KS2 all activities

Footprints Theatre Trust in conjunction with the Diocese of Guildford 2014

KEY STAGES 2

Activities that can be used to consider issues around World War One. These activities are intended to be used after having read the story The Midnight Clear. They are designed to provide ideas to run alongside WW1 issues and extend thinking into a slightly broader arena. Pick and choose from them to suit your own needs. A hall or large classroom is needed. Contents

• Narrative of The Midnight Clear

• Chancing it • Cutting the Pack • What You’re Dealt With In 1918

• Foot work • Rhythm Repeats • Footprints that tell a story • Plates of meat • Foreign Feet

• Living war sculptures • Welcome to the Statues Museum • Conscience Alley • The War Room • Assembly

• Games for World war One • Kruds and Kreeps • Stick in the Mud • Clean Your Boots • Dicing With Death

• Archaeological Dig

Activities written and created by Steve Stickley Footprints Theatre Trust


KEY STAGE 2 The Midnight Clear It was 1914 and had been the wettest autumn. Britain was at war with Germany. Young men from all over Europe found themselves sitting in deep trenches along what was called the Western Front, which ran through France and Belgium. The mud was disgusting. The rain hadn’t stopped for weeks. Their mission? To kill each other. Those young men, some only 16 years old, found death, misery and nightmares. But they also found something unexpected, something quite surprising. Corporal John Ferguson, or Fergy to his mates, was from Nottingham. He would remember his time in the First World War for as long as he lived – and especially Christmas 1914. Corporal Erhard Klapper was from Koblenz. His chest rattled when he coughed so his mates called him Klapperschlange which means rattlesnake. Erhard never got to tell his parents what happened that Christmas. Both Erhard and Fergy wrote letters home. Fergy reckoned the mud was as lumpy and as claggy as Auntie Sheila’s custard. Erhard said that if mud was chocolate then he would be a chocolate millionaire. But underneath the joking they were both afraid. The sound of cannon shells exploding made them deaf for a while and the sight of men killed right in front of them haunted their sleep. On Sunday 20th December Fergy was on duty keeping watch over No-Man’s Land. “It were right early in the mornin, first light. The ground still smoked from the shells that had blown men clean out of the trenches. Through the wet mist I saw shadows walking. I called the sarg. Me hands were shaking, should I open fire? Fritz was on the move but with his hands held up like he was surrendering. But it weren’t that. They’d come out without their guns to pick up the wounded in No-Man’s Land and bury the dead. So we did too. It was a strange feeling stepping out onto No-Man’s Land. A place of certain death, except death weren’t waiting for us that day.” Soldiers on both sides fetched shovels to bury the unfortunate bodies where they had fallen. No-one spoke, but each could see their enemy just a matter of yards away. It was back-breaking work digging a grave in the mud and rain. At the same moment, Fergy and Erhard both saw a dead soldier right in the middle of No-Man’s Land. It was so badly burned and covered in mud that neither of them could tell which side the soldier had been on. It didn’t matter. Both of them started digging the same grave, silently, every now and then stealing a glance at the other. Just then Erhard dug up a turnip. He wiped the mud off it and tossed it to Fergy. “Hey, Tommy, ein Rübe, jah?” Fergy caught it and repeated the German as best he could, “Ine roober?” He nodded and threw it back to Erhard. “Turnip mate.” Erhard smiled, nodded, and tried out his newly found English word “Ah ... Turnipmate!” They carried on digging,


