Stage 1 Come to the Party

Pre-visit Activities

• Have students reply to the party invitation by designing an acceptance and illustrating it with a theme from the program. Have these ready on the day of the incursion.
• Make and decorate a party hat, preferably using scrap materials with a Victorian or 1960s theme, and wear it on the day of the program. (Instructions included in this pack).
• Investigate the clothing styles of children across various eras, with an emphasis on Victorian and Sixties styles. Refer to Origins of Games (see Bibliography).
• Introduce the concept of a family tree. Compile a family tree of students and talk about different family relationships, e.g. grandparents, uncles/aunties, siblings, etc.
• Invite parents or grandparents to come and talk to the class about their childhood recollections.
• Talk about precious heirlooms and family treasures, and have students discuss or display their own.
• Investigate different celebrations held by families from different cultures.
• Play games that were popular in the past, e.g. Quoits, Leap Frog, Hop Scotch, Blindman’s Bluff and inform students of their origin (see Origins of Games attached).
• Devise simple timelines and plot events relevant to their experiences.
• Learn and recite old nursery rhymes.

Follow-up Resources

• Revisit the family tree and have students compile a simple family tree of their own, preferably with the names of relatives.
• Identify celebrations or rituals from various parts of the world, e.g. Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Marriages, Birthdays, etc. Investigate symbols associated with various celebrations; e.g. Christmas Trees, fasting, etc.
• Play childhood games from the past such as “Cats Cradle”, “Oranges and Lemons”, “Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush”, “What’s The Time Mr Wolf?”, “Jacks”, “Hop-Scotch”, etc.
• View pictures of fashions from Victorian times, the 1960’s and today and make life-size cardboard cut-outs for the student to design paper clothes and accessories to dress.
• Make party food such as fairy bread, chocolate crackles or white Christmas and write their recipes.
• Make up party drinks from the provided recipes: ginger beer and lemon barley water.

Downloadable Resources

Download a PDF of pre- and post-visit resources and activities by clicking here.

During the incursion, students:

• Listen to a story about a fictitious boy who visits three different time periods to Learn about customs and celebrations at family birthday parties
• Identify different drinks and foods from different time periods
• Learn about family relationships by studying a family tree
• play a range of old-fashioned games like Tug-of-War, Quoits and Hoops
• Listen to a story and play a dress-up game with clothes representing different time periods
• Use craft materials to make an old-fashioned toy.

Cost

• Government Schools: $15 per student  (GST-free)
• Non-Government Schools: $25 per student (GST-free). Minimum cost of $600.

Location

Incursions are available to schools in the following council areas: Bayside, Burwood, Canada Bay, Canterbury, City of Sydney, Georges River, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney, Randwick, Sutherland, Waverley, Willoughby and Woollahra.

Key syllabus outcomes and content

Key syllabus outcomes

Stage1: Present and past family life

Communicates an understanding of change and continuity in family life using appropriate historical terms HT1‑1

Students:

• compare and contrast their immediate family with earlier families through photographs and other sources, discussing similarities and differences
• investigate the roles of present family members and compare with the roles of earlier generations using a range of sources
• discuss similarities and differences from generation to generation, eg family celebrations and traditions, leisure activities and changes in technology/communications over time through a range of sources
• compare and contrast daily life with that of parents and grandparents at the same age through stories or photographs and pose questions to ask parents/grandparents
• define and use terms relating to time, sequencing objects or photographs from the past, eg then and now, past and present, a long time ago

Integrating the ‘Sustainability’ Cross Curriculum Priority is a feature of the program.

Skills outcomes

• distinguishing between the past, present and future
• identify and compare features of objects from the past and present
• recognise difference and similarities between individuals and families in the past and present