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Key Stage 1 & 2

A school visit typically starts at 10.00 am and finishes at approximately 2.15 pm,
with 30 minutes timetabled in an undercover lunching area.

Follow the links below to discover how together we can enhance a visit to the Museum.

Activity Workshops

Resource Boxes

Special Events

Activity Workshops

The following activity workshops will provide your class with a hands-on experiential learning experience. These workshops must be booked in advance of your visit. Although these workshops will be led by Museum teachers, you and your adult support must help the children during the activity and are responsible for the behaviour of your group.

Some of these workshops are also suitable for Reception classes. Please ensure that you choose a workshop that is suitable for the age of your class and the topic you are studying at school.

A maximum of 30 children are able to take part in a workshop at any one time.

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Traditional washday

Experience a traditional washday and find out how people coped without a washing machine, comparing washday from the Victorian times to the present day with particular reference to the 1940s Prefab.
Age Group
 Reception, Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
 40 minutes
QCA links
 Foundation Stage: KUW, PD, MD, CLL, PSED
Key Stage 1& 2: History - 2, 13
Butter making

Try your hand at making butter the Victorian way and learn about the importance of the railways in milk distribution.

Age Group:
Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
176kb pdf download
QCA links
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 11, 13
Cruck frame building

Find out more about different structures and materials used in buildings and as a class raise your own cruck frame barn.

Age Group
Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
168kb pdf download
QCA links
Key Stage 1 & 2:
History - 2. Science - 1c, 1e, 3c.
Geography - 9. D&T - 1d. Art - 1b, 2c, 6c
Defend the Home Front!
logoJoin the Scouts to help the Home Guard defend the Home Front. Take part in the Home Guard's Drill, learn to put out fires and use a code wheel to find out what your orders are!
Age Group
Key Stage 2
Information Sheet
Length
60 minutes
QCA links
Key Stage 2:
History - 9
Dig for Victory
logoAfter exploring the 1940s Prefab garden and allotment to see what is growing, your class will design their own gardens to help the war effort and make some rationing treats.
Age Group
Key Stage 2
Information Sheet
Length
60 minutes
QCA links
Key Stage 2:
History - 9, 13
 
Evacuee!
logoYour class will be prepared for evacuation by a 1940s teacher, who will help the children make their labels, complete their identity cards, pack their suitcase and make their gas mask box.school shop
Age Group
Key Stage 2
Information Sheet
Length
60 minutes
QCA links
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 13
Historic cooking

Where did food come from before supermarkets? Learn more about the staple diets of the working family and then help to make griddle scones over an open fire.

Age Group
Reception, Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
QCA links
Foundation Stage:
KUW, CLL, PSED
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 11, 13
Life 2000 years ago

Explore the reconstructed Iron Age House and learn about the realities of life in pre-Roman Britain through a question and answer session.

Age Group
Reception, Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
QCA links
Foundation Stage:
KUW, CLL, PSED
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 6a.
Geography - 9.
Lighting in the past

Find out how homes have been lit through time and discover the different means and materials used for lighting, using modern reconstructions and artefacts. Choose between making a beeswax candle or a Roman lamp that the children take home with them.

Age Group
Reception, Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
QCA links
Foundation Stage:
KUW, PD, MD, CLL, PSED
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 11.
Science - 1c, 2d, 3c, 5d, 6d
Art - 2c.
Make Do and Mend
logoDuring World War II, and for many years afterwards, many materials were scarce and not many toys were available to buy as the factories were turned over to the war effort. This workshop introduces the idea of rationing and re-cycling as the children will have the chance to make their own 1940s style toys and look at some original and replica make do and mend toys.
Age Group
 Key Stage 2
Information Sheet
Length
 60 minutes
QCA links
 Key Stage 2:
History - 9, 13
Rag rug making

Learn why cottagers made and used rag rugs in the past and find out about the craft of rag rug making, spanning 100 years.

Age Group
 Reception, Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
 40 minutes
QCA links
 Foundation Stage:
KUW, PD, MD, CLL, PSED;
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 12, 13.
Science - 1c, 3c, 4c.
Art - 1b.
Shelter building

Find out more about different structures and materials used in buildings and create a shelter for you and your friends using only the materials found in the woods.

Age Group
Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
000kb pdf download
QCA links
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2.
Science - 1c, 1e, 3c. 
Geography - 9. D&T - 1d.
Art - 1b, 2c, 6c.
Traditional brick making

Find out more about different structures and materials used in buildings and make your own brick. Then discover the social importance of brick making throughout history from Medieval to modern times and understand the role of children in the brickyards.

Age Group
Reception, Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
140kb pdf download
QCA links
Foundation Stage:
KUW, PD, MD, CLL, PSED;
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 11, 12.
Science - 1c, 2d, 3c, 5d, 6d.
Art - 2c.
D&T - 1d.
Traditional toys and games

Explore and play with a range of traditional toy from the past and then try your hand at making your own toy to take home. Your class will also have the opportunity to play with some replica Victorian toys.

