Making History Fun!

Traditional methods of teaching history to primary students elicit responses ranging from “Miss, Why do we have to learn history?” to blank looks and regurgitation of facts in exams. I had a similar experience as a student myself. 

In my PYP class,  we immersed ourselves wholeheartedly in the prehistoric era under study. The children designed and created stone tools, leaf & twig clothes,  and cave paintings from the Paleolithic era. They made beautiful pots and clay jewelry from the neolithic era and crafted metal tools (using aluminum foil) from the metal age. We visited the Museum of History in Trivandrum where artifacts from the Stone Age further connected us with that era.

This triggered discussions on the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel from that time period. The kids could finally appreciate what life would be even today without fire and the wheel. This exercise vividly illustrated the central role of history as a key to understanding how our world today came to be. 

The most satisfying part was to hear the enthusiastic responses of the kids ranging from “I loved this unit, it was so much fun !” To “I am sad the unit is ending”. Mission accomplished.