History · Year 2

Active learning ideas

Toys and Games

Take your pupils on a journey into the toy boxes of the past, long before the first tablet was ever switched on. This topic provides a wonderful, hands-on opportunity for them to become historians and discover how children have always found ways to have fun.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• National Curriculum in England: History Programmes of Study: Key Stage 1

• 30–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Mystery Object
• 60 min · Whole Class

Classroom Toy Museum

Ask pupils to bring in a toy (or a photograph of one) belonging to an older family member. Each child creates a simple museum label for their artefact, explaining what it is, who owned it, and what it is made from, before presenting it to the class.

Identify the materials that old toys were made from.

Facilitation Tip

Model how to ask respectful questions about an artefact, such as 'What does it feel like?' or 'How did you play with it?'.

What to look for

During a toy sorting activity, listen to pupils' discussions and reasoning for why a toy is 'old' or 'new'. Note their use of vocabulary related to materials and technology.

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

Activity 02

• Mystery Object
• 30 min · Small Groups

Old vs. New Toy Sort

In small groups, provide pupils with a set of picture cards showing toys from various decades. Challenge them to sort the cards into two piles, 'old' and 'new', and to explain the reasoning behind their choices, focusing on materials and technology.

Explain how children had fun without electricity.

Facilitation Tip

Encourage pupils to look for clues like winding keys, wooden textures, or screens and batteries.

What to look for

Pupils complete a 'Then and Now' worksheet. They draw and label a toy from the past and a modern toy, writing a simple sentence to compare them.

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

Activity 03

• Mystery Object
• 45 min · Whole Class

Traditional Playground Games

Take the lesson outside and teach the class a few traditional playground games like Hopscotch, What's the Time, Mr Wolf?, or Oranges and Lemons. Afterwards, discuss as a group what equipment was needed and how these games are different from computer games.

Compare a popular toy from the past with a popular toy today.

Facilitation Tip

Use chalk to draw a large hopscotch grid on the playground before the lesson begins to maximise playing time.

What to look for

Provide pupils with a simple 'two stars and a wish' slip. They write down two things they have learned about old toys (stars) and one question they still have (wish).

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start by sparking curiosity with a 'feely bag' containing a mystery historical toy. Centre the learning around handling real or replica artefacts, encouraging pupils to use all their senses to investigate. Use comparison language consistently, modelling phrases like 'In the past, toys were often made of..., but now they are often made of...'.

Through this topic, your pupils will learn to identify and compare toys from different eras, understanding how materials and technology have changed the way we play.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• All old toys were made of wood.

  While wood was a very common and cheap material, many old toys were also made from metal, cloth, porcelain, and even early forms of plastic. The materials used often depended on what was available and how wealthy the family was.

• Children in the past were bored because they didn't have electronic games.

  Children in the past had very active imaginations and used them to have fun with their toys. Games like playing with dolls' houses, building with wooden blocks, or playing outside required creativity and were very engaging without needing any electricity.

• Poor children had no toys at all.

  While children from poorer families had fewer shop-bought toys, they were often very resourceful and made their own from scraps of wood, fabric, or whatever they could find. A simple piece of wood could become a boat, and a rolled-up rag could become a ball.

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Methods used in this brief

• Mystery Object