Topic this term - Victorians

[Minx82]

Hi, my daughter is learning about victorians this term. Any fun ideas of things to do at home with her to support her learning?

I took ds (8) to the theatre last year to see the Horrible Histories production of Vile Victorians. 'twas great.

Actually Horrible Histories full stop is good as there's lots of Victorian songs and sketches in the DVDs amongst the other stuff

given my eldest's behaviour recently I would suggest a day of being a victorian child....'seen and not heard'...

Do you have any Victorian NT houses near you? Ours often have Victorian activities - doing the washing by hand and using the mangle to dry it, for example.
Cook some Victorian recipes?
Get some replica Victorian toys - egg in a cup, or learn how to play marbles

We home ed but we 'lived' a Victorian day last year: included various things - my DDs and I weren't allowed to wear trousers (!), they stuck post-it notes on all the things in the house we couldn't use (kettle, TV etc). We ate went for a walk to the local shops to buy our daily food (looking at the architecture of the local Victorian buildings). We made a 'Victorian Times ' newspaper - they each wrote an article about something that happened during the Victorian era - the Great exhibition, redesigning the Houses of parliament...

Watch Oliver, my kids did Victorians last term and they did Oliver for their school.play. street child by Michael morporgo is a thought provoking story.

Thank you for all the great ideas :)

talk about life for a child her age and how it differs from life for her now. Which toys she has and plays with are the same or similar to toys in those days (a doll, different now but still the same idea). one that will really catch attention at the moment is talking about heating, not having a nice bath etc

Also I'm nr London so any ideas of day trips ?

CatnipKitty

We are extending the world war 2 week we did last year. doing a full half term.

OP would second doing a week as a Victorian Family, you may have to compromise on some things but its amazing how realistic you can make it.

www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums/18staffordterrace1.aspx

Strap her to a backboard, beat her daily, send her up the chimney, make her go barefoot in the snow to sell matches.

The Black Country Museum might be worth a day trip - it's a fabulous 'living' Victorian town.

Don't forget to make her stand at the table at mealtimes and only speak when spoken to!

DD2 is doing Victorians too, yesterday (first day back) they did Victorian teaching methods. It was all acting, but DD came back saying she didn't realise how cushy her life at school is in the 21st century! They had to do 10 minutes of stepping up and down on a bench to give them an idea of what it would have been like to work on a treadmill and DD said it was really hard. Then the teacher chose a child and pretended to 'beat' her for talking in class, with enthusiastic fake screaming. I think it's going to be an interesting term.

It's important that they understand the distinction between the rich and poor, so show both sides and point out the huge disparities. don't romanticise the poverty!

Don't Victorian toys suck really badly, stuff like huge iron rings with a stick that the children push down a hill and run beside, wooden pegs and throwing hoops, cup, stick and ball, marbles (OK, there's nothing wrong with marbles) tin soldiers...

If I was a Victorian child I'd kill myself.

If I was a Victorian child I'd kill myself.

If you were rich you wouldn't need to, the lead in the paint on your toys would.

If you were poor, well you could be down a mine.

Hasn't the whole childhood dynamic changed massively because of the Victorians, anyway. Obviously, in order to be down a mine you'd have to live near one, but you could be out begging, stealing, starving or working in a mill instead, (if you were luckier.)

The richer children had governesses and tutors, so they actually had adults to keep them occupied, (unfortunately that's now the job of TV and console games)

I'm not sure how much actually playing outside features (unless you're a fan of The Railway Children or The Secret Garden)

The Georgians actually stepped over dead children in the street. At least the Victorians put the destitute ones in institutions before they died! You might not like the Victorian institutions very much, but at least they had some! I'm not a great fan of the Victorian, perhaps you can tell. But at least they were a step up on what had gone before.

Thank you for all the ideas. Will try some out at visit Stafford terrace :)

Hi Minx82:

Not sure where you're located as 'near London' may be doable if North of London but you could consider:

www.ironbridge.org.uk/our-attractions/blists-hill-victorian-town/

In London there's of course the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum, The Natural History Museum, Museum of London and Charles Dickens Museum (www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9722289/Charles-Dickens-Museum-the-writers-home-in-London-reopens-to-the-public.html).

The V&A and Natural History Museum have exhibits beyond the Victorian period - but as institutions they are an advent of the Victorians desire to educate.

For an insight into education in the period visit the Ragged School Museum: www.raggedschoolmuseum.org.uk/

Finally - there's these self-drive tours of Victorian Engineering achievements throughout Britain: www.britishtourplans.com/08_10_day_victorian_engineering_marvels_tour.php - I don't know that you need to buy it - but it's got lots of ideas for you to explore there.

HTH

If you are 'near London' but South of it, you could visit Milestones in Basingstoke.

Geffrye Museum near Old Street tube is excellent and free.

www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/

Not too big or long - several different rooms of Victorian era at different points eg 1830's, 1870's etc. You can tour some of the rooms online to see whether it would be interesting for your DC.

Victoria & Albert museum has some interesting Victoriana and has fun art&crafts activities at weekends and school holidays. DS liked the room of chairs through the ages for some reason and still talks about it nearly 3 years later. They have an extensive fashion collection too, which may appeal?

What sorts of things is your DD interested in? Chances are you could track that back to the Victorian era somehow - eg. transport, toys, hair styles, shoes.

Look at your own family tree.

Several years ago I was given some old family photographs, and I mapped out a simple family tree to show my dc how they were related to us.

My ds, in particular was STUNNED that he had relatives who were "Victorians" . He'd done it at school but I guess it was quite abstract - a 'school topic', and it had just never entered his head that my Grandma was born in "Victorian times" and these portraits were of her parents and Grandparents around 1890 - 1900ish.

Gobsmacked he was.