KS1 History Resources, Lessons & Planning
Explore our KS1 History Resources by Topic
Explore expert-created KS1 history resources, lesson plans, medium-term planning,PowerPoints, assessments, quizzes and knowledge organisers for Years 1 and 2.
You will find masses of advice on how to make KS1 history lessons fun and how to help pupils to take their first steps into the fascinating world that is the past. You will be helped to design and plan an exciting primary history curriculum in line with the requirements of the National Curriculum taking into account the difficult areas of assessment and progression in history.You also will be helped to make the most of history’s contribution to the whole curriculum by being shown cutting edge practice in the areas of cross-curricular planning, literacy, thinking skills and creativity.
If it is imaginative ideas for KS1 history lessons you are looking for, then you will definitely want to spend time in the teaching section with its hundred great primary history teaching strategies and in the learning section with its wide range of imaginative approaches and brilliant ideas for products that children will love.As a subject leader, you will find easily accessible advice that is ‘right on the money’. Years of helping hundreds of infant teachers with their history planning, resourcing, and monitoring in history, has enabled me to know exactly what is needed, and which support strategies really work.
| KS1 History Topic | Resources include |
|---|---|
| Amelia Earhart KS1 | Amelia Earhart lessons, flight history, assessment, quiz and significant-person resources |
| Amy Johnson KS1 | Amy Johnson lessons, flight and exploration activities and significant-person enquiries |
| Castles KS1 | Castle history lessons, chronology, change over time and enquiry activities |
| Caxton & Bell KS1 | William Caxton and Alexander Graham Bell lessons, planning and significant-person resources |
| Christopher Columbus KS1 | Columbus lessons, planner, knowledge organiser, assessment and exploration enquiries |
| Florence Nightingale KS1 | Florence Nightingale lessons, historical enquiries, planning, assessment and resources |
| Grace Darling KS1 | Grace Darling lessons, enquiry activities, planner, assessment and resources |
| Great Fire of London KS1 | Great Fire lessons, PowerPoints, scheme of work, assessment, quiz and knowledge organiser |
| Gunpowder Plot & Guy Fawkes KS1 | Guy Fawkes and Gunpowder Plot lessons, historical sources, role play and enquiry activities |
| Louis Braille KS1 | Louis Braille lessons, planner, significant-person enquiries and classroom resources |
| Mary Anning KS1 | Mary Anning lessons, medium-term planning, assessment, quiz and knowledge organiser |
| Mary Seacole KS1 | Mary Seacole lessons, planner, assessment, historical interpretation and resources |
| Moon Landing KS1 | First Moon Landing lessons, planning, enquiries, assessment and classroom resources |
| Nursery Rhymes EYFS and KS1 | Reception history activities using nursery rhymes to explore past and present |
| On the move (transport) EYFS and KS1 | Transport activities using to explore past and present |
| Queens KS1 | Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II lessons exploring monarchy and change over time |
| Reception History Topics | EYFS and Reception activities introducing children to past and present, chronology and historical vocabulary |
| Remembrance Day KS1 | Remembrance Day, poppies and First World War history lessons and activities |
| Rosa Parks KS1 | Rosa Parks lessons, Civil Rights history, enquiry activities, assessment and quiz |
| Scott of the Antarctic KS1 | Captain Scott lessons, exploration history, enquiry activities, assessment and quiz |
| Seaside Holidays KS1 | Seaside holidays through time, lesson plans, historical sources, comparison and planning |
| Titanic KS1 | Titanic lessons, historical enquiries, planning, assessment, quiz and knowledge organiser |
| Toys Past & Present EYFS and KS1 | Toys past and present lessons, chronology, historical comparison, planning and assessment |
| Wright Brothers KS1 | Wright Brothers lessons, history of flight, planner, assessment, quiz and resources |
Washday in the past; helping the hopeless Mr Lather
BookmarkThe children will be familiar with the range of processes involved in washing clothes in the past. They will have…
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Help Tom to fight the Great Fire. Smart Task
BookmarkThis ICT based activity draws heavily on the superb new website created as a joint enterprise by the National Archives,…
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KS1 : Going to the Seaside-the mystery of the pier
BookmarkOne of the more interesting features of the Seaside holidays topic is the fact that it opens up discussion, even…
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Roles of learners
BookmarkOne of the best ways of exciting young children in history is to put them in role. Dorothy Heathcote’s approach…
