In this article, the author discusses how he began a series of lessons on the French and Indian War era. He incorporates physical activity, paintings, artifacts, diaries and discussions into the lessons, so that students in fourth grade through middle school can get a real feel for what the colonial frontier was like. He emphasizes that using paintings, artifacts, and hands-on activities to teach history is one way of restoring the joy and excitement of learning to the social studies classroom. (Contains 8 notes.)