Personal Toy Histories and ComparisonsActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning helps Year 1 children connect emotionally with the topic by talking about their own experiences first. Handling toys, sorting images, and creating drawings makes abstract comparisons concrete and memorable for young learners.
Learning Objectives
- 1Compare their own favourite toys with historical toy examples.
- 2Explain how toys have changed over time, referencing materials and play styles.
- 3Identify methods for researching historical toys, such as looking at photographs or visiting museums.
- 4Classify toys based on the era they might belong to, using visual evidence.
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Circle Time Share: Favourite Toys
Children sit in a circle and pass a toy basket. Each child holds a favourite toy, shares why they love it, and passes it on. Record key words on a class chart for later comparison. End with a group vote on most surprising reason.
Prepare & details
What is your favourite toy and why do you love it?
Facilitation Tip: During Circle Time Share, sit in a circle with the same number of chairs as children to signal everyone has a turn and avoid dominance by a few voices.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Pairs Draw and Compare: Then and Now
In pairs, children draw their toy next to a historical toy image provided. They label differences like colour or material. Pairs share one comparison with the class.
Prepare & details
Do you think a child from a long time ago would enjoy playing with your toys? Why?
Facilitation Tip: For Pairs Draw and Compare, give each pair two different toys to draw side by side so the contrast is clear and discussion is focused.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Small Groups Sort: Toy Timeline
Provide toy pictures from now, grandparents' time, and great-grandparents' time. Groups sort them into a timeline strip, discuss changes, and present to class.
Prepare & details
How could you find out about the toys children played with in the past?
Facilitation Tip: During Small Groups Sort, provide a mix of toy images and replica artefacts so children can handle real materials like wood and cloth.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Individual Family Interview: Old Toys
Children take home a simple interview sheet to ask family about past toys. Next lesson, they share findings and add to class display.
Prepare & details
What is your favourite toy and why do you love it?
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Teaching This Topic
Start with children’s lived experiences to build empathy and curiosity about the past. Use real artefacts and replicas to reduce abstraction, as research shows hands-on materials improve historical understanding in KS1. Avoid over-reliance on images alone, as they can distort scale and texture perceptions for young learners.
What to Expect
Children will confidently describe their favourite toys and explain at least one difference between past and present playthings. They will use vocabulary like materials, function, and fun to compare toys accurately.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Circle Time Share, watch for children who think all toys are the same because they share a name like 'doll' or 'car'.
What to Teach Instead
Ask the child to describe what their doll or car looks like, what it’s made of, and how it moves. Encourage others to ask, 'How is your toy different from one you’ve seen before?'
Common MisconceptionDuring Pairs Draw and Compare, watch for children who assume old toys were 'boring' because they look simple.
What to Teach Instead
Give pairs a replica cup-and-ball set to try. Ask them to describe how hard it is to catch the ball and whether they think it’s fun. Compare their experience to drawing a remote-control car.
Common MisconceptionDuring Small Groups Sort, watch for children who think all old toys were made of wood.
What to Teach Instead
Provide a mix of fabric, metal, and rubber toys in the sorting tray. Ask children to feel the materials and explain how they change over time, such as soft cloth to hard plastic.
Assessment Ideas
After Circle Time Share, give each child a picture of a wooden spinning top and a remote-control car. Ask them to draw one way the toys are different and one way they might be the same.
During Circle Time Share, ask students: 'Imagine you met a child from 100 years ago. What would you show them about your favourite toy? What would you ask them about their favourite toy?' Record their ideas on a chart.
After Small Groups Sort, show students a collection of toy images, some historical and some modern. Ask them to point to or name toys that a child from 'a long time ago' might have played with, and explain their reasoning.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge: Provide a blank toy template for children to invent a toy that could work both 100 years ago and today, labelling materials and play style.
- Scaffolding: Offer sentence stems like 'This toy is made of ____. My toy is made of ____.' to support comparisons during Pairs Draw and Compare.
- Deeper: Invite children to write a short letter to a child from the past describing their favourite toy and asking one question about playtime long ago.
Key Vocabulary
| Artefact | An object made by a person, often from the past, such as a toy or tool. |
| Living memory | Events or experiences that people alive today can remember or have been told about by older relatives. |
| Material | The substance from which something is made, like wood, cloth, or plastic. |
| Compare | To look at two or more things to see how they are similar or different. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for History
5E Model
The 5E Model structures lessons through five phases (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), guiding students from curiosity to deep understanding through inquiry-based learning.
Unit PlannerThematic Unit
Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.
RubricSingle-Point Rubric
Build a single-point rubric that defines only the "meets standard" level, leaving space for teachers to document what exceeded and what fell short. Simple to create, easy for students to understand.
More in Toys and Play Through Time
Grandparents' Toys: Materials and Design
Analyzing old toys made from wood, metal, and cloth, and differentiating their construction from modern toys.
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Chronology of Toy Development
Sorting toys into historical categories and constructing a simple timeline to represent their evolution.
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The Impact of Plastic on Toy Manufacturing
Investigating how the introduction of plastic transformed toy production and aesthetic.
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Technological Advancements in Toys
Exploring how batteries and electricity have integrated into modern toy design and function.
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The Role of Games in Different Eras
Investigating traditional games played indoors and outdoors, comparing them to modern digital games.
3 methodologies
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