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Imaginative history outcomes at Key Stage 1
BookmarkA key part of motivating infants in history is providing interesting practical products that really stimulate their interest. When so…
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50 imaginative history learning activities for KS1
BookmarkThis ground-breaking section offers a massive range of ideas, arranged in alphabetical order. Some of the titles may seem a…
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Inclusion at Key Stage 1
BookmarkIn addition to advice on: being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution etc, this site focuses…
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Gender issues in history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkIt is tempting when thinking about boys’ achievement to focus on teaching and learning, but there is a stage before…
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Gifted and Talented in history at KS1
BookmarkMuch has been written in general terms about identifying and then catering for able pupils in history. OFSTED and others…
Read MoreMotivating pupils in history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkThe essence of what appeals to pupils can often be summed up by the words, People, Puzzle and Point. Children…
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Using artefacts to help children’s historical understanding at Key Stage 1
BookmarkSince the early 90s, artefacts have become increasingly available either to purchase or to loan. Many firms offer useful replicas…
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Digital Technology, AI and film at KS1
BookmarkThis section alerts you to where you will find examples of published best practice as well as featuring a few…
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Teaching chronology at Key Stage 1
BookmarkMention the teaching of chronology to most infant teachers and their eyes glaze over. Their experience is that it is…
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‘100’ great ideas for teaching history at KS1
BookmarkAt present there are nearly 80 ideas arranged in alphabetical order. You will see that a brief description is offered,…
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What makes an outstanding lesson in history at KS1?
BookmarkBelow is a list of the typical characteristics of excellent lessons. Lists can only help up to a point though. …
Read MoreThe teaching process in history at KS1
BookmarkThe approach offered on this site is only one of many you might know, or even use. Heaven forbid that…
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Personal & Family: Ourselves Key Stage 1
BookmarkIt is not always easy knowing what history to teach very young infants. There are three main issues. How do…
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Teaching Myself – Muddled Bags
BookmarkAs you would expect, it is far better to start with the children themselves and images of them growing up,…
Read MoreTeaching Nursery Rhymes to Key Stage 1
BookmarkThis topic is extremely well suited to children in Year R as part of the Foundation stage curriculum. Not only…
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Mary Seacole – How should we remember her?
BookmarkThis lesson is the second featuring Mary Seacole. In the first her role was compared with Florence Nightingale’s. The focus…
Read MoreViews of learners on history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkThere has been very little published research on the views of infants on their history work. I think we might…
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How will your school commemorate the end of World War One?
BookmarkThis short advice sheet invites schools to consider how they will commemorate the centenary of armistice day and provides an…
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Amy Johnson – KQ1 – Why do you think Amy Johnson was famous?
BookmarkWith the help of the slow reveal of the clues in carefully arranged order, pupils build their knowledge of Amy…
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Amy Johnson – KQ2 – How did Amy the secretary end up being the first woman to fly to Australia?
BookmarkThis short, fun activity using mime and props, tells the story of Amy Johnson’s first flight to Australia in a…
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Amy Johnson – KQ3 – Why was flying to Australia so difficult for Amy Johnson?
BookmarkHaving heard the story of Amy Johnson’s life, pupils are now asked to focus their attention on explaining why it…
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Amy Johnson – KQ4 – How did people react to Amy Johnson’s famous flight?
BookmarkHow did people react to Amy at the time, and how do we know? Children generate adjectives to describe Amy’s…
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Amy Johnson – KQ5 – How did things change for Amy Johnson after her famous flight?
