This semester in Year 1, we have been learning about life in the past and the way in which toys, technology, communication and transport has changed. This culminated in a fabulous History incursion on Thursday 8 June. The rain could not dampen our excitement as we headed to the College Sports Centre where Nicola from Play in the Past had beautifully displayed a myriad of interesting antique items.

First, we explored the different telephones she had brought, placing them on a physical timeline in order from oldest to newest and discussing the similarities and differences between each telephone. We looked at and learnt about 'curly cords', rotary dials and aerials. We also discovered that you could not go into another room while talking on the phone – the whole household would know if you were ordering pizza for dinner!

Next, it was time for our favourite thing… play! In small groups, we were able to discover, touch and play with the many vintage items around the room. There was a home corner where we could role-play with dress-ups and homewares from the olden days. Another station piqued our imagination as we could pretend to be in an olden-day school with a vintage desk and chalkboard. Floppy disks, VCRs, typewriters, camcorders and other such retro technology items were explored at another station. It was quite special for the teachers too as they could listen to Walkman players and cassette tapes of their youth! Finally, we played with toys from the olden days, including a beautiful vintage toy pram. Many of these toys, books and games were made of metal or wood and it was fun discovering what olden-day children enjoyed playing with.

In our class discussions after the incursion, we agreed it had been the second-best day of school ever (our Walk to the Movies day is, of course, firmly in top place). Some of our favourite items included the dress-ups, the typewriter and the rotary phone. We will enjoy reflecting on this experience in the next few weeks as it has been so helpful in strengthening our vocabulary, understanding and interest in History. Thank you to Nicola from Play in the Past, our lovely parent helpers and our school for making this incursion possible. It really was a blast from the past!

Jessica Campbell, Penny Rose and the Year 1 students