrim Children
1. Children in 1600s New England had to work hard. Their chores included: fetching water from the brook or springs, gathering firewood, herding animals, gathering berries and other wild plants, and helping their parents cook, clean, preserve food, plant and harvest crops, and care for younger children.
2. Even though Pilgrim children worked very hard, they still had time to play. They probably played marbles, ball games, board games and running games.
3. Children were expected to show courtesy to adults, including their parents, by bowing and curtsying to them.
4. Children were expected to serve meals to their parents. Children only ate after their parents were served. They often ate on stools near the hearth (fireplace).
5. Both boys and girls in 1600s England and New England wore gowns (dresses) until they were about seven years old.
6. There was no school in the early years of New Plymouth. Parents who wanted their children to learn to read and write taught them themselves or had their children taught by neighbors.
7. Children usually slept on mattresses that were laid on the floor at night. The mattresses were often stuffed with straw.
8. Children and adults probably only took baths a few times a year. They thought bathing was unhealthy.