Year 3 – Digging Up The Past!

Author: Jill Bates

As we arrived in Year 3 for our very first day of Term 4, we were met with grunting, growling and banging drums. The corridor was eerily dark, the classroom tables had mud and berries smeared across them and skeleton parts scattered around. But that was not the bit that alarmed us the most. Our teachers and teaching assistants’ hair was, well, alarming! They didn’t look like they did last term, they looked like they had travelled back in time. Dressed in animal skins and mud across their faces they grunted at us whilst directing us to a strange caveman on the screen. The Neanderthal told us that he had fallen down, down, down into a strange world but where had he come from, which part of history was he a part of, where did he live and how did he survive?

To fully immerse ourselves in our learning, we squished berries and rubbed mud on our faces and wrapped animal skin around our heads and bodies. We were led to the most magnificent cave, a cave of wonders! We climbed through with tiny little finger lights which barely led the way. Shadows of prehistoric animals danced around the room, flames from a toasty fire flickered and stones of all shapes and sizes were scattered around us. We realised then, this was not just any age, this was The Stone Age! How unexpected, how brilliant! ‘Let’s leave our mark here,’ called Sanvi. We each collected a pebble and crawled out back to our classrooms, we carved away wonderful images of mammoths, people hunting and weapons into our very own stones.

How did the Neanderthals feel when cave painting in the dark? Well, we soon found out, we crawled underneath our tables in the pitch black and used charcoal to draw our very own pictures of what we had seen and learnt so far. ‘You need perseverance and patience when doing this,’ expressed Finley. We put our maths measuring skills to the test as we used chalk to draw the beasts on the playground. ‘Were they really bigger than a car?’ asked one of the children as they completed a life size model of a cave lion. It was simply overwhelming to comprehend the size of these extinct animals.

How did the Neanderthals survive in these times? Well, they used stone of course to carve and shape fierce weapons. It was our turn to have a go. Using only cardboard and string, we designed and created our own weapons that the Neanderthals would have successfully used to hunt animals for their dinner and clothing.

We left our very own mark on our cave, making hand prints by using crushed berries and drawing cave painting images of our own. We placed these inside the cave so that it truly came to life. ‘What a mind-blowing day, a day where the children have brought history to life. The best bit is we have this wonderful cave to use for our everyday learning this term, a place where the children can escape into the unimaginable lives of the Neanderthals at all given opportunities,’ explained Miss Fleming – Year 3 Leader.

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