buried the dead soldier, said a silent prayer each and then went back to their separate trenches. There was further bombardment from cannon miles away and more soldiers were blown out of the trenches. Tuesday, Wednesday, the same thing happened. Soldiers climbed out onto No-Man’s Land to rescue the wounded and bury the dead. Slowly, bit by bit, British soldiers talked to German soldiers and German soldiers talked to British soldiers. Thursday 24th December 1914. Christmas Eve. The weather changed. It stopped raining at last and the temperature dropped. Instead of wading through the mud, the soldiers could walk on it. It had frozen hard. Men on both sides received parcels from back home. There were chocolates, cheese, jars of pickles, tinned meat, sausages, gloves, scarves, hats. German soldiers were sent tiny Christmas trees or Tannenbaum. Fergy was on look-out duty again. “I couldn’t believe what I saw. Fritz had only gone and put up lickle Christmas trees with candles on them, all along the top of the trenches so we could see them. I said to the sarg and the fellas, ‘Can we do summat?’ and the sarg chuckled and showed us what he’d got from home. Fireworks! So we set them off and everybody cheered, including Fritz.” There were also some soldiers from India on the British side and when they saw the candles twinkling and the fireworks, they were reminded of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. It was turning into a magical atmosphere. At midnight a distant church bell rang and a voice started singing from far away. On the cold night air came the sound of a French opera singer who had come to cheer up the British troops. But his powerful and beautiful voice could be heard in the German trenches too. After that, soldiers on both sides sang at the top of their voices so the other side could hear. The Germans sang ‘Oh Tannenbaum’, the British responded with ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’. And so it went on, until one German soldier climbed up in full view, waved his tin helmet in the air and cried out, “Fröhliches Weihnachten!” ... Merry Christmas. Friday 25th December. Christmas Day. A sprinkling of snow had fallen and the sun was bright. There had been no booming cannon and no gunfire. Soldiers got out of their trenches again, but this time just to say hello and greet each other. Sausages were swapped for chocolate, pickles for gloves. Erhard met Fergy again and showed a photograph of his two sisters. Fergy whistled and said, “Eh, they’re beautiful. Wish one of them was my girlfriend ... wish both of them were my girlfriend!” One had blonde hair and one had fair hair. Fergy gave Erhard a photograph. “That’s mam and dad and me at Goose Fair. It’s famous, is Goose Fair.” Erhard didn’t quite understand, “What is he saying? A goose with hair?” Soldiers posed together for photographs to be taken and one man from London even met up with his barber who used to cut his hair back in Britain. The barber was delighted to see his old friend but decided he needed his hair cutting, so he sat him down right there in No-Man’s Land and gave him a trim. Carols were sung, drinks were shared and cigars were handed round. Then someone got out a football and a huge rabble of young men, their breath puffing like steam on the cold air of No-Man’s Land, kicked the ball this way and that. Except now, this strip of soil had become Everyman’s Land.


Later, the Germans sang their favourite Christmas song from out their trenches. ‘Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht’ It was a song that none of the British had ever heard before. It was brand new. ‘Silent night, holy night’. The Germans taught it to the British. An Englishman shouted out “We’ll kill you if you make us sing it in German!” And a voice came back, in perfect English, “We’ll kill you if you try!” The English version was finally devised and they sang the song together. The British troops would eventually take that song back home and ever since then we have sung it at Christmas. Fergy and Erhard each found themselves looking at the photograph he had been given that day and both of them realised that the other was just like him, with a family back home. Fergy looked up at the stars that night, “We couldn’t believe what had happened. Our enemy seemed like our friends. We’d sung about the same Jesus. Jesus the Saviour. Jesus the Peacemaker. Perhaps there will be Peace now.” Boxing Day, 27th, 28th, 29th ... the same thing happened. No fighting, just meeting up with new foreign friends. Some soldiers even went in the trenches on the opposing side. Some even swapped bits of uniform. Perhaps Peace had really come. Perhaps this really had been ‘A War to End All Wars’. Some say it wasn’t until January 10th or 12th when the orders came to resume fighting. War returned and the sound of cannon and gunfire replaced the memories of songs and carols. It came upon the midnight clear ... The soldiers pick up their guns. That glorious song of old ... They load their bullets. From angels bending near the earth ... They squeeze their triggers once more. To touch their harps of gold ... The hot metal of bullets fill the air. And man at war with man hears not ... Fear and horror return. The love song which they bring ... Young lives start to fall. Oh hush your noise you men of strife ... Fergy is hit in the arm and leg. To hear the angels sing ... Erhard is shot and stops breathing. Corporal John Ferguson ended up in Derby Royal Infirmary where half his arm was amputated. His leg healed. He told the nurse what had happened that Christmas and she wrote it all down. Fergy got on so well with the nurse that they ended up getting married. To this day, his account of that unofficial Christmas Truce can be read in Nottingham City Library. Erhard was invented for this story, but tens of thousands like him on both sides never got to return home to tell their loved ones what had happened that Christmas. However, many


