History at key stages 1 and 2 (Year 3/4)

Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?
Section 3: Why were children evacuated?

Objectives

Children should learn:

about the effects of air raids
about the causes of evacuation

Activities

Outcomes

Children:

Discuss with the children the ways families could protect themselves. Show them pictures of shelters, dugouts, the underground, gas masks, etc. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

Show children pictures of bomb damage, and newspaper accounts of the results of air raids. Ask the children to fill in a two-column grid with the headings 'What happened when the bomb landed?' and 'How were people who lived there affected?'

Introduce the idea of evacuation.

suggest how people could have been protected in the war
suggest why evacuation was used as one strategy to protect children
explain the effects of bomb damage

Points to note

This activity could provide opportunities to encourage the children's moral development. Children could discuss the issues facing parents who did or did not evacuate their children and why parents might be for or against evacuation.

For safety reasons, children should not try on the gas mask.

Sections in this unit

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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.


	1. What was the Second World War? When and where did it take place?
	2. What was the Blitz?
	3. Why were children evacuated?
	4. What was it like to be an evacuee?
	5. What did people eat during the war?
	6. In what other ways might the war have affected people?
	7. What were children's experiences of the war?
	8. What it was like to be a child living in this area in World War II?
	9. How did the Second World War affect children who lived in this locality?
	10. What has been done since to prevent another world war?