Optional question: What toys did our grandparents get as Christmas presents when they were your age?
Start with a discussion about how we can begin to investigate what toys were like say 60 years ago: photographs, memories of people themselves, actual objects, museums. Using a fictitious character such as Grandad Bill can help here.
Think about using a puppet Grandad. Create Bill’s old battered suitcase in which were stored his favourite toys – his treasured possessions now aged with time which he introduces, as a puppet.
Children respond well to a person and tend to ask better questions, and respond better to ‘What if?’ and ‘I wonder what’ questions too. Soon Grandad Bill is joined by puppet Grandma Mary. Quick overview of the types of toys played with asking pupils to spot how they are different.
Learning objectives
- Children are able to describe at least two differences between toys from