of the soldiers who did make it home said it was, in a strange way, the happiest Christmas they’d ever had. The famous 1914 Unofficial Truce has gone down in history as a powerful example of how ordinary people like you and I can make a difference. Peace can silence war and enemies can become friends. © Footprints Theatre Trust 2014 Inspired by accounts of real events.


KEY STAGE 2

Chancing It The ideas for these activities are in response to the chance and probability of survival or death during WW1. (These could be used after reading The Midnight Clear.) 1. Cutting the Pack This uses the classroom and involves tables and chairs as props and

5 or 6 packs of playing cards. After having studied photographs and eye witness accounts of what it

was like in WW1, encourage the children to write a series of words on prepared pieces of paper. The words can be any type: nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs etc. but each should be in direct response to WW1 stimuli. All the pieces of paper are folded and put into a receptacle to be drawn out at random.

Perhaps using some music/songs from the era (see firstworldwar.com/audio) on

CD/mp3 as atmosphere, encourage the children to imagine they are soldiers in the trenches and that they are going to play a game of cards. Divide the class into groups of 5 or 6 and ask them to see if they can whistle along to the music as they organise an improvised ‘trench’ using the tables and chairs. No-one must speak. Stop the music and settle everyone down. (Inevitably some children will want to sit under tables and so on, so it may be important to agree boundaries with them before you begin.) The idea is to transform the classroom safely so that children can sit on the floor and imagine they are in a trench.

How to play: Each child takes a piece of paper at random with a word on. S/he also

draws one card from a shuffled pack. The higher the face value of the card, the more positive the soldier is. The lower the face value, the more negative. Ace is low. Each player takes a turn to improvise one sentence using the word on the piece of paper about life in the trenches, but either negatively or positively. (You may want to practise this with them before the exercise begins.) The rest of their group must try to guess the value of their card. Each child holds onto their playing cards. After a few minutes stop the game and ask each person to remember their own sentences. Check whether people are guessing with any accuracy etc. Carry on playing for a few more minutes. Without warning, bang a loud drum and turn off any music. Everyone must STOP. Tell them that they have just been shelled. Anyone with a card in their hand that is a spade is dead. All the ‘dead’ must leave their group and stand at the edge of the room. Encourage a reflective almost prayerful atmosphere, quietening them down saying something like:


“That’s how it was sometimes. Unexpectedly, soldiers would be killed. Perhaps in the middle of a game, perhaps in their sleep. You would never know who would die next.”

Ask the ‘dead’ to look back at where they had been. If they could speak from

beyond the grave what would they want to say ... and to whom? Use the sentences and ideas generated to create written or performed fragments of storytelling about WW1.


KEY STAGE 2

Chancing It

2. What You’re Dealt With in 1918 The Spanish Flu at the end of WW1 killed more people across the

globe than died on the battlefields. This simple card game, to be played around a table, is a way of showing the possible impact of both occurrences upon a single family. However, the children should not be told why they are playing this game until after the end of play. Divide the class into groups of 4 or 5. The children either draw lots or decide who will be Grandparent, Parent, Adult child (x2 optional) and Younger child.

How to play: The pack is shuffled and each player is dealt five cards. the remaining

pack is placed in the middle face down. At the start of the first round everyone in the group chants together “January”.

“February” begins the second round and so on through the year. Starting with the youngest, each picks up one card from the remaining pack and

decides whether s/he wants to keep it. Each player must try to collect four cards of the same suit. No-one should know what anyone else is collecting. Decisions must be made very quickly and players can change their mind as play progresses.

