History · Year 2

Active learning ideas

Pudding Lane: The Spark and Spread

Active learning brings the Great Fire of London to life by letting students see and feel the forces at work. When children model streets, role-play that night, and trace the path of flames, they move beyond textbook facts to grasp how materials, wind, and human choices interacted in real time.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: History - Events beyond living memory
• KS1: History - Chronological understanding

• 20–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Hot Seat
• 45 min · Small Groups

Model Building: Pudding Lane Streets

Provide card, straws, and red tissue for small groups to construct model wooden houses and thatched roofs in tight rows. Introduce a 'spark' with tissue paper and simulate wind using a hairdryer on low. Groups record how flames 'jump' between structures and discuss prevention ideas.

Where and how did the Great Fire of London start?

Facilitation Tip

During Model Building, circulate with a small candle to demonstrate how embers can jump between closely spaced houses, guiding students to test safe distances.

What to look for

Provide students with a small card. Ask them to draw a picture of the bakery on Pudding Lane and write one sentence explaining how the fire started. Then, ask them to list one thing that made the fire spread fast.

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

Activity 02

• Hot Seat
• 30 min · Whole Class

Role-Play: Night of the Fire

Assign whole class roles such as baker, family members, or watchmen. Narrate the fire starting at 1am; children decide in character what to grab first and escape routes. Debrief with shares on challenges faced.

Why did the fire spread so quickly through the streets of London?

Facilitation Tip

In Role-Play, hand out simple props like aprons or nightcaps so students step into 1666 roles, making choices that feel real and immediate.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are a child living on Pudding Lane in 1666. The fire has just started. What would you do first? What would you take with you?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to justify their choices based on the conditions of the time.

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

Activity 03

• Hot Seat
• 20 min · Pairs

Sequencing: Spark to Spread

Pairs receive jumbled picture cards showing oven spark, house ignition, wind push, and street blaze. They sequence events on a timeline strip, then explain choices to another pair.

What would you have done if you lived near Pudding Lane in 1666?

Facilitation Tip

For Sequencing, provide mixed-up picture cards so groups must agree on order before gluing, encouraging debate and peer correction.

What to look for

Show students images of closely packed wooden houses and narrow streets from historical illustrations of 1666 London. Ask: 'How do these pictures help explain why the fire spread so quickly?' Call on students to share their observations.

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

Activity 04

• Hot Seat
• 25 min · Small Groups

Map Activity: Tracing the Path

Small groups mark the fire's initial spread on a labelled London map using yarn from Pudding Lane outward. Add arrows for wind direction and note wooden building zones. Compare to a modern fire map.

Where and how did the Great Fire of London start?

Facilitation Tip

During Map Activity, have students mark the fire’s path with red yarn over a printed map, helping them see the city’s geography as a living danger zone.

What to look for

Provide students with a small card. Ask them to draw a picture of the bakery on Pudding Lane and write one sentence explaining how the fire started. Then, ask them to list one thing that made the fire spread fast.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should anchor lessons in the senses and the tangible: the smell of baking bread, the crackle of thatch, the feel of parched timber. Research shows that when students manipulate materials and role-play in context, their recall of cause and effect improves. Avoid long lectures about the fire’s aftermath before students experience its origins firsthand, as this can overshadow the spark itself.

Successful learning shows when students connect the bakery spark to the spread of fire through evidence. They should explain how materials and weather created danger and describe human reactions with clear reasons, using what they observed and discussed.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Role-Play: Night of the Fire, watch for students claiming the fire started on purpose.

  Use the role-play to shift focus to evidence. After acting out the night’s events, pause and ask groups to present either a rumour they heard or a fact they gathered, highlighting how rumours spread faster than the fire itself.

• During Model Building: Pudding Lane Streets, watch for students assuming houses were mostly stone.

  Have students compare their timber-and-thatch models to images of real 1666 houses. Ask them to point out which parts would burn fastest, using the models to correct the misconception through direct observation.

• During Map Activity: Tracing the Path, watch for students ignoring the wind’s role in spreading flames.

  Use the map’s layout and safe fan simulations to let students map both the fire’s path and the wind’s direction. Ask them to adjust routes on their maps based on wind speed, tying geography to meteorology.

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Methods used in this brief

• Hot Seat