What did people do at the seaside in the past?
Children paddling in the sea, at Burnham on Sea, in Somerset in 1909.
Teaching idea
Ask the children to look at the photograph. What can they see? Are these children today or children in the past? Why do they think this? Explain to the children that these are real children who had their photograph taken in over 100 years ago. What are the children doing? Do children today still do the same things at the seaside? What is the same and what is different?
Show the children photographs from the Image by Theme - Seaside. Ask them what other things people did at the seaside in the past. Discuss with them if we do the same things at the seaside today or different things. You may wish to use the ready made Teaching Activity to do this.
Learning aims and outcomes
- Compare seaside holidays in the past with ones today
- Identify similarities and differences
- Infer information from a picture or photograph
- Ask appropriate questions about seaside holidays in the past
Prior knowledge
- An understanding that life today may be different from life in the past
Extended learning and useful links
- Older or more able children may look at chronology - comparing Victorian seaside images with those from the 1930s or 1950s - use the Teachers Notes above for background information
- Teaching Activity 'What can we learn about food in the past from a photograph of a seaside picnic?'
- West Sussex Seaside Holidays in the past
- Victorian Britain: Leisure