The player must get rid of one card (face down) onto a separate ‘throw away’ pile so they always have five cards in their hand.

If a player achieves their object before the end of play they must knock on the table to signify that play then moves to the next person. *

“November” signals the end of the game and play stops after the last player in

sequence throws away her/his last card. Everyone lays their cards on the table to see who has collected what. When every group is finished, ask the class why they think that game involved the

months of the year. Ask them who they think has won in their group. Tell the class that the game represented the Year 1918, the last year of WW1,

ending with the Armistice in the November. Then tell them that, if their family had been alive in that year, things might not have worked out as they think they might. Read out or reveal:

Anyone who has collected Hearts or Diamonds remains alive. Anyone who has collected Spades has been killed as a result of the war. Anyone who has collected Clubs has been killed by the Spanish Flu.


Take a straw poll to see what has happened in each family. Make available a few

relevant facts about the events of 1918 (Battle of the Somme, Spanish Flu detected etc.) Each group then devises a story that takes the events and deaths into account. What might have happened to that family afterwards? If a family member was killed in the war, how did they die?

* As a variation, and if children want to play it again, one child from the group could

select which two suits will die and not divulge their choice until the end.


KEY STAGE 2

Foot Work The ideas for these activities are in response to the marching of soldiers. 1. Rhythm Repeats Everyone stands in a circle. A leader claps four regular beats which

everyone repeats. The leader makes a rhythmic variation within the four beat sequence which everyone copies. Try with a few children volunteering as leaders one at a time. Gradually encourage the use of feet as well as hands. Finally, make it a feet-only rhythm repeating exercise, still within the four beat time signature. Discuss why soldiers march. Is it about strength? Co-ordination? Team work? Power? How easy is it to get everyone marching together? Try it out in the playground.

Sing/chant together this 1914 version of a famous marching song: When Tommy comes marching home again – Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll give him a hearty welcome then – Hurrah! Hurrah! The men will cheer and the boys will shout The ladies they will all turn out And we'll all feel proud when Tommy comes marching home. Form groups of 7 or 8 and see who can devise some interesting variations of

marching using the Tommy comes marching home song. Encourage different steps: side steps; hopping; double or triple stamping; backward steps, rotating moves and so on. Share the ideas. Discuss the difference between ‘marching’ and ‘dancing’, which was it more like? Talk about why soldiers march rather than dance. Tease out the differences in the way it makes us feel.

What would happen if soldiers danced instead of marched? Write/Improvise a

story of soldiers who danced instead. Look at some of the documented evidence of the unofficial Christmas Truce of 1914 on the Western Front.


KEY STAGE 2

Foot Work

2. Plates of Meat ‘An army marches on its stomach’ – discuss favourite foods and/or

comfort foods. Working in 2s, children devise a marching rhyme based on their favourite food, eg ‘Pizza’s good with cheese and ham ... Bread and butter with raspberry jam.’ A regular drumbeat is added and other children repeat each line in time with the rhythm. The whole class could agree on a chorus line which everyone chants in unison eg ‘Rise and shine, rise and shine, early every morning’. Try out marching and chanting to the beat, repeating the lines of differing rhymes from different pairs with the chorus in between each ‘verse’.

Talk about how soldiers in WW1 couldn’t have their favourite foods but probably

fantasised about them. How would our favourite food make us feel if we were far away from home in poor conditions? In 1914 soldiers received food parcels from home, especially at Christmas. Look online at what they had.


KEY STAGE 2

Foot Work

3. Footprints that tell a story Facts and Feelings. This idea is to balance out invented or actual facts

with emotional and personal responses in order to reflect something of the experience of soldiers at the front and the families left behind at home. Discuss families waving goodbye to their young men going off to war. Eventually two types of footprints trails will be made, showing the experience of soldiers and of the families in a travelling story form.

Children in small groups agree on names for their imagined family and whom will

assume which role. Each family is assigned a colour in order to differentiate their family footprints from other families.

