What everyday objects can teach us about history

There are a lot of ways that we connect with history. We can read a book, for instance, or visit a museum. But there is a subtle power in the objects and items our forebearers have left behind or passed on to us. Their look and feel, their signs of wear, tear and care speak untold volumes of how life was lived in times past.

This is why our year 1 teachers organised a 'history museum' of everyday objects for our pupils. This exercise proved to be an interactive entry point for their 'Time Detectives' IPC unit. Each class was assigned a 20-year time period, roughly a generation. This provided the whole year group with a view of history from 1900 to the present. Even parents got involved. They were asked to search their homes for memorabilia and miscellanea from each respective era and to bring these objects to school to be displayed in the Pre-Prep foyer.

The focus of this activity was on things that speak clearly of their times, like toys, clothes, transportation and school items. These are all things that undergo pronounced changes over the years. As such, parents brought a wide variety of items — telephones, TVs, Tamagotchis and more. Some of the oldest items on display were a model of the Titanic, an original Barbie doll, inkstones and even a pair of foot-binding shoes from the Qing Dynasty era.  

Some of them remain relevant and are perhaps improved up while others become obsolete and perhaps even unfamiliar to our year 1 pupils. Whatever the case may be, interacting with these items instilled in our pupils a sense of how much their physical world has changed through the years and, perhaps, how much it will likely change in the future.

The children were quickly able to identify when specific items were made simply by look and feel. They also learned about the way play has evolved over the decades by examining toys like yo-yos and water ring toss games and how they contrast with digital screen devices and gaming consoles.

Parents and grandparents were also invited to share their childhood experiences. The pupils were surprised, for instance, that Shanghai traffic lights were once manually operated! They were also amazed that there was a time when households did not have their own telephones, and you could not even play Angry Birds on them! How times have changed!  

All told, it was a fun and enriching experience for all. Even the parents and teachers learned a thing or two!