Here are some suggestions for activities related to this theme. We have provided a range from you to choose from, and adapt to suit the age and needs of your pupils. Most of the sources for this section are relevant to the Second World War.

1. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

With many men away, women became solely responsible for major decisions in the running of the household, often for the first time in their lives.

These decisions were complicated by shortages in food, fabric and materials. Keeping a household running smoothly in wartime involved even more work than during peacetime.

A. Salvage:

• What categories has the household waste been sorted into?
  
• Why was it necessary to do this?
  
• How much time do you think it took to do this every week?
  
• Why are we returning to the idea of salvage/recycling now?

B. Shopping: Could your pupils manage to feed a family of four during the war?

Each person had their own ration book. The mother would be responsible for pooling coupons and points and deciding what to serve at each meal.

Establish a simple scenario (a child's birthday? A family picnic? A very good crop of raspberries?) Ask the pupils to think about how they would allocate the family's rations for that week.

For detailed information about what the rations were during wartime download this file (.pdf). You could also try the Rationing Challenge which is in the resource 'Children of World War Two'.

C. Sewing: Encourage children to try our online game 'Mend, Make and Spend'

You will find a link to Mend, Make and Spend from our main education page. Ask them to write down how many times they chose 'mend' and how many coupons they used.

Next, set a simple task such as sewing on a button. Discuss how long this took and how much more complicated the 'mending' tasks are.

Now, ask them to play the game again. Has their experience of the 'mending' affected their decisions?

2. Working in the Home

Outworking: Throughout history, women have done paid work in the home. During the Second World War this continued, but on a much larger scale than before.

• What are they doing?
  
• Would these jobs normally be done at home?
  
• Who is actually doing the work?
• Do you think this is more or less efficient than producing items in a factory?
• How does this impact on family life?
• Does this look comfortable?
  
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of working from home? (This discussion could range from personal preferences to health and safety concerns).

3. Evacuees: the mother's decision

• In pairs: Discuss reasons for and against sending one or all of your children away during the war

Teacher input and discussion:

• When and why did evacuation happen for the first time?
  
• Did most mothers have any choices about where their children were sent?
  
• Did they know how long their children would be away from home for?
  
• Why was the government so anxious for children to be evacuated from the cities?
  
• Why did children come home before the war ended?
  
• How would these facts affect how mothers decided whether to send their children away?

Writing
You are a reporter at a railway station, looking on as the mothers say goodbye to their children. Write a report about what you see and the emotions being expressed around you. Include some 'quotations' from mothers and children. How would they be describing their feelings? What expressions would they have on their faces?

But - it's wartime. Ask your pupils to consider whether newspapers would have wanted stories that contained any negative reporting or comments?

So NOW -
Re-write your story so that your editor will accept it for publication:
(suggestions: quotes from mothers about how it's 'for the best'; select cheerful children from the pictures; describing the evacuation as an 'outing' or a 'holiday')

(A useful backup source is 'Westward Ho!' a film made in 1941 and available from the IWM on a compilation called 'Keeping the Wheels Turning' or on hire from the Film & Video Archive. Telephone: 020 7416 5293/4)

Using Powerpoint, and these and other images, create a presentation about what evacuation was like from the mother's point of view

Role-play: using one of the pictures, run a 'freeze-frame' drama or 'hotseat' question session

4. Who's Minding the Baby?

For this activity use all the pictures you can find in this resource that show women caring for children.

Without child-minders women with children would not have been able to go out to work. Child care was an important part of the war effort, therefore, and for the first time the government had to consider providing such care for children of preschool age.

Ask your class to look at the photographs of children and babies being cared for. Ask them to consider these questions:

• What sort of people are doing this work?
• Why are older-looking women often seen as being in charge of the children?
• Look closely at the photograph of the child-minder - why is one woman looking after all these children? Are they from the same family?

Ask your class to design a poster which encourages women to help look after children for the war effort. Ask them to think about the reasons for this. What persuasive straplines can they invent for their campaign? Use some of the recruitment posters in this resource for inspiration.

As a drama activity, ask the pupils to in groups, bring a poster to life. Take a photograph of this, and add a caption or strapline. Or make a storyboard for a short film about the importance of child care.

Citizenship extension

Ask the class to debate the following point: 'Child care was more important for the women of the Second World War than it is for women in today's Britain?'

Ask the class to consider the aspects of childcare in relation to the evacuation.

• What qualifications are required today for child-minders, nursery nurses, au pairs?
  
• What qualifications were required for people offering to take in evacuees during the Second World War?
  
• What was the impact of the evacuation on government policy on children after the war?

These and other activities are available to download as pdfs in the Classroom Resources section.