Looking through the most recent Historical Association journal of Teaching history (TH204, September 2026) I was taken with an article by Sarah-Jane Bee who had successfully used the analogy of the Lego box to help her pupils to grasp the idea of history being a construct, something that is created ,not a given, something that is created.
So I thought it might work in KS2 as well. So here goes.
How it might work for you
Bring in two large boxes of Lego, one full of miscellaneous pieces, the other empty, plus a small packet of new Lego, which you keep back.
Explain that the full box of Lego represents a range of sources( bricks) that historians use to build a picture of the past. Ask pupils what the pieces might represent. It would be really helpful here to tie that into the topic you are teaching to
