Before Christmas, Year One, went to the East Dorset Museum in Wimborne.
We have been learning all about Queen Victoria in History, so we had a great day learning all about the way of life in Victorian times. We had 4 brilliant workshops.
We learnt about a Victorian wash day, we had to roll up our sleeves, grate in the soap and use the dolly to mix the washing around in the tub. We had to get clean water from the water pump and carry it all the way up the garden. Once we had washed the clothes we then had to squeeze out the water and hang it up to dry, we looked at how the mangle was used and looked at how they removed stains using blue soap and a washboard, it was really hard work.
We also learnt about the seaside in Victorian times. We talked about what they wore and how they had changing huts that took them all the way down to the sea. We saw pictures of donkey rides, and got to watch a Punch and Judy show, we even had a go at doing it ourselves too, the puppets were really funny.
We then learnt about a Victorian Christmas and learnt about how Prince Albert bought a tree over from Germany, and that is how the tradition of the Christmas tree began! We looked at some very old Christmas cards, how they used lace and ribbon to layer their cards, and had a go at making our own.
Finally we learnt all about school life in Victorian times, we couldn’t believe how strict their teachers were. They made us write lines, copy from the board and use a slate and chalk. If we were naughty we had to sit in the corner and we saw the cane that the teacher would have used. We got to ring the bell at the end of our lessons and we had to give the teacher the a gold coin because Victorian children would have paid for their schooling at the end of every day.
We had such a great time, there was so much to see and do, head down there for a lovely trip out with your children.