The children draw around both their shoes multiple times on the respective coloured

paper and cut out the ‘footprints’. On either all the left feet, they will write facts – these can be from actual WW1 accounts or invented. On all of the right ‘footprints’ they will write thoughts and feelings as below.

Each child in the group in their respective role writes onto sequential footprints the

facts and feelings/thoughts starting from the goodbye point and ending as the group may decide – either with the return or the death of the soldier. Other factors can added eg. the birth of a baby whilst the soldier is away, or the outbreak of the Spanish Flu which killed people back home at the end of WW1 etc.

Using a large cut-out circle as the ‘goodbye’ starting point with the names of the

family members written on it, the paper footprints belonging to each character lead off in opposite directions. They can be taped to the floor using doubled up masking tape which can be easily removed, and could take the reader on a long journey around the school environs.

Children from other classes could be invited to go on a journey of discovery.


KEY STAGE 2

Foot Work

4. Foreign Feet The same as above but selecting German families and soldiers to tell

their stories. Perhaps their goodbye point might start somewhere else entirely in the school. Maybe a selection of key words in German might help convey something of the characters’ lives: ‘Lebt wohl’ – ‘farewell’; ‘aufgeregt’ – ‘excited’; ‘erschöpft’ – ‘exhausted’; ‘glückliche Erinnerungen’ – ‘happy memories’; ‘ängstlich’ – ‘fearful’ etc.

With more research children could investigate the very many different countries that

supported Britain in WW1, the Triple Entente. It may come as a surprise to many that less than 50% of the forces fighting for Britain were actually from Britain. For example, nearly half a million soldiers were shipped from Australia and New Zealand. A map of the world could be made showing the trail of marching soldiers’ footprints from all over the world leading to the battle fronts. How did those men and women feel about leaving their homes so far behind and fighting for a country they had probably never even visited?


KEY STAGE 2

Living War Sculptures Hall space needed. This session could be used in conjunction with the narrative of The Midnight Clear, or it could stand alone. 1. Welcome to the Statues Museum Children are arranged in pairs labelling themselves A and B. A becomes a ‘sculptor’ and B is the ‘clay’. Whatever position A

moulds B into, B must stay in. Start off with small movements, fingers or fore-arms, encouraging the children to concentrate. Some suitable music might help to focus them. All sculpting must be carried out very slowly. Point out the difficulties involved in moving legs and putting the ‘clay’ off balance, encourage co-operation.

A continues to shape B until a pleasing statue is made. The as then walk around the Statue Museum to have a look at all

the other creations. Swap over roles and repeat. Discuss how it felt and what came to mind when one is being sculpted.

2. Conscience Alley Organise the class into small groups numbering four or five. Take one group out. Ask the rest to make an ‘alley’ down which the group will walk. The function of the

alley is to provide whispers to influence those walking by. After one group has finished they take the place of others from the alley so that

everyone has a go at walking down the alley. Each member of the small group, walking separately and slowly, passes down the

alley twice in total, listening to what is being whispered: First time: the alley whispers reasons it can think of as to how and why to start a

war; On the return trip: the alley whispers reasons it can think of as to how and why to

promote peace. After passing down the alley the group recall what they have heard. Meanwhile the

children in the alley compare notes with one or two next to them. Repeat all of the above until everyone has had a go at walking down the alley.


KEY STAGE 2

Living War Sculptures

3. The War Room Discuss together the impact of what has been heard so far. (Include

ideas and thoughts from The Midnight Clear if appropriate.) Explain that together we are going to create a War Room that contains human sculptures that can speak. Discuss how to make the environment (perhaps in a classroom, maybe with blackout and strategically placed lights, perhaps items of costume, some suitable music etc.) to which other classes can be invited to visit, a few at a time. The rest of this session would be planning and preparation.

The children work in their groups of four or five to prepare 2 series of 3 still frames

with whispered comments. Still frames 1, 2 and 3 all of soldiers fighting in different positions, each frame they

whisper (in unison or severally) thoughts, prayers and feelings about fighting. Still frames 4, 5 and 6 in different positions are soldiers who have ceased fighting

and at peace, each frame they whisper (in unison or severally) thoughts, prayers and feelings about peace.

