Life in the Stone Age

Curriculum Context

Subject: History
Year Group: Year 3
UK Curriculum Link: Key Stage 2 - History: Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
Level: Age-appropriate exploration of how daily life evolved for people in the Stone Age period, with a focus on cultural, societal, and technological changes.
Learning Objective (LO): To identify how life changed for people during the Stone Age.

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Lesson Overview

This 50-minute lesson will engage students in an exploration of daily life during the Stone Age and will focus on key areas of change, such as food, tools, shelter, and community. Students will immerse themselves in the topic through interactive storytelling, group discovery, and hands-on activities. The lesson aims to create a rich and vivid understanding of life in the Stone Age while developing critical skills like enquiry, collaboration, and historical interpretation.

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Lesson Plan

1. Starter Activity (5 minutes): Time Travel Introduction

• Objective: Prepare students for the lesson in an engaging and imaginative way.

• Activity:
  Begin with an interactive "time travel" segment. Encourage the class to close their eyes as you lead them through a vivid description of travelling back in time to the Stone Age. Use sensory prompts:

  • "Feel the cold wind as the glaciers melt away."
  • "Smell the smoke of a campfire where families gather to share their stories."
  • "Hear the crack of flint as tools are being shaped."

  After the “arrival,” display a question on the board: “What do you think Stone Age life was like?”

  • Invite a few students to share their initial thoughts. Record key words on the board to revisit later.

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2. Mini Lesson: Key Changes (10 minutes)

• Objective: Teach students about the different phases of the Stone Age and the key changes that shaped life during this period.

• Content to Deliver:
  Clearly explain the three phases of the Stone Age – Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic – in simple, age-appropriate terms:

  • Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age): Hunting and gathering, basic tools, cave life.
  • Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age): The invention of small, sharper tools, beginnings of fishing and basic shelters.
  • Neolithic (New Stone Age): Farming begins, communities form, permanent homes, pottery and trade emerge.

  Use large visuals on the board (or printed images/cards) to compare life in these phases. For example:

  • Image 1: Hunters with spears tracking a mammoth.
  • Image 2: A small fishing community beside a river.
  • Image 3: A village with roundhouses and cultivated fields.

  Focus Question: “What do these pictures tell us about how life changed over time in the Stone Age?”
  Pause and discuss briefly after each phase to allow students to reflect.

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3. Main Activity: Hands-On Exploration (25 minutes)

• Objective: Students will investigate key aspects of Stone Age life through a carousel of group activities.

• Materials Needed:

  • Stone Age tool replicas (plastic versions or images).
  • A range of “cave paintings” on printouts for interpretation.
  • Bowl of mixed grains and seeds (representative of farming).
  • Clay for hands-on pottery making.
  • Small “archaeological dig” kit (a tray with sand, buried “artefacts” such as fake tools or pottery).

  Activities: Divide the class into 5 groups (6 students each, ensuring appropriate supervision). Each station represents a different element of Stone Age life. Groups will spend 5 minutes at each station before rotating.

  1. Tool-Maker's Workshop: Handle replica tools, compare their designs, and discuss how they were used for hunting, building, or farming.
  2. Cave Art Studio: Look at example cave paintings and create their own art using crayons on “cave” textured paper. Discuss what the art might tell us about the Stone Age.
  3. The Farmer’s Table: Examine the seeds and grains to explore the shift from hunting to farming. Briefly discuss why farming helped build communities.
  4. Pottery Creations: Use clay to craft simple bowls or pots like those made in the Neolithic phase. Discuss the importance of pottery in trading and storing food.
  5. Archaeology Exploration: Dig for fake artefacts and identify what they might have been used for. Encourage students to act as detectives, piecing together evidence of Stone Age life.

  Students will take notes using their History notebooks or provided worksheets at each station.

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4. Plenary: Then and Now (10 minutes)

• Objective: Reflect on what students learned and consolidate understanding of changes in Stone Age life.
• Activity:
  • Display a “Stone Age to Now” timeline on the board with gaps under each phase (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic). As a class, fill in what changed during each phase: food, tools, shelter, and communities.
  • Discuss briefly: “What surprised you the most about life in the Stone Age?”
  • Revisit the question posed during the starter: “What do you think Stone Age life was like?” Compare their answers from the start to now, checking for progress and deeper understanding.

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Differentiation

• Support for Lower Ability:
  Use visual aids and sentence starters during group activities. Provide guided questions at each station (e.g., “What does this painting show?”) to scaffold their ideas.
• Challenge for Higher Ability:
  Encourage deeper discussion around the transition from hunter-gathering to farming—ask students to consider why these changes happened and how they impacted communities.

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Homework (Optional Extension Task)

Ask students to design their own Neolithic village, complete with tools, homes, and farms. They can draw, label, and describe how their village would function.

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Assessment Opportunities

• Observe group participation and note collaboration, questioning, and engagement levels.
• Evaluate responses in the plenary for evidence of understanding (e.g., recognising changes in tools, food, shelter).
• Check for key details and creativity in students' work (e.g., their cave art or artefact interpretations).

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Resources Needed

• Stone Age tool replicas or images.
• Cave painting visuals and “cave” textured paper.
• Clay for pottery.
• Archaeology dig tray (sand and tools).
• Grains and seeds for farming activity.
• Timeline visual for plenary.

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By allowing students to actively explore different aspects of Stone Age life, this lesson will bring history to life in an engaging way that fosters curiosity and critical thinking.