The Great Fire of London

Active learning helps children grasp the scale and impact of the Great Fire of London by making abstract events concrete. Movement, modeling, and role-play let students experience the fire’s spread, the city’s layout, and the challenges faced in 1666 in ways that written descriptions alone cannot.

• Year 1
• History
• 4 activities
• 25 min–45 min

Learning Objectives

1. Identify the primary causes of the Great Fire of London, such as building materials and wind.
2. Explain the sequence of events during the Great Fire of London using a timeline.
3. Describe at least two significant consequences of the Great Fire of London on the city's development.
4. Compare London before and after the Great Fire based on descriptions and images.

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 30 min·Whole Class

Drama Circle: Fire Spread Role-Play

Gather children in a circle to role-play as Londoners using scarves for flames and simple props like buckets. Narrate wind and decisions to flee or fight fire; pause for children to share feelings. Debrief on causes of spread.

Prepare & details

What do you think caused the Great Fire of London to start and spread so quickly?

Facilitation Tip: During the Fire Spread Role-Play, assign small groups to act as wind, flames, or houses so students physically experience how the fire moved through the city.

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

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

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 45 min·Pairs

Model Building: Before and After London

Provide blocks, straws, and paper to build crowded wooden streets, then rebuild with bricks after 'fire'. Compare models side-by-side and label changes like wider streets. Photograph for display.

Prepare & details

What might it have felt like to be in London when the fire was spreading?

Facilitation Tip: When building models, remind students to use wooden sticks for houses and dry grass for thatched roofs to emphasize the fire’s fuel sources.

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

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

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 25 min·Small Groups

Timeline Station: Key Events

Set up stations with pictures of bakery fire, wind spread, St Paul's fall, and rebuilding. Children sequence cards on group timelines and add speech bubbles for feelings. Share one fact each.

Prepare & details

How did London change after the Great Fire?

Facilitation Tip: At the Timeline Station, provide clear markers for dates and events so students can see the fire’s progression and the rebuilding efforts in context.

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

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

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 35 min·Individual

Diary Writing: Eyewitness Account

Read Samuel Pepys excerpts, then children draw and dictate diary pages as a Londoner during the fire. Include what they saw, felt, and heard. Compile into class book.

Prepare & details

What do you think caused the Great Fire of London to start and spread so quickly?

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

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

Teaching This Topic

Teaching this topic works best when you connect sensory experiences to historical facts. Avoid overwhelming students with dates first; instead, start with the drama and models to build curiosity. Research shows that hands-on simulations help students retain cause-and-effect relationships, so prioritize activities that let them test hypotheses about materials and wind. Keep discussions focused on evidence from diaries and records to ground imaginative play in fact.

What to Expect

Students will explain how materials, wind, and human actions contributed to the fire’s spread and destruction. They will compare London before and after, sequence key events, and write an eyewitness account that reflects historical evidence and perspective.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Fire Spread Role-Play, watch for students blaming characters or making assumptions about the fire’s cause without evidence.

What to Teach Instead

Use the role-play to redirect students to the bakery oven and the wind as causes. After the activity, ask groups to share one piece of evidence from their role-play that supports their observations, then discuss what the evidence reveals.

Common Misconception

During Model Building: Before and After London, watch for students assuming the entire city was destroyed and never rebuilt.

What to Teach Instead

Have students label their models with percentages or symbols to show how much burned. After building, ask them to write a sentence about one change they included in the rebuilt city and why it matters.

Common Misconception

During the Timeline Station, watch for students assuming firefighters had modern tools to stop the fire.

What to Teach Instead

Ask students to note the firefighting tools listed on the timeline. After the activity, have them experiment with the limitations of leather buckets using water play, then discuss why gunpowder was used as a last resort.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

After the Fire Spread Role-Play, give students a card with a picture of a wooden house and a strong wind arrow. Ask them to write one sentence explaining how these factors helped the fire spread or start, then collect these as they leave.

Discussion Prompt

After the Model Building: Before and After London activity, show an image of St. Paul’s Cathedral before and after the fire. Ask students what happened to the old cathedral, what the new design tells us about rebuilding, and who helped design it. Facilitate a brief discussion to assess their understanding of the fire’s impact and recovery.

Quick Check

During the Timeline Station, ask students to point to the direction of the wind on a simple map of London. Then ask them to explain why the wind was important for the fire’s spread, using the terms ‘thatch’ or ‘wooden houses’ in their answer.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge early finishers to research and present on how the Great Fire led to improvements in firefighting or city planning.
• Scaffolding for struggling students: provide pre-cut building materials and a simplified timeline with key dates highlighted.
• Deeper exploration: invite students to compare the Great Fire to another historical fire or disaster, using maps and eyewitness accounts to draw parallels.

Key Vocabulary

Pudding Lane	The street where the Great Fire of London began in a baker's shop in 1666.
Thatch	A roofing material made of straw or reeds, which easily caught fire.
Firebreak	A gap created by demolishing buildings to stop a fire from spreading.
Rebuilding	The process of constructing new buildings after the fire destroyed many old ones.
Samuel Pepys	A famous diarist who wrote a detailed account of the Great Fire of London as he witnessed it.