It has been said that there are no atheists on the battlefield, talk about soldiers

praying. What would they be praying for? How would they pray? Perhaps find or devise a formal soldier’s prayer.

Children could devise their own narrative, recall the experiences of Fergy and

Erhard from The Midnight Clear, or the stills could simply be separate cameos. Suggested outline for a Performance. Music as audience enter The War Room to encounter still frame 1 (soldiers

fighting). The music dips down. Audience move around as the ‘sculptures’ change in slow motion from 1 to 2 then to

3 as follows: Frame 1 with whispers. Slow motion move to frame 2 with whispers. Slow motion to 3 with whispers.


Music comes up, (soldiers at peace) frames 4 to 5 then 6 with slow motion changes as before.

Music dips down. Frame 4 with whispers. Slow motion move to frame 5 with whispers, same again to 6. Music comes up. Visiting children (and teachers) will come to the transformed classroom to watch

and listen to The War Room experience. A rota could be worked so that different groups of the year group have different functions at any one time. Class members not involved in the performance could practise a short introductory storytelling narrative to stimulate the audience’s imagination before each visiting group enters The War Room. Others could record reactions once the audience come out.


KEY STAGE 2

Living War Sculptures

4. Assembly If some or all of the performance is photographed/videoed, the

class could play short sequences/clips in an assembly that looks at the thoughts and feelings of those involved in fighting during the First World War.

The children could find out if there is any child in the school who

can trace back a great-great grandfather who went to war between 1914 and 1918. Perhaps there might be teachers who had a great grandfather who fought. If they are only a small group arrange for them to stand at the front.

Find out how many were killed from your community during WW1 and then estimate

the possible number of children who might have been alive today if those people had not been killed. Represent this number using a lifesize cardboard cutout of a child, moving it down a continued imagined line of children counting as you go.

Using some of the still frame images the children created, class members could

devise prayers for those affected by war in the world.


Games for World War One 1. Kruds and Kreeps. (Hall required.) Key Stage 1 Divide children into two groups. Children line up facing each other approximately one metre apart in

two long lines down the middle of the hall, half the class are labelled ‘Kruds’ the other half ‘Kreeps’.

The neutral caller (normally the teacher to begin with) calls out either ‘Kruds’ or ‘Kreeps’. If ‘Kruds’ is called, all the Kruds must turn and run to touch the wall behind them before any Kreep might catch or ‘tag’ them. Vice versa.

If any child is caught or ‘tagged’, s/he must join the other side and change their

identity. Fun is to be had by the caller prolonging the ‘Kr’ sound which adds to the suspense and also shouting out bogus words to catch players out, such as: “Crisps!” or “Crumbs!” or “Crikey!” In either event, any child that moves from their feet together position in response to a prolonged or bogus call must join the other side or sit out.

Comparisons may be drawn between this and the existence of the Western Front.

Soldiers had to obey orders to advance or retreat without question. Also, the battle front kept moving to and fro. (Although the incidence of soldiers changing sides only seems to apply once to the whole Italian Army in April 1915!) The notion of enemies becoming friends could also be alluded to, as in the unofficial truce during Christmas 1914.

Talk about the feelings of tension in the game: “How did you feel?” “Do some

people cope better than others and, if so, why?” Of course, this can be played with KS2, although it can prove slightly rougher and needs closer monitoring.


Games for World War One

2. Stick in the Mud. (Hall required.) Key Stages 1 & 2 The standard running and catching game of Stick in the Mud where

one person is ‘on’ or ‘it’. When players are ‘tagged’ they must stand with legs apart and arms outstretched until another player crawls under their legs to release them. The catcher must try to ‘tag’ everyone.

Comparisons may be drawn with medics crawling through mud in No Man’s Land in

order to rescue the wounded. Also, mud featured prominently in WW1, especially throughout the autumn of 1914 when the rain did not cease for weeks on end. Discuss the idea of taking a risk to save others.



