Children at play: Activity 1

Outdoor Games

During the Victorian period, it was not unusual for families to have several children per household. With so many children there could be lots of noise. Children were encouraged to occupy their time with a variety of activities that encouraged them to play independently from an adult and which took them outside.

Here is a collection of photographs that were taken at the end of the Victorian period in 1901 and show some of the outdoor activities that children participated in. It is from a book called "Living London. Its work and its play" and is in three volumes.

Click on different parts of the photograph to enlarge portions showing the individual games being played.

Many of the activities shown in the pictures are still played today in some form.

Here are some activities which are based on these games. They can be done in the classroom or outside.

Activities

Activity A

Provide the children with the enlarged photographs. Divide them into groups then ask them to work out what the children are doing. Discuss their answers as a class, and then ask them to make up names that would be suitable for the activity.

In the plenary tell the children the names given to the games in the pictures and describe each of the activities. Explain that most children used stones instead of a ball to play these games and some were quite dangerous. Some of the descriptions of these activities have been altered slightly but they are based on the real games.

Activity B

Click here to download a set of game cards in Microsoft Word format for you to print off, laminate and cut up.

Divide the class into groups and give each group a description of one of the games provided below. Ask them to play it. If they are unsure how to play it, explain the rules.

After about five minutes, each group should change game cards and try out a different game.

In the plenary discuss which games they liked. Ask them to give reasons for their opinion.

Activity C

For the next lesson ask the children to design a new game. They have to write an instruction card for the game that will be easy for anyone to follow.

Put all their ideas and instruction cards into a hat and pull out four game ideas. In the last 30 minutes of the lesson, divide the class into groups of five and give the cards out.

The children play the newly invented game.

In the plenary discuss how well the new games worked and give suggestions for improvements.