Age Group
Reception, Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
88kb pdf download
QCA links
Foundation Stage:
KUW, PD, MD, CLL, PSED;
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 11, 13.
Science - 1e, 2d.
D&T - 1a.
The Victorian Blacksmith

Each village had a blacksmith who could make anything from metal. This fascinating demonstration allows children to understand the importance of the village blacksmith and provides an insight into industrial change in Victorian Britain. Covering the change from local craftsmen and travel limited by the capacity of horses to mass production and railway transport.

Age Group
Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
132kb pdf download
QCA links
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 11, 12.
Science - 1c, 2d, 3c, 5d, 6d.
Art - 2c.
Victorian school life

Experience a Victorian lesson from circa 1880. A selection of the Museum's Victorian artefacts will be available for your class to handle and describe.

Age Group
Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
203kb pdf download
QCA links
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 11, 12
Victorian cottage school

Find out about straw plait schools through the story of Caroline Woodward (aged 6) who lived and worked in Leagrave Cottage in 1851. Follow in her footsteps and make your own plait from a suitable material.

Age Group
Key Stage 1 & 2
Information Sheet
Length
40 minutes
221kb pdf download
QCA links
Key Stage 1& 2:
History - 2, 11, 12.
Science - 1c, 3c.
Art - 1b

Resource Boxes

The resources within these boxes are designed to enable you to lead activities and discussions with your class at the Museum.

The hire of these resource boxes is £15 per day, with up to 4 classes being able to utilise a box per day.

'Buildings and objects through the senses'

Using feely bags, each containing an object / artefact, children will use their senses to describe the object and make comparisons between the different materials, for example texture and warmth.

Age Group: Key Stage 1 & 2

'Reversible and irreversible changes in building materials'

Looking at changing states, your class will discover more about building materials from the raw material to the finished product.

Age Group: Key Stage 2

Both of the above boxes include an 'Investigating Buildings' resource for use around the Museum buildings to put the science into context.

Age Group: Key Stage 1 & 2

'Spy Trail'

logoA addition to the 'Defend the Home Front' workshop, your class will follow the clues and compass bearings to test their code breaking skills.
(Available free when a 'Defend the Home Front' workshop is booked)

Age Group: Key Stage 2

Chronological and geographical assessment of the Museum buildings

Students use the historic buildings to collate historical data including original building date, the date that the buildings were moved to the Museum and the location from which the buildings were collected from. The students will then be able to produce a chronological line of the buildings and building techniques as well as being able to map the collection area of the Museum.

An information pack detailing the buildings (both re-erected and in storage) will be provided along with a geographical map.

Age Group: Key Stage 2

 

Special Events

Campaign '44 - Friday 27 March 2009

Meet British and American troops as they train for the build up to the planned offensives. Then talk to the village's civilians as they support the troops and live on the Home Front.

Join the Americans as they drill, find out about camouflage and have your face painted, learn how to put out fires with the National Fire Service and much more.

Length

10:00hrs until 14:15hrs
Cost
£5.50 per child (inclusive of entrance to the Museum)
Toys through the Ages - June 2009
Invaders and Settlers - Friday 10 July 2009

Discover what life was like in Romano-Britain and the Middle Ages. Meet the Celts and Romans, Saxon and Viking warriors and the Norman conquerors.

Length

10.00 am until 2.00 pm

Cost
£5.50 per child (inclusive of entrnace to the Museum)

Themed Days

£170 per class

These theme days are not available during June or July

Life as Invaders and Settlers

During the day your class will be able to explore the Iron Age House, make a Roman lamp and create Saxon and Norman games to play with.

This day is designed so that your class will be accompanied by one Museum Teacher throughout your visit and is suitable for Key Stage 1 and 2 children.

For up to 2 classes per day.

KS2 Victorian Life

During the day your class will be able to join in a Victorian schoolroom and then explore the types of work that children their age may have done on the farm and in their homes.

This day is designed so that your class will be accompanied by one costumed Museum Teacher throughout your visit and is suitable for Key Stage 2 children.

For up to 2 classes per day.

KS2 1940s Life

During the day your class will be able to join in an evacuee's school and then explore rationing through hands-on activities.

This day is designed so that your class will be accompanied by one Museum Teacher throughout your visit and is suitable for Key Stage 2 children.

For up to 2 classes per day.
A Victorian Christmas (November Only)

Join in a Victorian schoolroom at Christmas time, then explore the Christmas stocking and make a wish when stirring the Christmas pudding.

For up to 3 classes per day.

KS1 Houses and Homes

Investigate the Victorian Toll House and the 1947 Prefab through drawing and object handling and then discover more about building materials and structures.

This day is designed so that your class will be accompanied by one Museum Teacher throughout your visit.

For up to 2 classes per day.

Washday

Cruck Frame

Butter making

brick making

School Room

 

 

 


Key Stage 1 & 2