Tudor time travelling at Oak House
The children become Time Travellers for the day and travel back to meet two Tudor characters, who lived at Oak House 400 years ago. So that they fit in all the children will be given a Tudor costume to wear and will have the opportunity to dress as both rich and poor Tudors. Through hands-on activities the children learn about old toys, games and pastimes. They also learn about houses and homes long ago.
Suitable for year 1 or year 2 . We can also look at undertaking one of these sessions and undertaking a different second session along the lines of old toys and games or houses and homes. Talk to us if you would be interested in tweaking the session for your own needs.
Our Time Travellers begin the day at 10am with an introduction about the day and what they are going to learn about. We then split the class into two groups. The groups will undertake a session and then after a break will swap over. Throughout the day the children compare and contrast 'then and now', 'similarities and differences' between their lives and the lives of the characters they meet and develop an understanding that life was different in the past.
Session 1
Old toys and pastimes - Dressed as rich Tudors the children will meet the master or mistress of the house in their finery and learn about toys long ago, as well as pastimes. This is done through a series of themes including:
- No electricity or batteries to power the toys, therefore how they move and the use of imagination.
- That children did not have many toys, they were studying or working.
- Toys taught children how to be grown ups.
- Toys were made of natural materials, usually by parents and handed down - there was no waste and no shops.
- The children get to play with the toys
- Learn a Tudor dance (as there is no TV to amuse you in the evening)
- Have a go at Tudor word games and try their hand at writing with a quill pen.
This session also works as part of houses and homes, as we look at different pastimes as there was no television or electronic means of amusing yourself in the evenings 400 years ago.
Session 2
Houses and homes in the past - The children meet one of Oak House's servants and dressed as Tudor servants themselves they learn about homes long ago through hands-on activities. Again themes are re-iterated to the children through various hands-on activities. These themes are:
- No power
- No running water
- No waste
- No shops (food grown in the garden)
- The use of natural materials.
In the afternoon the children will be taken on a tour of the house to show them the areas which they have not seen. We also look at things they will not have discussed in the morning and the children can ask questions. They can also have a go at building a wattle wall and discuss how Oak House was built.
We have not timetabled a visit to the museum shop into the day as with young children this can be time consuming. If you would like us to make up £1 or £1.50 goody bags for the children we can do this for you to take away on the day, as long as you let us know a week in advance. We do not make a profit on our Living History sessions so the children visiting our shop is much appreciated.
Cost is £120 as at 1 April. Maximum number of children is 30. Available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Our session has been carefully crafted to meet the needs of the national curriculum at this stage and to give the children a comprehensive and enjoyable hands-on session which they will hopefully remember forever. The session is very different from our Living History session at KS2, so if the children visit again in later years they will learn very different activities.
Call the house for further details or to check availability.