History · Year 1

Active learning ideas

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.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: History - Events beyond living memory
• KS1: History - Significant historical events

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Four Corners
• 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.

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.

What to look for

Give students a card with a picture of a wooden house and a strong wind. Ask them to write one sentence explaining how these might have helped the Great Fire start or spread. Collect these as students leave.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Four Corners
• 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.

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.

What to look for

Show students an image of St. Paul's Cathedral before and after the fire. Ask: 'What happened to the old cathedral? What does this tell us about the fire's power? Who helped design the new one?' Facilitate a brief class discussion.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Four Corners
• 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.

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.

What to look for

Ask students to point to the direction of the wind on a simple map of London during the fire. Then, ask them to explain why the wind was important for the fire's spread, using the term 'thatch' or 'wooden houses' in their answer.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Four Corners
• 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.

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

What to look for

Give students a card with a picture of a wooden house and a strong wind. Ask them to write one sentence explaining how these might have helped the Great Fire start or spread. Collect these as students leave.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

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.

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.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

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

  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.

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

  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.

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

  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.

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Methods used in this brief

• Four Corners