Curriculum subject: History
Key stage: 2 and 3
Theme: Legacy
Subject area: Toys, games and songs: Magna Carta in Education
Rationale
Magna Carta has been the subject of many educational children’s toys over the last 150 years.
What might this reveal about what we deem to be the important values we want to pass on to
our children? This activity could be used as part of an examination of King John and the story
of Magna Carta or as a summary exercise. The lesson pre-supposes that pupils are familiar with
the story of King John and opinions about him. This activity involves a level of resource
preparation.
Content:
Historical sources:
 Jigsaw puzzle depicting the signing of Magna Carta (estimated 1950s)
 Score of The Ballad of Magna Carta (1940)
 Card game entitled Magna Charta or Knight Errantry (1821)
 Rules and directions for playing card game entitled Magna Charta or Knight Errantry
(1821)
 King John and the Magna Carta: A Ladybird Adventure (1969)
 Magna Carta, 1215
 Great Seal of King John (1203)
Recommended reading (short articles):
Modern America and Magna Carta by Matthew Shaw
Key questions
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In the past, how have children been taught about Magna Carta, outside of their school
history lessons?
Through educational games and aids, what are the values children have been taught in
relation to Magna Carta? Do these values accurately reflect the history of Magna
Carta?
When were these educational games and aids produced?
Is Magna Carta still important enough to be used in educational toys and games?
The British Library | www.bl.uk/magna-carta
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Activities
1) Recap the story of Magna Carta and King John, including differing opinions of him as a
king.
2) Feed each group one source at a time, starting with the Magna Carta card game and
rules. This should be printed off and cut out for pupils. Allow pupils to look through
some of the rules. What do the rules say about Magna Carta? What ‘facts’ have they
learned about both King John and/or Magna Carta? They should record this.
3) Next, teach students the ballad of Magna Carta (possibly following some help from a
musical colleague). Sing the song together. Again ask pupils the same questions and
allow them to record this.
4) Finally, in their groups, give pupils the Ladybird book cover and text as well as an image
of the Waddington’s King John jigsaw puzzle. Again, allow pupils to explore the
sources and record what they learn from it.
5) Which method of learning about Magna Carta did they learn the most from? Which did
they like best?
6) Do any of the sources agree about any of the ‘facts’? Does this mean they must be
true? Set the pupils a research challenge to see if they can find the most common
inaccuracy in the sources. For example, three out of the four sources state or depict
Magna Carta being signed by King John. It was never signed, but was instead
authenticated by seal. If pupils are having trouble, introduce an image of King John’s
seal and ask them to check the original copy of Magna Carta as a clue.
7) Explore this inaccuracy in discussion with pupils. Does this mean the source is useless?
What problems do inaccuracies create for historians? Can a historian ever be sure of the
facts? What does a historian need to do in order to create the most accurate picture of
the past they can?
8) Is Magna Carta important enough today that it should appear in music, popular books,
games, toys? What do pupils think?
9) Ask pupils to look at the Amazon website. You may have to do this outside of lesson
times and copy and paste screen shots if you cannot access Amazon from school. Ask
them to search for Magna Carta. If they search in books, they will find a great many
academic books, but will also find that the original Ladybird book is also still available. If
they search in games, they will find that several computer games centred around
battles, chivalry and strategy that have taken the Magna Carta name. They will also
find board games and jigsaw puzzles still being produced. Are pupils surprised by this or
not?
10) Can pupils create an educational game or aid that helps children to learn about King
John and Magna Carta?
The British Library | www.bl.uk/magna-carta
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