Friday 8th May is a very special day. It marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe and for this reason, people up and down the country will be marking this important event. To keep everybody safe, public parties have of course been cancelled but there is no reason that you and your family couldn’t host your own VE celebration instead! Perhaps your home learning activities for the day could be centred around it?!
Below are activity ideas and resources to help you if you would like to study the day in more detail, or indeed, if you would like to host your own family party!
Party planning, ideas and decorations
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4TrqYDyf4PMdLypxzyTwGDg/great-british-bunting
- https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/remembrance-events/ve-day-75
- https://wharfedale.mumbler.co.uk/ve-day-lockdown-party-ideas/
- https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/family/ve-day-celebrations-in-lockdown-540015
- t-t-2548139–new-union-flag-template-display-bunting-_ver_4– make bunting and hang it in your window. If you go out for a walk that day, count how many Union Jacks you see!
- At 11am, there will be a national two-minute silence that you might choose to observe.
- On BBC1 at 9pm, The Queen will address the nation at the exact same time that her father, King George VI, spoke to the UK 75 years ago, on the actual VE Day! (Our Queen was 19 when the war ended; did you know she was a mechanic and driver during WW2?)
Topic- based learning
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749
Nursery/Reception – Explain that people in Britain celebrate today because it is a special day in history. Why do we have parties? What kinds of things would you expect to find in a party? Use the KS1 information below to show children images of the parties held in 1945 and discuss the images:
- How are the people feeling?
- How do you know?
- How do you know that this is a party?
- Can you see anything in the pictures that you would see at parties today? What is different?
KS1/2- Read and discuss information in age-appropriate power point below and then:
- Create a poster filled with facts about VE day.
- Write your own fact file using subheadings and paragraphs.
- Role play the first ever VE day. What were you thinking, feeling etc?
- Record yourself pretending to be a news anchor telling Britain the news.
- Write questions about VE day and then quiz your family and friends.
- Research your family tree: are you related to anyone who served in the war? Find out information about them.
KS2 VE Day Information PowerPoint
Maths- based learning
- Measuring – alongside your family, why not use your measuring skills and get active in the kitchen? Get busy making yummy things for your party! Use the recipe booklet below for ideas.
- Morse Code – https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/quizzes/bp-morse-code-adventure-Morse code is a communication system that represents the alphabet and numbers with a series of dots, dashes or a combination of both. Can you write a secret coded message for your family to crack?
- Phonetic Alphabet The phonetic alphabet that was used in RAF transmissions during the war. Learn to spell your name using the phonetic alphabet e.g.
Ted = Tango Echo Delta
- Nursery/Reception- can you work out the missing numbers on the medals?
t-n-7820-ve-day-missing-number-activity-sheet-
t2-h-4750-wartime-recipe-booklet_ver_1
English-based learning
Nursery/Reception – have a party with your toys!
- Discuss what a party needs and help to make some of the food items needed.
- Label the food items that you make.
- Write a simple invitation to someone in your home to join you.
- Write a set of simple instructions for something delicious that you’ve made.
KS1/2 – Read through age- appropriate power point for information.
- Write a diary entry as if you were at the first ever VE day.
- Write a message to the Royal Legion https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/ways-to-give/march-poppy-press/leave-your-ve-day-message
- Log into Purple Mash and use the search tool to type in ‘VE Day’- have a go at some of the IT based activities on there.
- Create a set of VE day dominoes or a Voc-app-ulary activity with the new words you have explored today, alongside their definitions. You might have the words- surrender, victory, celebrate, announce, commemorate, endure, invade to name but a few!
- Have a go at the reading-based activities below
KS2 VE Day Differentiated Fact File
t-l-53195-ks1-ve-day-differentiated-reading-comprehension-activity_ver_3
Art- based learning
- Make, Do and Mend – During WW2, there was a shortage of materials to make clothes. People were urged to “Make, do and mend”. Do you have any clothes or accessories that you could ‘upcycle’ into new clothing or something completely different to give it another purpose and a new lease of life?
- The Spitfire plane was absolutely pivotal in the British defeating Germany during the Battle of Britain. Make your own Spitfire glider. Test whose glider travels the furthest in your house/ garden!
- There are so many heroes around us at the moment. Design a medal for a hero in your life. Why do they deserve one? What makes them such a special person?
T2-T-803-Simple-WW2-Spitfire-Glider-Activity-Paper-Craft
As always, stay safe and don’t forget to send us any pictures of the lovely things you get up to!