BookmarkWas Amy really successful for the rest of her life? A Living graph Smart Task KQ5 The focus here is…
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Amy Johnson – KQ6 – How can we solve the mystery of what happened to Amy Johnson?
BookmarkThis enduring mystery has puzzled historians for over 75 years. New evidence has just come to light which makes this…
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KS1 Star Lesson on The Great Fire
BookmarkWhy did the Great Fire of 1666 burn down so many more houses than other fires in London at that…
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How well do you and your pupils know Florence Nightingale?
BookmarkHere are 10 probing questions. See how you get on. Oh, and the answers are given below, in case you…
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Just how good is your KS1 history curriculum?
BookmarkThe 12 most crucial questions to ask yourself about your KS1 history curriculum, and some expert answers if you get…
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Teaching Famous Events at Key Stage 1 – Outstanding Lessons
BookmarkThere are two types of events that are expected to be taught to KS1 pupils as part of the National…
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6 top history ideas to cover in your Great Fire topic
BookmarkMany of you will be starting your Great Fire topic this term. Naturally you will want this to be exciting…
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Keeping up-to-date with your teaching of the Great Fire at KS1
BookmarkIf you get the chance, between the end of term and April, to visit the Museum of London’s exhibition Fire!…
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What’s in the bag and who does it belong to? Great Fire Smart Task
BookmarkAn object-based problem-solving approach to learning about life during the Great Fire This Smart Task is just part of a…
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Using nursery rhymes to develop thinking skills in YR: Jack and Jill and the Queen of Hearts
BookmarkThis lesson was kindly provided by David Cowie and his team at Ringwood Infants C of E School. Their theme…
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Expert Advice: Key Stage 1 – Mary Anning
BookmarkShe sells sea shells: planning a topic on Mary Anning, Dinosaur hunter, using the Anholt’s Stone girl, Bone girl “Would you…
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Expert Advice: Key Stage 1 – Planning for a cross-curricular topic on Going to the Seaside
BookmarkThis advice is for KS1 teachers planning a cross-curricular topic and focuses on how to integrate history, geography, literacy and…
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Past beyond Living Memory: Key Stage 1
BookmarkLessons and shorter activities. Please note that these lessons and smart tasks have accompanying resources to download and that most of…
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Raising attainment in history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkExperience of working with highly effective subject leaders over eighteen years has enabled me to distil SEVEN key factors that…
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Self-evaluation for history at Key Stage 1 and 2
BookmarkFor Primary history subject leaders it is very important to get a clear sense of perspective on self-evaluation. I f…
Read MorePolicy and vision for history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkThere is much debate about the value of a history policy, not least how long it should be!! A couple of…
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Florence Nightingale Lesson and sample planner
BookmarkFighting Fit. What did Florence do to improve the lives of the soldiers when she arrived in the Crimea? One…
Read MoreLeadership in history
BookmarkWhen looking at leadership in history a careful balance has to be created between offering generic advice (which you could…
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Assessment for learning in Primary history
BookmarkAssessment for Learning is much vaunted and many faceted. If we break down what it means in its constituent parts,…
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Target setting in history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkThe setting of targets with this age group for Foundation subjects is problematic., not least because pupils’ experience of history…
Read MoreProgression in history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkThe problem Trying to secure progression within your Key Stage 1 history curriculum is not always as easy as it…
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Long term planning for history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkSuperficially, Key Stage 1 seems the least complex history curriculum to plan because the burden of content to be covered…
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Medium-term planning for history at Key Stage 1
BookmarkThis part of the site contains a dozen detailed fully-developed enquiry-led, key question-driven medium term plans for all the major…
Read MoreShort-term planning in history at KS1
BookmarkThis site does not favour the publication of short-term planning, preferring instead to focus on very detailed medium-term planning and…
Read MoreWritten by Neil Thompson
All content on Keystage history is written and quality assured by Neil Thompson, a former history teacher, county history adviser and Ofsted inspector with more than 30 years’ experience in history education.