Explore life as a hunter-gatherer and find out what recent discoveries can teach us about Stone Age people’s lives with these two KS2 lesson plans…
Get a glimpse of Mesolithic life
Give children an insight into the Middle Stone Age through studying archaeological finds with this lesson plan from Rachel Bruce…
‘Stone Age to Iron Age’ is often the first history topic studied in KS2 and can be the most challenging. It covers a vast period, and our only clues as to what life was like come from archaeological remains.
Our picture of Stone Age people is often based on early Palaeolithic period – hunter-gatherers who lived in caves and hunted mammoths.
But recent discoveries at Star Carr, a Mesolithic site in North Yorkshire, show a nomadic society that made sophisticated tools and took part in rituals.
Stone Age KS2 learning objectives
- How we know what life was like in the Mesolithic period
- What Star Carr tells us about Mesolithic settlements
- What tools people used for hunting, fishing and gathering food
- What antler headdresses might have been used for
Rachel Bruce is an experienced primary school teacher, currently teaching Year 2. She is passionate about local history and has a Historical Association Teacher Fellowship in Local History.
Explore life as a hunter-gatherer
This Stone Age KS2 lesson from Julianne Britton will help children to learning about Britain’s ancient inhabitants and the challenges they faced. Pupils will also draw comparisons with modern life.
This resource includes a complete lesson plan, plus a full teacher’s guide for a KS2 history lesson on hunter/gatherers. It also contains challenge cards that feature five potential concerns for hunters and five for gatherers. There’s also a set of blank visual card templates.
This fun ‘outdoorsy’ lesson allows children to explore the challenges of life as a Stone Age man or woman. At the same time they’ll also apply English skills to produce a good-quality piece of writing.
Children should already have been introduced to the Stone Age topic and have some prior knowledge. You will need at least two adults to deliver this lesson – one to lead the hunters and one to lead the gatherers.
This lesson has the potential to be carried out over a couple of days or shortened to fit into one afternoon lesson, depending on the time you have available.
What they’ll learn
- Devise historically valid questions about Stone Age life
- Construct an informed response using relevant historical information
- Recognise the challenges faced by hunter-gatherers in the Stone Age
- Identify similarities and differences between Stone Age life and life today
Julianne Britton is a qualified teacher with eight years’ experience.
