Stone Age books
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| more ave than Stone age but first ideas from a group looking at ancient life |
Hands-on History: Stone Age, Charlotte Hurdman, Armadillo, 2014 978-1-84322-974-2
Stone Age, Bone Age!
Mick Manning and Brita Granström, Franklin Watts, 978-1-4451-2892-4
O, if only!
No, two books about the Stone Age - specifically
about teaching "the Stone Ages" to children
Hands-on History is great: a rewarding mix of factual information and
activities to try. The information is well presented and could be used by a
teacher to get a bit of background or be given to confident KS2 readers for
their own information. It is with the activities, however, where this book
really scores. Most chapters have an activity associated with its content and
while some are familiar - paint sprays to get hand prints - others are delightfully new and inventive. I
really liked the mammoth bone house
and the model canoe.
There is a bit of a dependance upon air-drying clay which
might start pushing costs up if you were doing these activities with a class
(substitute card?*). I like clay as a paper replacement: it offers a different
texture and a sense of the issues of working on a different surface. Using clay
to make model axes and fire-drills is fine but most children I work with would
instantly want to try their new tool out and I don't think these would stand up
to much heavy wood-cutting or fire-starting!
I love the generous confidence that assumes we all know what
shape and size to make our model mammoth bones, and that we are all happy about
instantly drawing cave pictures. A bit of guidance in these cases might have
helped: maybe a quick column on looking at animals and finding simple shapes to
build the main picture from?
The activity side of Hands-on is its greatest asset and is
sadly lacking in Stone Age, Bone Age! Here a cheerful, almost rhyming,
narrative bounces our young adventurers (KS1) through Stone Age life. Good
bright pictures accompany a simple text where key points are supported by some
background information. But I wanted some action: some definite suggestions for
things to do….we could fill in the gaps ourselves but I think the book would
have been more complete if it had had some sections on, perhaps, "looking for tracks in mud, sand
and snow", exploring colours in nature, maybe even lighting a fire and
cooking…activities to take the reader beyond the book itself.
Two useful additions to the library shelf.
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| a moment of prehistoric domesticity |
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