The Great Fire of London

Key Stage 1 History

Children should learn:

to develop an awareness of the past through learning about the Great Fire of London as an event beyond living memory
to use common historical words and phrases (such as past, present, before, after, old and new) when discussing the Great Fire of London
to place events in a simple chronological order by sequencing what happened during the Great Fire of London
to identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods by comparing London in 1666 with London today
to ask and answer questions about the past through exploring what happened, why the fire spread and its impact
to use a range of simple historical sources (such as stories, pictures and artefacts) to find out about the Great Fire of London

Websites

Cartoon-style street scene with buildings on fire, signboards, and smoke in the air, titled 'Teachers' Notes: The Great Fire of London'.

BBC Teach - KS1

Old black-and-white map of London labeled 'Great Fire of London'

National Archives - The Great Fire of London

Illustration of a man with long curly hair, wearing 17th-century clothing, sitting at a desk and writing with a quill pen.

BBC - Who was Samuel Pepys?

Illustration of historic London in 1666 with a large medieval cathedral and surrounding houses, under a blue sky with a torn paper banner reading "London, 1666".

London Museum - The Great Fire of London

A painting of a city on fire with buildings burning and smoke rising into a dark sky, with a river and boats in the foreground.

Historical Association - Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London

A painting of a man in armor with a red sash, holding a sword, standing in front of a draped curtain and a landscape background.

Britannica Kids - Charles II

Black background with white text reading, 'The Great Fire of London - KS1 Resources'.

The Great Fire of London website

Close-up of a historical engravings of a man with long, curly hair wearing period clothing.

Royal Museums Greenwich - Who was Sir Christopher Wren?

Lesson Plans & Activities

Animated street scene labeled 'Pudding Lane' with burning buildings and flames, titled 'Teachers' Notes: The Great Fire of London'.

BBC Teach - Teacher’s Notes, lesson and activity ideas, cross-curricular ideas

Illustration of a city on fire, with large flames and thick black smoke billowing from buildings near a river; boats are anchored along the riverbank.

BBC Teach - Images for the Great Fire of London

Three illustrations with titles and descriptions of different parts of the programme about the Great Fire of London and its aftermath. The first row shows images related to the fire, including a row of houses by the water, a burning building, and the rebuilt city. The second row includes images depicting the initial fire in a black-and-white drawing, the spread of the fire in a historical scene, and people putting out the fire on the river.

BBC Teach - Radio

Includes Music, Dance, Drama and History units on Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London

Books

Book cover titled 'The Great Fire of London' by Emma Adams and James Weston Lewis, showing an illustration of a burning London with flames and smoke over buildings.

The Great Fire of London: An Illustrated History of the Great Fire of 1666

By Emma Adams

Book cover illustration for 'Vlad and the Great Fire of London' showing a large rat overlooking a city on fire with smoke and fire in the background.

Vlad and the Great Fire of London (A Flea in History)

By Kate Cunningham

Illustration of houses with flames and smoke in the background, depicting the Great Fire of London, with a purple speech bubble asking 'Why do we remember?'

The Great Fire of London (Why do we remember?)

Book cover titled 'The Great Fire of London' depicting the historic fire with flames destroying buildings.

The Great Fire of London (Usborne Young Reading)

By Susanna Davidson

Videos

BBC Teach - The Great Fire of London episode 1 - How did the Great Fire of London start?

Channel 5 - How did the Great Fire of London start?

An animated scene depicting the Great Fire of London, with characters in period clothing, a flaming building, and text asking about the event.

BBC Teach - The Great Fire of London episode 2 - What happened during the Great Fire of London?

Horrible Histories - The Grisly Great Fire of London

An animated illustration showing a woman in a boat looking at a historic London building after the Great Fire of London, with smoke and destruction in the background.

BBC Teach - The Great Fire of London episode 3 - What happened after the Great Fire of London?

Twinkl - The Great Fire of London - How did it start?

Songs/Music

A cartoon illustration of a narrow alleyway between buildings with light-colored facades, multiple windows, and doors. Mountains are visible in the background, and the sky is partly cloudy. The text 'Let's get building!' is overlaid at the bottom of the image.

BBC Teach song - Let’s get building!

Illustration of a medieval-style street called Pudding Lane with timber-framed buildings, signs for bread and pudding shops, and a mouse sitting on a balcony.

BBC Teach song - Here in Pudding Lane

A map of London with flames depicted along the riverbank, and the text "Fire, fire, everywhere!" written below.

BBC Teach song - Fire, Fire, Everywhere!

Art

A painting of a city in flames, with buildings on fire and smoke billowing into the sky.

London Museum artwork archive

Student artwork ideas

Images taken from school websites are credited.

A bulletin board display featuring 15 paintings of sunsets over various city skylines, with dark silhouettes of buildings against colorful, cloudy skies.

Roseberry Academy

Children's artwork depicting the Great Fire of London, with orange and yellow flames above black and orange house drawings.

Clevelands Preparatory School

Abstract artwork with black lines forming geometric shapes and structures, filled with yellow, orange, and red accents, resembling fire or flames.

Charles Darwin Community Primary School

A collage of nine artistic paintings of city skylines with abstract, colorful backgrounds, arranged in a 3x3 grid.

Exminster Primary School

Silhouette of a mountain or rock formation against a colorful sunset sky with yellow, orange, and brown hues.

Willingham Primary School

Dance and Movement

Two people raising their hands in front of a white background with doodle-style drawings of burning buildings and flames, with the text 'The Great Fire of London' at the top.

Movement Break - BBC Teach Great Fire of London

Games and Fun

Animated scene of a fire in London with two characters, a man in a hat holding a long stick and a young boy, with flames and smoke in the background. Text reads "The Great Fire of London" and a red button labeled "Play!" with a subtitle "Please turn your sound on."

The Great Fire of London website - The Great Fire of London game

A collage of four images depicting scenes of children and adults dressed in historical costumes, participating in activities like writing, playing with toy cannons, and interacting in a historical village setting with traditional buildings.

BBC - The Great Fire of London quiz

Other Resources

Cover of 'Pepy's Show,' a musical by Debbie Campbell, featuring illustrations of a woman in a cage and a woman in a dress with mice at her feet, with optional details about the edition and publisher.

School plays/musicals

Pepys’ Show by Debbie Campbell/DC Musicals

Group of children wearing hats and backpacks walking outdoors on a sunny day

Educational visits

Historical Royal Palaces school trip

Group of young children wearing colorful backpacks and hats, walking outdoors on a sunny day with an adult supervising.

Educational visits

School Trip Ideas - ukschooltrip.co.uk