Young cave dwellers were out in force when prehistoric times returned to Upton Junior School in Broadstairs.
The journey of discovery saw Year 3 pupils dressed and daubed in clothing, accessories and face paints resembling the historic period as they celebrated their topic Rock Bottom.
An immersive programme for the ‘wow day’ gave children the chance to delve deep into the past with a series of hands-on activities from creating shelters to building Stonehenge out of biscuits.
In a drama session with KIC theatre the girls and boys acted out the different eras from the Stone Age to the Iron Age and discovered the changes and impact on Britain through these times.
They adopted the guise of nomads, travelling from place to place, hunting and having no set home. They learned about the search for flint to make tools for hunting, skinning and making clothes.
As they moved through the different periods in history, the materials they considered for tools changed, and they started to build shelters, learnt how to farm and trade.
In a workshop with the Trust for Thanet Archaeology the young explorers were excited to handle a range of fascinating artefacts from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, and discussed their use in everyday life.
They also created their own Stone Age jewellery after researching pictures of necklaces. They discussed the materials that were used and then they moulded decorative shapes in clay which they threaded onto the string necklace, with impressive results.
Head of Year 3 Lauren Watmough explained: “In this topic so far we have also created shelters out of natural materials in our environmental area – and of the favourite challenges was to make Stonehenge out of biscuits.
“The children had to travel to the other side of the field to collect their biscuit and could only carry one at a time. They could also only walk. This was to teach them about how far they had to travel with the rocks and how long it took them. The children had so much fun creating these and discussed how hard it must have been to build the actual Stonehenge. We also got a yummy treat at the end.
“Themed days really encourage children to create a deeper understanding through interesting, practical activities.”
The topic will be further explored in other curriculum subjects including Geography, History, English, Science and Art.
*The Prehistoric Period—or when there was human life before records documented human activity—roughly dates from 2.5 million years ago to 1,200 B.C. It is generally categorized in three archaeological periods: the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.