Mapping Our Toys

Overview

In this lesson, students build a simple unscaled timeline showing toy changes from the past to the present. They use classroom observations, teacher prompts, and picture supports to place toys in the correct order, then record their thinking using time words.

Learning intentions

WALT: Create a timeline of toys from past to present.

Students will:

• place toy pictures or simple toy objects onto an unscaled timeline using “then” and “now”
• describe what is the same and what has changed about toys over time
• use evidence from provided pictures/objects to support their choices
• use timeline and sequence language to explain their timeline placement

Success criteria (share with students)

• I can place at least three toy pictures (or objects) in the correct “then → now” order.
• I can use at least one time word (then/now/yesterday/today).
• I can tell one change and one thing that stayed the same about toys.
• I can explain why my toy is placed where it is (using a sentence starter).

Curriculum links

• Humanities and Social Sciences: continuity and change between aspects of students’ daily lives and their parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods (Year 1).
• Humanities and Social Sciences: interpret information and data from observations and provided sources by comparing objects from the past and present.
• Humanities and Social Sciences: collect, sort and record information and data using an unscaled timeline with labelled or sequenced images.
• Humanities and Social Sciences: develop narratives and share observations using sources and subject-specific terms (then/now, past/present, generations).
• Humanities and Social Sciences: draw conclusions using collected information about continuity and change over time.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and model. Teacher shows 3 toy images (one “then”, one “later”, one “now”) and places them on a pocket timeline strip labelled “Past” and “Present”. Students do a quick thumb vote: “Is this earlier or later?”
2. 5–10 min · Explicit teach: how to order. Teacher models thinking aloud: “I look for clues—materials, shape, size, and how it is played with. This one looks older because…” Teacher points to “then” and “now” words on the board and repeats the sentence starter. Students repeat the procedure with teacher-guided questions.
3. 10–18 min · Play-based sorting (station). Students rotate at a table station with picture cards and/or small toy replicas. Teacher calls out a toy; students place it on a shared class timeline (or personal timeline sheet) in pairs, using “then/now” language. Teacher circulates to check correct ordering and reasoning.
4. 18–25 min · Individual recording. Students complete a short recording page: “My timeline shows…” Students must place at least three toy pictures on their own unscaled timeline and write (or dictate) one sentence: “I put this toy in the past because…”
5. 25–28 min · Share and refine. 5–6 students share their timeline placement. Teacher asks: “What changed? What stayed the same?”
6. 28–30 min · Exit ticket. Students answer one question orally or with a colour dot: “Point to the earliest toy on your timeline.” Teacher collects quick evidence for understanding.

Resources

• Unscaled class timeline strip labelled “Past” and “Present”
• Toy picture cards for: past, later, present (e.g., simple wooden blocks, tin top style image, modern electronic toy image)
• Small toy replicas or safe object samples (optional)
• Student timeline recording sheets (1 per student)
• Coloured pencils/crayons and glue sticks
• Sentence starter strips: “I put this in the past because…” / “In the present, toys…”
• Dyslexia-friendly picture word cards (then/now/past/present)
• Pair discussion prompts on the table (one change / one same)
• Timer for station rotation (teacher phone/visual timer)

Assessment

• Teacher checklist during sorting: correct ordering of at least three toys; use of “then/now” or past/present language.
• During individual recording: ability to provide a reason (change clue or play clue).
• Exit ticket: student can identify earliest placement on their timeline.

Differentiation

• Support for students needing scaffolds: provide a partially completed timeline with two anchors already placed (“Past” earliest example and “Present” latest example). Offer picture prompt cards with arrows (earlier/later).
• Dyslexia-friendly option: students use “picture-only” sequencing first, then choose one reason sentence from two to three pictorial choices; teacher writes their dictated words.
• Sentence starters and word bank: then/now, past/present, changed/same, bigger/smaller, quiet/loud (choose what fits your toy set).
• Extension for advanced learners: research a popular toy from a specific decade (e.g., 1960s, 1980s, 2000s). Students create a mini “decade card” with one picture and two facts, then place it on an additional timeline strip labelled with that decade name.

Extension (optional)

• Advanced learners investigate one decade toy using teacher-provided images and short print extracts (no internet required). They add it as “Decade toy” on a second timeline and give a 30-second explanation of what changed from earlier to later.