FINDING OUT ABOUT THE PAST - HOLIDAYS
Years 1 and 2 – 1 hour
Jigsaw puzzle, Paul & Marjorie Abbatt Ltd. ca. 1960 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Identify similarities and differences between children’s lives now and in the past by
investigating holidays
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
History: Develop an awareness of the past using common words or phrases relating to
the passing of time; understand some of the ways in which we find out about the past;
create a simple chronological framework of ‘now’ and ‘then’.
LESSON PLAN
Objectives
To encourage pupils to investigate and compare holidays in the past with their
experiences of going on holiday today. To help pupils understand why and how they
are different. To use appropriate vocabulary and adjectives to discuss these differences.
Resources
Lego aeroplane
Wheeled suitcase with a selection of 21st Century holiday objects
Jigsaws with mid-20th Century period seaside pictures
Quoits
19th Century seaside objects
Teaching activities
Introduction
Children are encouraged to share their experiences as we consider the varied types of
21st Century holiday, using a lego aeroplane
Activity 1
Unpack a Teddy Cabin Max bag and match the 21st Century holiday objects inside with
the corresponding 19th Century object out on display.
Activity 2
Experience a 19th Century seaside trip! Play quoits and dress up with parasols and hats
Activity 3
Photographs: look at holiday images from the 19th Century, and then move forward in
time to consider pictures of holidays in grandparents’ time, including camping,
caravanning and holiday camps.
Activity 4
Play with seaside jigsaws with images from the past
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Earliest Holidays
Wealthy families began to visit the seaside in the 18th century, however it wasn’t
until the 19th century that the seaside holiday as we know it today started to
become popular. This was made possible by the expansion of the railways in the
1840s and 1850s, which made long distance travel affordable for many people. The
wealthy stayed in expensive hotels, whilst boarding houses were opened for the
less wealthy. In addition, there was the cheaper alternative of a day trip to the
seaside which was a very popular pastime. Londoners, for example, could go to
Southend for the day by train, on special day return rates.
Children enjoyed paddling, donkey rides, and building sand castles. Few people
learnt to swim, but those who could afford costumes bathed in the sea. People
believed that a dip in the sea was beneficial to their health. Punch and Judy moved
from the city streets to the seaside, and piers began to house a range of attractions
including theatres, merry-go-rounds, shooting galleries, and model railways.
From the 1870s, manufacturers began making toys for the beach including buckets,
spades, sieves, and sand mills. Initially these were made of wood, but soon tin
became more common, especially for buckets as it gave more opportunity for
colourful patterns and pictures. Today most seaside toys are made of plastic, which
means they no longer become rusty.
20th Century Camping and Caravaning
A combination of factors led to an increase in holidays from the 1930s. More
factories began to close annually for two weeks, allowing families to go away for
longer. This led to the appearance of holiday camps, most famously those run by
Butlins. These provided accommodation, meals and entertainment, all for a fixed
budget.
Other families preferred to holiday more independently, camping or staying in
caravans. They could join the ‘Camping and Caravanning Club’ whose members
might share tips about routes, sites and the latest gadgets for equipping one’s
home on wheels. Such holidays became more popular also because of the increase
in car ownership at that time.
Most people still holidayed in the UK: travel to ‘the Continent’, as other parts of
Europe were called, was expensive and took a long time, involving a coach or train
and boat.
It was not until the advent of cheaper air fares and the ‘package holiday’ of the
1960s and 1970s that holidays abroad began to become widespread.