Washday is one of the best topics there is for young infants. Whether you teach it as a stand alone topic or as part of a broader theme of homes, you will find that it excites the children and gives them plenty of hands-on experience. Artefacts are cheap and easily obtainable and there are clear modern comparisons to help consolidate the idea of then and now. Pupils’ ability to sequence will be strengthened by excellent lessons such as helping the Hopeless Mr Lather. Pupils of all abilities love the topic and many children with profound special needs respond very well. Many are fascinated as much by the language of dolly or posser, as by the ability to actually do some ‘old fashioned’ washing.
The topic on TOYS was completely revised in June 2020 with its rationale, own planner and set of new enquiry questions:
KQ1 What are our toys like today NB There are no resources or activities for this as most teachers say they want to make this specific to their own pupils
KQ2 What are other people’s toys like?
KQ3 How can we tell these toys are old?
KQ4 What were our grandparents’ toys like and how do we know?
KQ5 Who played with these toys a long time ago?
KQ6 Can we set up a Toy museum in our school?
There is also a great assessment task to diagnose whether the pupils have grasped the slippery concept of ‘old and new’.
The children will be familiar with the range of processes involved in washing clothes in the past. They will have watched programmes such as Magic Grandad and will have explored a range of artefacts such as a mangle and a dolly-stick/posser. The aim of...
