Feudalism is another one of those concepts that can be entertainingly and deliciously demonstrated in a classroom setting by having students play the roles of the different social stations in the pyramid and making candy representative of the rights and obligations due between lords and vassals. The teacher provides a running narrative of how feudalism works throughout this activity, making it a very interactive lecture.
Ancient World History isn’t that conceptual aside from basic government types and religious dogmas, so when we do get an interesting concept like the Chinese Mandate of Heaven I try to create what my common planning colleague calls a “memorable learning experience.” This activity hones students’ public speaking and persuasive skills while helping them to understand a novel political mechanism from classical Chinese civilization.