Family History in the Holidays

I don't know about you, but I find that by the third week of the summer holidays "Wow! I can play with all my toys" and "No school! Hurrah!" has rapidly become "what can I eat now, Mum?" and "where are we going today?". This gets dull and expensive very quickly, so I've put together some quick history-based ideas you can drop into the holidays here and there to stop you and any smaller people in your care going completely mad, or square-eyed from too many cartoons! You may or may not learn anything, but you will hopefully feel you've passed the time productively.

Firstly, I'd like to suggest that you look at my Children's Summer Holiday Project. Fill in the forms to collect information about yourself, your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. There's a list of suggested questions to ask of people and space for photographs. By the end of a wet afternoon, you could have a complete family history project to show off!

Secondly, talk to people. Ask grandparents and older neighbours and friends what they did during their summer holidays. Everyone loves to hear stories of "when your mother cycled into a rosebush" or "the day Daddy accidentally went out with his slippers on". Hear tales of when the whole family used to go to Rhyll by train, every year, in the 1930s. This is oral history at it's finest, so collect it in your head while it's there.

Thirdly, look at where you are. Where do you live? When was your house built? In what style and of what kind of material? What was there before? This can encompass walks around town, trips to the library to look at modern maps and local history books, a happy hour on the internet looking at old maps online or old photographs. Settlements must have water of some kind, so is there a river bank you can walk along? It's likely to take you through the oldest parts of your town or village.

Look at where you are on holiday. A change is as good as a rest, as they say, and most people choose to holiday somewhere quite different from where they live, if they are able to. How does your destination differ from your home town? Are building materials different? What's the geography like? What are, or were, the local industries? This kind of comparison can be done between almost any two settlements, even neighbouring villages as long as there is some kind of geographical feature standing between them - a hill, a valley, a watercourse, a railway line, the remnants of a religious house - anything that conceptually separates the two areas for the inhabitants.

Watch Horrible Histories til your eyes go square. It's funny and the songs are very well observed. Altogether now, "William, William, Henry, Stephen..."

Hold Theme Days. This sounds like a step too far, but it can be great fun. For Roman Day, we made togas out of sheets, tried a little bit of Latin ("Caecilius est in horto"), ate Roman food (fruit & yoghurt for breakfast; sourdough, cheese, tomatoes & olives for lunch; quails egg salad, meat and vegetables, fruit & cheese for dinner) and marched around the garden shouting "Sinister! Dexter!" as we went. Hold Gladiatorial Games in the afternoon, but try to be the Lion not the Criminal! Gather or plant lavender and rosemary for your own medicinal herb garden and a sweet-smelling house.

For Viking / Icelandic Day, hold sword fights, try some weaving, eat fish and pickled things, draw long boats, make shields, wear blankets with big brooches or safety pins. Read some of the Sagas if you want real literature and Noggin The Nog if you don't (or watch it. All children should know their televisual heritage too)! The possibilities are endless. There are sources on the internet for history-themed puzzles, word searches, colouring-in and more, all aimed at different ages.

For the Medieval Period this is your chance to really dress up. Can you persuade your sons into doublet and hose? Probably not, but cardboard-box armour might work. Joust on hobby horses. Rescue princesses from dragons, or perhaps the other way around. Practice courtly behaviour!

Lastly, try a Treasure Trail! These lovely treasure hunts fill at least an afternoon and are a great value day out. They often encourage you to look at your local area in a different way.

Even if you only try one of these things, you'll have filled a bit of time and hopefully found that history isn't just about kings, dates and classrooms. Or, you could ignore all this and just chuck them into the garden. I intend to do that, too. Enjoy your summer!