Life in Prehistory

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🏫 Curriculum Link

National Curriculum for History (England) – Key Stage 2

Pupils should be taught about: changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
Key Stage Level: Lower Key Stage 2 – Year 3
Focus of this Lesson: Late Neolithic hunter-gatherers and early farmers, for example, Skara Brae

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⏰ Duration

60 minutes
Class size: 30 pupils
Age group: Year 3 (Age 7–8)

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🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Understand key aspects of life during the Stone Age in Britain
• Identify the differences between hunter-gatherers and early farmers
• Draw comparisons between modern life and Stone Age lifestyles
• Develop historical enquiry skills through interactive, creative learning

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🌟 Success Criteria

Pupils will:

✅ Describe what a Stone Age settlement might have looked like
✅ Explain the role of a hunter-gatherer
✅ Participate in a group task showing collaboration and creativity
✅ Ask relevant historical questions using key vocabulary

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🧠 Prior Knowledge

It is helpful (but not necessary) for pupils to have been introduced to:

• The concept of timelines and chronological order
• Early humans as nomadic groups
• The development of shelters and basic tools

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📦 Resources Needed

• Large floor paper and markers
• A3 “Stone Age Fact Cards”
• ‘Mystery Object’ box (replica artefacts or pictures: bone needle, flint axe, antler pick)
• Printed timeline strips
• Music player with ambient forest sounds
• Blank “Stone Age Daily Journal” templates
• Role-play props: faux animal skins, fake campfire, toy tools

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🗓️ Lesson Outline

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⌛ Starter (10 Minutes) – “Step Into the Stone Age”

Activity: Sensory Imagination + Soundscape

• Dim the classroom lights. Play ambient sounds (crackling fire, birds, river).
• Teacher leads an imaginative narrative:
  “It’s 6,000 years ago. You wake up on the damp floor of a forest shelter. The fire has gone out...”
• Children close their eyes and visualise.
• Ask:
  • What can you hear?
  • What do you think you’ll eat today?
  • What is your home like?

Purpose: Create immersion and emotional connection to Stone Age life

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📖 Main Input (15 Minutes) – Discovering Stone Age Britain

Teacher Input:

• Display a large map of the UK
• Introduce Skara Brae using visuals
• Use timeline strips to place the Stone Age into context:
  • Paleolithic (Early Stone Age)
  • Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)
  • Neolithic (Late Stone Age)

Interactive Discussion:

• Who were hunter-gatherers?
• How did people live before farming began?
• What changed with the discovery of farming?

Key Vocabulary: Hunter-gatherer, Mesolithic, Neolithic, forage, domesticate, settlement

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🧪 Activity (25 Minutes) – Stone Age Survival Challenge

Set-Up:

Children are placed into 6 tribe groups (5 students per group). Each group receives:

• A “tribe identity card” (with a Stone Age tribe name and location)
• A set of “Fact Cards” with info on how their tribe lived
• A blank section of “land” (large paper sheet) to draw and plan a settlement
• Mystery Object Box (3 replica tools to identify & infer use)

Tasks:

1. 🔍 Artefact Investigator: Pupils guess the purpose of three objects
2. 🧭 Tribe Designers: Create a Stone Age settlement on paper
3. ☀️ Daily Life Journal: Work together to write 3 sentences imagining a day in their tribe

Teacher Role: Rotate across groups, questioning and prompting:

• How would you get water?
• What dangers might you face?
• Why did your people settle here?

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🎭 Plenary (10 Minutes) – Time-Travel Interview Show

Activity: Each group picks one member to role-play a Stone Age person. Another student from a different group becomes the ‘present-day interviewer’.

Format:

• The interviewer asks:
  • “What do you eat in your tribe?”
  • “How do you build your homes?”
  • “What is the hardest part of life in your tribe?”
• Each group presents in front of the class

Extension Question:
What is the biggest difference between your life today and life in the Stone Age?

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💡 Extension / Challenge

Ask higher ability pupils:

• What would you miss most if you lived in the Stone Age?
• Could Stone Age people have lived where we live now? Why or why not?

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📝 Assessment Opportunities

• Observation of discussions during sensory activity and group tasks
• Exploration and reasoning with artefact handling
• “Daily Life Journal” entries as written evidence
• Plenary interview responses for speaking and listening assessment

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📚 Cross-Curricular Links

• Geography: Settlement and land use
• English: Role-play, report writing, diary entries
• Art/DT: Designing shelters and tools (can be extended as a follow-up lesson)
• Science: Materials and their properties (Stone Age tools and natural resources)

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🧩 Next Steps

Future lessons may explore:

• Stonehenge and ceremonial life
• Comparing Stone Age with Iron Age
• How archaeological discoveries teach us about the past
• Art in the Stone Age: Cave paintings and symbolism

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🧠 Reflection Prompt (for Teachers)

After the lesson:

• Which tribe successfully worked together and why?
• Were pupils able to apply historical vocabulary confidently?
• Which activity generated the most curiosity?

“History isn’t about the past. It’s about understanding the lives behind the facts.”

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✨ Teacher Tips

• Create a "Classroom Cave Wall" for pupils to add drawings, facts or questions during the unit
• Use QR-less picture prompts on display boards so pupils can revisit ancient tools and places
• Encourage pupils to bring in natural objects (twigs, stones etc.) to build model homes

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This lesson goes beyond names and dates to make prehistory visceral, memorable, and meaningful.