History · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Food and Meals: Then and Now

Active learning works because young children grasp abstract historical changes through concrete, hands-on tasks. Comparing actual objects and acting out customs makes the past tangible and the present visible in ways that a textbook cannot.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: History - Changes within living memory

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Stations Rotation
• 30 min · Small Groups

Sorting Activity: Foods Then and Now

Provide picture cards of foods, tools, and meals from past and present. Pupils work in small groups to sort cards into 'then' and 'now' piles, then discuss reasons for changes with reasons written on sticky notes. Groups share one finding with the class.

How do you think people kept food fresh before refrigerators and supermarkets?

Facilitation Tip

During the Sorting Activity, give each pair one picture card to place on a large 'Then' or 'Now' board, then ask them to justify their choice to another pair.

What to look for

Show students pictures of different foods (e.g., bread, salted meat, pizza, banana). Ask them to sort the pictures into two groups: 'Food from a long time ago' and 'Food from today'. Discuss their choices.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Role Play
• 45 min · Pairs

Role Play: Mealtime Customs

Set up two areas with props: one for a past family meal with cloth and shared bowls, one for today with trays and individual plates. Pairs act out routines, noting differences in preparation time and manners, then swap areas to compare.

What do you think a family meal looked like a hundred years ago , how is it different from today?

Facilitation Tip

While building the Timeline, have pupils add sticky notes with key words such as 'ice box' or 'supermarket' directly onto the string to build a shared visual record.

What to look for

Ask students: 'Imagine you are helping your great-grandparent prepare dinner 100 years ago. What tools might you use to keep the food cold?' Listen for their ideas about pantries, cellars, or ice blocks.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Stations Rotation
• 40 min · Whole Class

Timeline Build: Food Changes

Create a class timeline on the floor with markers for 'past' and 'present'. Pupils add images or drawings of foods and methods at stations, walking the line to sequence changes and label key differences like 'no fridges'.

What do you notice about how the food we eat has changed over time?

Facilitation Tip

For Mealtime Role-Play, set a timer and ask observers to jot down one difference they notice between the past and present scene.

What to look for

Give each student a piece of paper with two columns: 'Then' and 'Now'. Ask them to draw one thing people ate or one way they stored food 'Then' and one thing they eat or one way they store food 'Now'.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Stations Rotation
• 35 min · Small Groups

Tasting Station: Preservation Methods

Prepare safe samples like dried apple rings and fresh apples, or pickled veg versus tinned. Small groups taste, describe textures and tastes, and record on charts how past methods kept food safe without shops.

How do you think people kept food fresh before refrigerators and supermarkets?

Facilitation Tip

At the Tasting Station, ask pupils to smell first, taste second, and describe the new sensation using sentence stems on their clipboards.

What to look for

Show students pictures of different foods (e.g., bread, salted meat, pizza, banana). Ask them to sort the pictures into two groups: 'Food from a long time ago' and 'Food from today'. Discuss their choices.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should anchor every activity in sensory experience: touch preserved foods, smell dried herbs, hear the sizzle of a real fire cooking pot. Avoid long explanations; instead, ask open questions that push pupils to compare and contrast. Research shows that children aged 5–7 learn historical time best when it is tied to their own routines, so link every past practice back to a present equivalent they know like school lunch or family tea.

Successful learning shows when pupils confidently sort foods by era, explain preservation methods using sensory evidence, and describe how mealtimes differ through role-play. Their talk will include phrases like 'no fridges then' or 'quick snacks now' without prompting.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Sorting Activity: Food Then and Now, watch for pupils assuming past diets had the same variety as today.

  Hand each pair a limited set of seasonal cards (e.g., only root vegetables and grains) and ask them to explain what foods are missing. This visual limit prompts discussion about no imported fruits or out-of-season items.

• During Tasting Station: Preservation Methods, watch for pupils thinking food never spoiled before refrigeration.

  Place a dried apple slice and a fresh apple slice on each table. Ask pupils to smell both, then taste only the dried one. Their sensory notes about taste and smell will challenge the idea that preservation did not change flavor.

• During Role Play: Mealtime Customs, watch for pupils assuming past meals were quicker to prepare than today.

  Give each group a set of replica tools (mortar and pestle, fire poker) and a timer. As they act out steps, have them record each action on a strip and order them on a line. The longer sequence will make the time difference obvious.

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Methods used in this brief

• Stations Rotation
• Role Play