3. Clean Your Boots. (Classroom floor space or hall.) Key Stage 2 The children and teacher sit in a circle on the floor with legs crossed

or kneeling. Each person has one of their own shoes in front of them on the floor. Everyone learns then recites the chant:

‘Clean your boots, clean your boots, Clean your boots, your boots, your boots.’ On the first ‘Clean’ each person takes hold of the shoe and bangs it on the ground

in front of the person to their right and then lets go immediately on the beat of ‘boots’, thus leaving their own shoe in front of the next person. Each person now has a new shoe in front of them. On the next line the same thing happens but with the new shoe: ‘Clean’ (grab hold), ‘boots’ (bang down and let go). A second shoe has passed to the person on the right. Everyone now has another new shoe in front of them.

The second line of the rhyme is different: on ‘Clean’ (grab hold), on the first ‘boots’

bang the shoe on the ground in front of the person to the right but DON’T LET GO, on the second ‘boots’ bang the shoe on the ground in front yourself again but DON’T LET GO and, finally, on the third ‘boots’ at the end of the chant, bang the shoe down in front of the person on the right AND LET GO. Each person should again have another new shoe in front of them. The chant and shoe moving is repeated and repeated, getting faster and faster until it all falls apart into giggles.

Discuss working together, working under pressure, moving as a whole unit, the

regimentation of an army. Also, consider the difficulty of soldiers in WW1 keeping their boots dry and clean in the ankle (sometimes knee) deep mud in the trenches. Talk about persistent, repetitive actions and the effect it has upon the brain and the emotions – relating this to repetitive actions soldiers had to carry out: digging trenches, loading a cannon and firing over and over, continual marching etc.



4. Dicing With Death. (Hall required.) Key Stages 1 & 2 The class is split into two equal teams. Key Stage 2 use two numbered

dice. Key Stage 1 ideally use two dice with coloured faces. Either way, the dice need to be as big as possible. The children stand facing each other in two long lines (as in ‘Kruds and Kreeps’ above). Each child decides, silently, on

a/ a number between 1 and 6 that will ‘kill’ them (or a colour for KS1) and b/ another different number between 1 and 6 that will ‘bring them back to life’

(different colour for KS1). They must stick to their decision. Choose one child from each side to be a General. Each General has three rolls of

the die. Action alternates from one side to the other. As each number (or colour) is rolled and called out, the relevant children ‘die’ or ‘come back to life’ accordingly. After each General has rolled three times, a tally of those left standing is taken. Repeat with new Generals etc. and see who can score the most. KS2 children could decide to change their number with each subsequent General, so long as they are honest and abide by the rules. The General with the highest score at the end is the winner.

Discuss, appropriately to the age group, the difference between Battles and Sport.

For KS2: What role does luck play in war? How does it feel not to be in control? And what is the difference between competition and hatred?


KEY STAGES 1 & 2

Archaeological Dig This activity should be adapted to suit each age group. The emphasis is on feelings first, science second. Where the activity involves role-play, Key Stage 2 children could select their own character from a prepared list. Whereas, in Key Stage 1 it might be easier for every child in a class to be the same character eg. ‘Mr or Mrs Baxter’ or ‘Ernest Baxter’. Either way, the important point is that each child in one class can be paired with one child in another class – one as a parent and the other as their soldier son. Larger classes could be selected to be soldiers so that a child from the ‘parent’ class may end up with more than one soldier son. Objective: To help children to grasp the idea of separation, loss and discovery in World War One by simulating an archaeological dig. Materials: Writing paper and envelopes, ink pens, pencils, crayons, stamps (optional), greaseproof paper, trowels/digging implements, CD/mp3 music of WW1 song/s. (Trays and sand/soil if indoor option is more appropriate.) A prepared list of names, avoiding any existing surnames in the classes. A Whole School Off-Timetable Archaeological Day AM Creating the Artefacts 1. Whole class groups (either existing classes or mixed age range classes for the day only) are assigned as either Parents or Soldiers. Each class is encouraged to keep their role secret until later in the day. 2. Introduce the idea that in fields in France and Belgium to this day, artefacts and belongings from soldiers in WW1 may still be buried underground where trenches used to be. What would it feel like to dig something up like that? ‘Parent’ classes speculate on lost letters from soldiers left unread, while ‘Soldier’ classes speculate on lost letters from home. 3. Explain that we are going to write a lost letter which will be buried (either outside or in a tray). Aid children’s knowledge regarding what life was like in the trenches/waiting at home during WW1. Emphasis should be put on the distance between home and battle front, the only communication was hand written letters. 4. Introduce a WW1 song eg. ‘Pack up your Troubles in your Old Kit Bag’ or ‘Keep the Homefires Burning’ or ‘Goodbyee’ and play it on CD player/computer. (This could be from


