Evacuation

Packing a bag.

The children decide on a set number of items, about 6, that they feel are the most important things to take with them if they were to be evacuated today. In small groups they discuss why they have chosen these items and justify their importance. Pictures can be drawn of the items to make the packing of the suitcase more visual.

Would these items differ from ones chosen by children in 1940? What do the class think children in those days would have chosen to take? Discuss the difficulties of packing a case when you don’t know where you are going and how long you will be away.

Following on from this, children could play a memory game. In a circle, one child starts, “My name is Peter. I’m being evacuated tomorrow and I’m going to take my comic book” . The next child follows on with “My name is Lucy. I’m being evacuated tomorrow and I’m going to take my favourite teddy bear. This is Peter and he’s bringing his comic book.” Continue around the circle with each child trying to remember what all the previous children are bringing.