Home Learning Resources - History

Home Learning Primary History Ideas

There are a range of online quizzes covering lots of subjects (including history and geography) on the website below:

https://www.educationquizzes.com/ks2/history

Check out the History Association page for links to activities and virtual museum tours.

https://www.history.org.uk/primary/categories/934/module/8745/resource-sharing-hub-key-stage-1/9832/links

BBC Bitesize has lots of games and resources to support learning for both KS1 and KS2:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcw76sg

The Imperial War Museum has a host of real-life, first hand accounts of a range of historical events, from 9/11 and the account of a refugee to memories of food rationing and life on a submarine.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/learning

Online games and resources to help you to explore history without leaving the house:

https://www.hrp.org.uk/schools/five-brilliant-history-resources-for-home-schooling/#gs.rbj558

There are lots of fun things to try on the English Heritage website:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/history-at-home/

Watch weekly history lessons live!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx2QMoA1Th9fXxtAgcksuOrjXjt31ROD7

History Heroes activities and downloads (including colouring pages and word searches).

https://www.historyheroes.co.uk/fun-downloads-and-activities/

Learning activities about Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Black History from Manchester Museum

https://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/learning-activities/history/

Fun arts and crafts ideas to support history learning:

https://cimuseums.org.uk/museumfromhome/

Other Activities to try at home…

Local History

Create a family timeline as far as you can go. How many generations? How many people do you know now? Has anything about your family surprised you?
Research the history of your street/village/town – what is your area famous for? Are there any significant individuals in your area?
Compare and contrast how your local area has changed over time – has it always had the same populations? Have the buildings changed?
Where is your nearest war memorial? Is it small or large? What does that tell you about your area? Do you know of anyone that was involved in any of the wars?
How is history being made right now? How has your local area been affected by the Coronavirus?

Significant Individuals

Create a fake social media page for someone in history. What kinds of pictures would they have on? What kinds of statuses would they include? Who would their friends be?
Research significant individuals in your area. What made them significant? Did they impact more than just your area?
Compare two significant individuals – what are their similarities or differences? Who do you think was more significant?
Create a quiz about a significant individual. Make different rounds like a Picture Round or Famous Quotes Round.
Create a digital book about a significant individual using Book Creator on iOS or a normal book using paper!

Significant Events

Research any significant events in your local area – what made them significant? Are they still remembered today? Are there any signs of it where you are? Did it affect more than just your area?
Choose an event from history and create a news report about that event. Film yourself sat behind a desk, write a digital report or write a newspaper report about it.
Pick 3 significant events and try to link them together – are there pieces that could link them together? Perhaps it’s location? People involved? When they happened?
Choose an event and write a diary entry as someone who was there. How would they feel? What would they see and hear? Who else would be there with them? What is the tone of the diary entry?
Write an alternate version of an event from history. What would have happened if the Titanic had never sank? What would have happened if Russian landed on the moon first? What would have happened if the Romans hadn’t invaded Britain?

Stone Age to Iron Age

Film yourself as a Stone Age person and show what their daily lives would have looked like – hunting and gathering, making fires, painting on walls, farming etc.
Make your own cave paintings. Crawl under a table, stick some paper onto the edges of the table and paint like you’re in a cave!
Pretend to be a Bronze Age farmer and begin trading with people at home – what kind of items can you get for your own? Will you end up with something that is better than what you gave?
Build an Iron Age roundhouse out of lolly sticks or matchsticks. Research the features of roundhouses and label them.

Listen to Stone Age-themed songs and create your own using an app like Garageband:

https://mrcarterrocks.wixsite.com/historyrocks/history

Roman Empire and Roman Britain

Research your local area to see if there were any Romans who settled there. What kind of an impact did they have? Can you see any remains today?
Research what a Roman soldier would have carried with them. Find a backpack or bag and look for as many items at home that would have been similar. How much does it weigh? Could you carry it around for long?
Use the Mozaik3D app (iOS/Android/Windows – you can create a free account with just an email address) to research about Roman entertainment – Gladiators/Colosseum/Circus Maximus/Baths of Caracalla scenes
Build a part of Hadrian’s wall with a milecastle using Lego or lollysticks. Research the features of it and label them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY_3ggKg0Bc Watch the animation and write/film a report about the volcano in Pompeii or write a diary entry as someone there.

Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain

Create factfiles about the Anglo-Saxon and Viking gods and goddesses. How were they similar or different? Choose your favourite and create a presentation about them.
Look to see if your local area was affected by Anglo-Saxons or Vikings. Most place names have their roots in Anglo-Saxon or Viking heritage.
Pretend to be a Viking and set up trade routes with other members of your family. Decide whether you will trade with them or not or whether you will try to raid them and take all of their stuff!
Make a Viking longboat out of paper, card or craft materials. Research the features and label it. Test it in some water if it is strong enough.
Act like an Anglo-Saxon monk – wear a dressing gown and stay as silent as you can for as long as you can. Research what they would do on a daily basis and try to follow it for as long as you can. Who can set the longest time for keeping silent?

Ancient Egyptians

Create your own secret messages using Hieroglyphic Typewriter:

https://discoveringegypt.com/egyptian-hieroglyphic-writing/hieroglyphic-typewriter/

See if anyone can decode your message or have you decode theirs.

Research the Egyptian gods and goddesses and create fake social media posts for your favourite ones.
Research about the building of the pyramids and try to build the biggest you can using Lego or craft materials.
Plan a Pharaoh’s party! Decide which food, entertainment and decorations you will have:

https://mrcarterrocks.wixsite.com/historyrocks/ancient-egyptians

Have a look at the Earliest Civilisations and see who you think was the most significant and why:

https://mrcarterrocks.wixsite.com/historyrocks/early-civilisations

Ancient Greeks

Follow a Greek QR Code Trail and find the answers to unlock the secret word, or find out more about the Greek mythological creatures. Use the Camera app on iOS or Android to scan the QR codes and tap on the message to follow the links:

https://mrcarterrocks.wixsite.com/historyrocks/ancient-greeks

Make a Greek theatre mask and write your own short play with your family in it.
Train like a Spartan warrior! Set up circuits around the house or garden doing various activities like star jumps, running on the spot, push ups, lifting objects etc. and see how long you can do it for. Can you improve over time?
Listen to different Greek myths and then write your own myth or an alternate version of one:

http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/

Hold a mini-Olympics at home with your family. Decide which events will be held, create medals out of tin foil, paper or card and make laurel wreaths for the winners.

WWI/WWII

Research to see if there were any local heroes in your area. What did they do? Are they still alive today? Are you related to them?
How did either war affect your area? Are there any memorials or signs? Museums?
Turn a table on its side and pretend you’re in a trench! Film yourself reporting from the frontlines about the conditions and daily life.
Create a diorama/model of a battlefield using Lego or craft materials and label it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxkFgZ3DP0A

Use the Mozaik3D app (iOS/Android/Windows – you can create a free account with just an email address) to research different types of soldiers and weapons such as tanks and planes.

Tudors

Create a banquet for Henry VIII. Research the types of food that were eaten at the time. When having a meal at home, pretend to be at a banquet and act appropriately.
Learn the order of Henry VIIIs wives. Turn it into a song using a drum machine:

www.drumbit.app

Make a Tudor house. Research them and compare them to your own house:

https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/tudors/tudor-house-nets-0

Research William Shakespeare and try to write your own poems in the style of Shakespeare. Look at the Globe Theatre and how it was built. Write your own tragic play and perform it with your family.
Draw your family in the style of Tudor portraits. Dress up in your smartest clothes and look very important. Or take pictures of your family and edit them using apps to make them look older or more drawn.

Generic ideas

Create a PowerPoint about something you love in history.
Create an eBook using Book Creator on iOS about something you love in history.
Create a green screen video using the DoInk Green Screen app and a blank wall – just don’t wear the same colour clothes as the wall you’re filming against!
Create quizzes about events, people or periods of history that you are interested in.
Create a timeline of all of your favourite periods of history.
Make up your own history-based games or download them: https://mrcarterrocks.wixsite.com/historyrocks/history-games
Create songs about history using apps like Garageband.
Start a project about your favourite person or period of history with different sections.
Make your own historical treasure trail with QR codes for your family to follow: http://goqr.me/ Copy and paste website URLs, save the image and print it out. Then use the Camera app on iOS or Android to scan the code and load up the website, picture or video.
Make a mini-museum at home with different pieces of information, videos, pictures and models that you’ve made and show them to your family.
Watch Horrible Histories clips and research what has been said for accuracy.
Make a time-capsule with a few of today’s items and a newspaper. Store it somewhere safe or bury it in the garden so that either you or someone in the future can see what was happening today.
Create a fact book about different periods of history. Try to include really silly facts or gross ones!
Write a story about someone or something from history. Use real people or events but change some of the things that happened to them. This is called historical fiction!
Make a video showing off everything that you’ve done and learnt about history at home to share with your family, your friends and your teacher when you go back to school!