Do you remember doing project books, on random topics, in primary school?

[PleaseYourselfandEatTheCrusts]

I was talking to my 8 year old, earlier. At school I can remember times where we could just pick a random topic that interested us. We would research it in the school library, and make up a whole project book about it.

I can remember doing ones on windmills, lighthouses and ancient Greece. I am sure there were more that I made though.

My 8 year old wants to have a go at making a project book of his own.

If you remember doing similar, what was yours about?

My dc had to do projects-although they were normally told the topic.

The girls quite enjoyed them, but ds hated them (he hated anything to do with writing).
However ds also used to twist the topic round so he could do what he liked.
So his "minibeast" one was about the Gnat, so he actually did it on the Red Arrows (the Gnat was the plane they used before the Hawk) and his one on different countries, he chose the countries very carefully so he could actually do it on football...

I certainly remember colouring in a blasted green woodpecker for dd2’s ‘Birds’ project when she was maybe 8, after she’d gone to bed tearfully exhausted with the wretched thing!

I did one on "The Police" after I had traumatised myself by choosing "Crime" and getting a book out of the library featuring photos of dead 1930's Gangsters. My Mum saved me by suggesting I moved over to the good guys who solve these crimes.

Did "History of Fashion" bit too broad a subject that one so took ages drawing out tiny ladies wearing 30's 40's and 50's outfits.

"Diamonds" boosted by a relative sending me a posh de beers catalogue to cut up and use.

I neber got to do this in school, it was all school chosen whole class topics.
But I did an after school club for a few years with the most unenthusiastic boring woman, she had five of us and a library of difficult books. She hated us talking and would give us a different topic to silently research and make a joint leaflet on.
Her topics included -
how cement is made,
Chimneys
Moths
The highest altitudes in the uk
Different types of Sheeps wool
Political parties of the past
Dairy products

Nowadays you'd just do a tweet

I did one on worms too! Loved it. I even had a wormery and gave my worms names.

This has been a real trip down memory lane 😀

I've also remembered doing three projects on Rome, The Amazon Rainforest and Volcanoes. They really were quite a regular thing looking back on it.

I hope you're all enjoyed reminiscing too!

We had to do these at infant school in the 70s. I really hated the open-endedness of the whole thing, and not knowing whether I was allowed to write things rather than draw pictures or stick bits into the book. I'd have been six or seven, and anxious to conceal my cackhanded nature. The finished product was usually a triumph of minimalism.

I remember we got to chose a famous character and I did Martin Luther King jr.
Still remember the quote I had at the end from him

We ain't what we oughta be. We ain't what we want to be. We ain't what we gonna be. But, thank God, we ain't what we was.

I remember topics! I was at junior school in the early 60’s and remember doing a project on chocolate. I don’t think I chose it, the teacher just told us. But I can remember writing to Cadbury for info and getting lots of leaflets back and some cocoa beans which I stuck in.
Can also vaguely remember a topic about rubber. Very random!

I did one on Bess of Hardwick Hall. No idea what the inspiration was for that! My mum still has it, it is beautiful, handwriting, some drawings and some pictures stuck in from leaflets from castle trips.

Bees, The Irish Potato Famine, Christmas through the ages

Curiosity killed the cat!
i remember being called to the head teachers office to be complimented on it!

I loved topic work! Reading this has bought back so many memories of primary school.

I still have my London topic book on the bookshelf upstairs. It manages to survive every decluttering session.

I still have some of mine! I have one about the weather, one all about the Caribbean, one all about the Egyptians

Trees. Basically copied the Ladybird Book of Trees (we didn't have many books at home). Well received.
Then something about pop stars - basically the back page of a comic (possibly 45 magazine). Told that wasn't appropriate.
But I can still recognise trees by their shapes with or without leaves and I know their Latin names.
I was bright but lacked originality and inspiration. 😁

Curiosity killed the cat!

Was it the band, or the concept?

I did one one sports cars and one on whales. I'm not really sure why I didn't really have an interest in either!

I was just thinking about topic work (as we called it) earlier. In year 3 our topic was “journeys” and the very first thing we had to learn was how to spell journey. Which is the only thing I remember from the topic and came in very helpful earlier when I had to write the sentence “client struggles with unfamiliar journeys”

I also did one on extreme weather hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes.
One on different types of homes (like igloo, teepee, house, tent, caravan, etc.)
One on life cycles, with a page about frogs and another about bees

We used to have a pack of large work cards about random things, Egyptians, flags, whales, trees etc. I remember I did one about trees and had to learn lots of facts about trees no. One fact was the Latin name for 2 trees. I still remember them Salix Babilonica was weeping willow and Quagus Rogus was oak tree. Over 50 years ago I did that card. We had to do a card during registration and was expected to get through 2 or occasionally 3 each week.

Yes! Funnily enough, my parents have just handed me a box of random stuff and in it are a couple of those project books. One is on local history and one is on a holiday. I’m actually a bit blown away by the care that went into them. I made a proper binding complete with a cardboard cover with a lovely marbled paper which I made myself.

Inside the local history one, I have maps, photos that I remember taking, a collage of a timeline, drawings etc. It actually made me well up a bit when I saw it because I’d totally forgotten doing it and it was in such good condition.

My whole class had to do one on the Common Market (forerunner to the EU). There were 9 member states so we were divided into 9 teams and given a country each to do as our project.

Ours was Luxembourg. I was ten years old, this was way before the internet was invented, the nearest library was miles away and I had to do a whole project on Luxembourg 😬😬😬

Ohh fab nostalgic thread! Ones I can immediately remember - sunflowers, priest holes in old buildings, water wheels, Cleopatra's Needle, and a particular tree in my garden 😂 I think I still have some of mine in the loft somewhere!