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How would you feel if you had to live in mud all the time? In World War One, hundreds of miles of muddy trenches became the home to thousands of soldiers. These long narrow ditches dug into the ground were as busy as a small town where soldiers lived day and night. These trenches were the only thing stopping the advance of the German army. We can all get out of the mud and wet when we want to, but many soldiers during World War One couldn’t, and didn’t get the chance to go home.

Pupils could write a timetable for their day then research and compare it to the daily schedule for a soldier living in the trenches. Children could make a model or diorama of the trenches. The class could use the school grounds to measure out how far apart the allied and enemy trenches were. Children could design and make a periscope, similar to the ones used in the trenches to watch out for the enemy in No Man’s Land. This could be taught alongside science lessons on light. Children could research and read letters and diary extracts from soldiers in the trenches. They could try to put themselves in their position and write their own as if they were soldiers fighting on the front line.