The Great Fire of London is one of our favourite topics to teach, EVER! It really does capture the imagination of children, and is a great introduction to History for children who may struggle with the notion of relating to things that happened in the distant past. There are lots of creative things you can include in this topic to really bring the topic to life, and fire up children’s imaginations. Read on for easy and time-saving Great Fire of London KS1 Activities and Resources!
What happened in the Great Fire of London?
The Great Fire of London was a huge fire that destroyed around 13,000 houses, nearly 100 churches, and St Paul’s Cathedral in London, in 1666. Some people died in the fire, but we do not know how many as there are no accurate recordings from the time. The Great Fire of London happened in 1666, around 350 years ago, when Charles II was the King. London was and is a huge city where lots of people lived and worked. It was overcrowded and between 1665 and 1666 thousands of people had died because of a disease called The Great Plague (also known as the Black Death).
On Sunday 2nd September 1666, Thomas Farriner (a baker to the king) was fast asleep in his bed. He had a large oven downstairs in his house, which had a fire inside in order to cook the bread. The fire inside the oven had not been put out properly and a tiny spark set the bakery on fire. Thomas Farriner’s bakery was on Pudding Lane in the centre of London. The houses were very close together and a strong wind blew the flames along the street, spreading the fire. Because the houses were made from wood and had straw roofs, they burned very easily. The fire spread quickly from one house to another. The fire raged for five days and made most of the people in London homeless.
There were no fire engines or fire extinguishers so people used leather buckets of water to try and put the fire out. There were no taps, so people had to get water from the river, or from wells. People used water squirts to try and put the fire out, and fire hooks to pull down straw and wood from the burning buildings. The fire still kept burning. St Paul’s Cathedral was burned down and the fire was getting very close to the Tower of London. The army decided to use gunpowder to blow up the houses closest to the Tower. This made a firebreak where there was nothing to burn and stopped the fire spreading.
Who was Samuel Pepys?
A man called Samuel Pepys was alive during the fire of London. He kept a diary and wrote about the fire, this gives us a lot of first-hand information about what happened. Samuel Pepys also wrote how he buried his cheese and wine in the ground to keep it safe from the fire. Without Samuel Pepys, and his writings, we would have far less information about the fire, how it started, and how it was eventually stopped.
What happened after the Great Fire of London?
Since so much had been destroyed, the buildings in London had to be rebuilt, but they used stone and brick instead of wood this time – very sensibly! This was to try and prevent such a tragedy from happening again. Many, many people were left homeless and lost all of their possessions – which must have been incredibly difficult, as most people were poor to begin with. Some of the wealthier people had been able to rescue some of their personal items using horses and carts – if they were able to hire them. St Paul’s Cathedral was also rebuilt and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren – it took nearly 40 years to complete the cathedral. After the Great Fire, fire brigades were started with groups of people whose job it was to put out fires, since the response to the fire had been so totally inadequate and disorganised. One positive impact of the fire however, was that many of the traces of the plague were wiped out, as infested homes, blankets and clothes were burnt.
If you want to help your class understand more about the Great Fire, you can use our Great Fire of London information PowerPoint – this contains all of the key information in an easy to digest format.
You can also explore our original ebook story, Samuel Pepys’ story – to give children a fuller understanding of an eye-witness account. Also great for guided reading.
Great Fire of London KS1 Activities and Resources
If you’re lucky enough to still have provision areas in KS1, then you could use our Great Fire of London colouring sheets as a great introduction to the topic. Leave out in your provision area, alongside colouring and felt tips, and see what children come up with!
Another fun idea for a KS1 provision area, is to ask children to create these houses – or do them as part of your Art or DT lesson. They come in black and white, so children can decorate them, and even add flames! We know that some teachers have done a controlled experiment where they set these alight – to show children how the flames spread, but do check your health and safety policy first as it is not without risks. You could also use these craft houses as part of your small world set up and ask children to role-play what happened in the fire, following the sequence of events to really solidify their understanding of the tragedy.
speaking of sequencing, we have a great, hands-on sequencing activity that really brings this topic to life. Use this Great Fire of London sequencing activity to engage children with what happened, and ask them to retell the events to each other, as part of your speaking and listening sessions.
This is Great Fire of London sequencing activity is a really good, hands-on way to help children understand exactly what happened over those few days. It’s really visual, and does not involve too much writing – great for those pupils who struggle with fine motor skills.
We also have a new Great Fire of London timeline activity, that might be more appropriate for more able children. Encourage children to read the captions in the picture, and put them in the correct order.
Another great activity for KS1, is our Great Fire of London newspaper report reading comprehension. We have created in the style of how we think newspapers might have looked in 1666, for added authenticity.
Another great Great Fire of London writing activity! These mini-books are great for encouraging children’s writing, and they love folding everything up to make a fun little book – great for having out on display, or sending home for parents to see. Use our Great Fire of London Information PowerPoint to explain the sequence of events, then ask children to pretend to be just like Samuel Pepys, and create their own first-hand account with a couple of diary entries. Don’t forget to talk about Samuel’s cheese! That makes a fun addition.
We also have a more advanced version of the diary templates, in a different format – that you might like. Use our Great Fire of London diary template to teach children about the format of diaries as a genre, and how to write them.
