Seaside Lessons and Resources
Explore how seaside holidays have changed
Compare a day at the seaside now with holidays 100 years ago and with grandparents’ experiences. Historical postcards, photographs, posters and oral histories help pupils see change over time.
Explore teaching resources
Everything for this history topic in one place
The enquiry sequence
Key questions and activities to develop pupils’ historical understanding
6 lessons
Going to the seaside end of unit quiz – KS1
We’ve had lots of fun learning about the seaside — from what it was like in the past to how people enjoy it today! Now it’s time to see what…
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Seaside – assessment task
Focus: similarity and difference and change Assessing Year 1 children’s understanding of how different going for a swim in the sea was 100 years ago. Assessment task Subscribers only: You must…
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Seaside knowledge organiser – KS1
You are learning about this topic to help you to understand how different life was over the last 100 years. As many of you will have been to the seaside,…
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KS1 History Planning for Going to the Seaside topic
Medium term planning and planner for Going to the Seaside KS1 This history topic has been designed to be taught in Year 1 Term 3 and the literacy links make…
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Planning for a cross-curricular topic on Going to the Seaside
This advice with associated downloadable resource below is for KS1 teachers planning a cross-curricular topic and focuses on how to integrate history, geography, literacy and ICT. Start the topic with…
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Going to the seaside – KQ1 – What was going to the seaside like 100 years ago? Writing a quality postcard home, avoiding the martini syndrome?
If you have ever asked children in Y1/2 to write a postcard home as if it were from Victorian times you’ll know the problem. After hours of your time teaching…
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Going to the seaside – KQ2 – What did people do at the seaside 100 years ago?
From mime to movie. SMART TASK This fun activity is carried out by children working on tables of six. Half the class work on one image, the other half on…
Read MoreGoing to the seaside – KQ3 – How do we know what holidays were like 100 years ago?
Designing an authentic Edwardian Seaside Poster This KS1 history lesson uses the Mantle of the Expert approach to place pupils in role as historical advisers to a film producer. Their…
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Going to the seaside – KQ4 – Do we go on seaside holidays for the same reason people went 100 years ago?
Children discuss the reasons they might have for going on a seaside holiday NOW and then think of the different reasons why people might have gone 100 years ago. Slides…
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Going to the seaside – KQ5a – How have seaside holidays changed over time?
Can you help Grandma sort these seaside holiday photos? This smart task which forms the first half of this KQ5 enquiry takes a broader look at change in seaside holidays…
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Going to the seaside – KQ5b – How have seaside holidays changed? What our grandparents tell us
This lesson finds children producing a questionnaire, collecting data from grandparents, feeding data into a database and then drawing conclusions. When they then compare their findings with those of another…
Read MoreKS1 : Going to the Seaside-the mystery of the pier
One of the more interesting features of the Seaside holidays topic is the fact that it opens up discussion, even for young children, on what these novel features were built…
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.