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History

What Do Old Photographs Tell Us?

Overview

Children look carefully at old photographs and describe what they see, making simple inferences about the past.

Learning Objective
Children understand that photographs are historical sources and can identify clues about the past from an old image.

Resources needed

  • One or two old photographs — family, school, or community images work well

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Show an old photograph — do not explain it yet.
  2. 2 Ask: what can you see in this picture?
  3. 3 Ask: do you think this is from a long time ago or recently? How can you tell?
  4. 4 Look for clues: clothing, hairstyles, objects, buildings, technology visible.
  5. 5 Ask: what were people doing? How do you think they felt?
  6. 6 Ask: what questions does this photograph make you want to ask?
  7. 7 Ask: what does the photograph not tell us?

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Compare an old and a new photograph of the same place.
  • Bring in a family photograph and share its story.
  • Children draw what the same scene might look like today.
More information

Teach: photograph, clue, clothing, building, long ago, recently, notice, wonder. The notice/think/wonder framework structures observations clearly.

Provide three specific questions to answer rather than open observation for children who need more structure.

Can children give at least two observations from the photograph? Can they identify one clue that tells them it is from the past?

A single old photograph from a teacher's family or a community elder works perfectly. No specialist historical images needed.

Children often think old photographs show poor or unhappy people. Help them see that most photographs show ordinary life — people working, celebrating, living.

Photographs are among the most accessible and engaging historical sources for young children. Learning to read them carefully builds visual literacy as well as historical thinking.

Activity details
Early Years Easy 15–20 minutes 5 minutes prep Whole Class, Small Group Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Photographs Visual Sources Evidence