YouTube with images of the war etc. or from firstworldwar.com). Help the children imagine waving goodbye to their loved one. Emphasise that there were no means of communication other than a handwritten letter and that, in those days, hardly anyone went abroad – so France or Belgium seemed a very long way away indeed. 5. The children write a letter appropriate to their adopted role for the day (Parent or Soldier). KS2 children could be acquainted with phrases/language that might have been used, eg: ‘I pray that the Almighty will grant Peace’ or ‘With God’s help Kaiser Wilhelm will be defeated’ or ‘Oh this cruel mud! Our spirits are dampened but not put out’ or ‘The family send their heartiest greetings and all good wishes for your safety’ etc. (See firstworldwar.com or sparticus.schoolnet.co.uk.) KS1 children could be encouraged to form simple phrases eg ‘Lots of love’ or ‘God bless you’ and to draw pictures of either family events back home: a new baby or a child starting school – or from the battle front: horses pulling big cannon or soldiers digging trenches etc. Every communication should be signed with the name of the character they are pretending to be. 6. Letters and pictures are put into envelopes with appropriate names and addresses (perhaps local army battalions of the day and relevant local domestic addresses) and then wrapped in greaseproof paper. (For an added sense of authenticity the paper could previously be ‘distressed’ and aged with coffee/tea bags etc.) 7. All artefacts are then taken and buried (not too deeply!) in a prepared and designated area outside in the school grounds. Where this may not be possible then trays filled with dampened sand will suffice. Everyone is sworn to secrecy. PM Discovering the Artefacts 1. Using the same or different WW1 song, remind the children of the feelings of separation from loved ones, encouraging them to express what they might be. Talk about waiting to hear, waiting to receive a letter – and sometimes it never arrived. Emphasise that quite often there were details about WW1 that remained unknown for many many years. 2. Lost and Found. Talk about losing personal things and finding personal things. Discuss briefly what archaeology is, with examples (Tutankhamun, Indiana Jones’ films) and the notion of buried secrets. 3. For KS2 a checklist could be devised with perhaps even a string grid (see archaeological dig ideas for children online). Each class goes to the assigned (paired) site which contains the artefacts for them. This enables, ultimately, ‘Parents’ to be matched with ‘Soldier sons’ etc. Each child digs to find what is buried and records what it is. 4. All finds are laid out in the classroom. The song is played one more time as children are encouraged to imagine what it would be like for their ‘character’ to find a letter addressed to them after so many years. Children and letters are paired and content read out and shared.


5. Assembly. Children bring their letters into a whole school/whole Key Stage assembly. One or two from each class share what they have found. Perhaps another song from WW1 is played and images from the war projected. Talk about and pray for families today who have loved ones away in war zones. Talk about and pray for people made homeless by war (eg children in Syria). NB Whilst we have concentrated on male soldiers for obvious reasons, a variation could easily encompass daughters as Red Cross nurses, although the number of casualities of serving female medical staff was far, far fewer. (Large numbers did die from the Spanish Flu, see firstworldwar.com) Also, you may wish to bury other artefacts that might have been found from that time: an old penny, a marble, an old broken wristwatch etc. Children could be encouraged to ask parents and grandparents for any old small objects that would roughly fit the criteria (but not valuable)!

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KS2 all activities