Long Ago or Nowadays? — The Kitchen-Table Museum

The child compares old and new versions of everyday things, sorts them into “long ago” and “nowadays,” and hears from an older person how life was different when they were small.

  1. Gather 4–6 old things or photos of them: a key-wound clock, a cassette or record, a film camera, a phone with buttons or a dial, a handwritten letter, an old coin, a black-and-white family photo. Pair each with today’s version where you can.
  2. Lay out two labels: “Long ago” and “Nowadays.” The child handles each object and decides which side it belongs on.
  3. For each pair ask: “What is the same? What is different? How do you think people used this?” Let the child try it — wind the clock, turn the dial.
  4. Ask a grandparent or older neighbour (in person or by phone) one question: “What did you play with / watch / eat when you were five?”
  5. End with a look forward: “What do you think children will use when you are a grandparent?”

Variation: take the game on a walk — find one very old building and one new one — or look at an old photo of your own street and spot what has changed and what is still there.

Requirements

  • Space: A table top
  • Surface: Table
  • Materials: 4–6 old household objects or old photos, their modern equivalents, two paper labels
  • Participants: 1 adult + 1 child; an older relative or neighbour adds a great deal
  • Supervision: Light to moderate — closer if the old objects are fragile

Rationale & Objective

A five-year-old’s sense of “the past” is still forming: yesterday, last year and the time of the dinosaurs can sit close together. History educators working with this age (Cooper, History in the Early Years) recommend starting from the child’s own surroundings, family history and stories — real objects, photographs and the memories of living people — because children can handle, question and compare them. The EYFS Past and Present goal asks children to know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, HighScope KDI 57 (History) covers understanding past, present and future, and GOLD Objective 31 tracks how children explore change in familiar people and places. Sorting and comparing builds the vocabulary of time (long ago, when Grandpa was little, nowadays, one day) and the core historical idea that people had the same needs but met them in different ways.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: is interested in the objects but sorts by liking or by looks (“broken,” “dirty”) rather than age; uses “old” for people and things alike; no sense of who lived when
  • Developing: sorts obvious pairs into long ago and nowadays; names one difference for a pair (“this one has no screen”); understands that grandparents were once children
  • Proficient: sorts most objects correctly and explains a similarity and a difference; uses past-time phrases (“when Grandma was little,” “a long time ago”); retells one fact from the older person’s answer
  • Advanced: puts three things in order of age (very old, a bit old, new); asks own questions about the past; reasons about why things changed and imagines the future version

Safety Notes

  • Check old objects before handing them over — no flaking paint, sharp edges, leaking batteries, loose small parts or old glass
  • Fragile heirlooms are better shown in a photo, or held by the adult while the child looks
  • Keep “long ago” as different, not worse or funnier — an older person should feel their childhood is being respected
  • Family history can include loss, migration or hard times; share at a level the child can hold and let the older person decide what to tell

Hints

  • Playfulness: make it a museum — the child is the curator who writes a ticket, arranges the exhibits and gives a guided tour to a visitor or a row of soft toys
  • Sustain interest: one new “mystery object from long ago” each time; charity shops, attics and grandparents’ drawers are full of them
  • Common mistake: asking for dates and numbers of years. These mean little at five — anchor time to people instead (“when Daddy was a baby,” “before Grandma was born”)
  • Limited space: no old objects needed — use three photos on a phone, or compare the pictures in an old storybook with a new one
  • Cross-domain: draw the old and new version side by side (art); write or dictate a museum label (early writing); explore how the wind-up clock or dial phone works (tools and simple machines)
  • Progression: sort obvious old and new pairs → name a same and a different → interview an older person → order three things by age → spot old and new in the street → imagine the future version

Sources

  • UK EYFS Statutory Framework — Understanding the World, ELG Past and Present
  • Cooper, H., History in the Early Years (Routledge) — helping young children explore the past through their environment, family history and story
  • HighScope Preschool Curriculum — Key Developmental Indicator 57, History (Social Studies)
  • Teaching Strategies GOLD — Objective 31, explores change related to familiar people or places
  • Hirsch, E.D. Jr. (ed.), What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know — History and Geography
  • National Council for the Social Studies (2019), “Early Childhood in the Social Studies Context” position statement