The ARP Warden
Before your visit
o Make sure that adult helpers have a site map and the helpers’ notes (below). They must know the time, length and location of their teaching session.
o Let us know if any child has a latex allergy – our replica gas masks are made of latex.
o Tell the children that this is a role play session – the Warden will talk and respond to questions as if you were all in the 1940s. Warn children who might be unsettled by this that it is just pretend, but they should play along. Talk about what to wear and bring on the day.
o Have a look at our Home Front trail. You can print and copy it for the children to use, or just use it as a source of ideas to structure your visit.
o Remember to bring payment and your entry ticket with you on the day.
Your session
The ARP Warden activity can be booked for 60 or 90 minutes. Please check your ticket for the times and length of your session.
Coats and bags should be left in the Eating Space. Please note that we do not allow food or drink in the Learning Spaces (for either children or adults) as they can cause damage to our artefacts.
Teachers are welcome to take photographs, but not film. Children will be asked to put cameras away so that they can focus on the session.
In the session children will see real artefacts from the Second World War. There will be some loud noises (an air raid siren and gas rattle and bell). Please let us know if anyone in your class will find this difficult so that we can adapt the session for them.
Topics covered include what to do when bombs drop, gas mask practice, the blackout and, in the 90 minute session, the role of nurses and the Home Guard.
Learning Objectives
o Increasing knowledge and understanding of the Second World War – a significant event in British history.
o Exploring a range of sources to find out how the war affected children.
o Developing a sense of empathy with civilians who experienced bombing, rationing, gas mask drills and other disruptions to their everyday lives.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Our gas masks are accurate replicas and do NOT have asbestos in the filter. After the session please remind children that they must not try on real wartime gas masks because of the danger to their health.
The ARP Warden: Adult Helpers’ Notes
Your visit
Check that you have a map of the site and know the times of your booked activity and lunch.
ARP WARDENTime:
Start:
Finish: / Location: Learning Space 1
AirSpace Hangar. Go through the doors and turn right after the Polaris nuclear missile.
Follow the path with the dots, at the end go left.
You will see toilets, then the doors to the Eating Space (leave coats and bags there) and after that the doors for Learning Space 1.
A member of museum staff will meet you at the door to Learning Space 1 at your session time.
Lunch
Time: / Location: Eating Space (or outside if the weather is nice)
Your session
The ARP Warden activity can be booked for 60 or 90 minutes. Please check the times and length of your session with the group leader or teacher.
Coats and bags should be left in the Eating Space. Please note that we do not allow food or drink in the Learning Spaces (for either children or adults) as they can cause damage to our artefacts.
Teachers are welcome to take photographs, but not film. Children will be asked to put cameras away so that they can focus on the session.
In the session children will see real artefacts from the Second World War. There will be some loud noises (an air raid siren and gas rattle and bell) unless the group leader or teacher has advised us that this would be unsuitable for the class.
Topics covered include what to do when bombs drop, gas mask practice, the blackout and, in the 90 minute session, the role of nurses and the Home Guard.
ARP Warden: What to wear and bring
Our Second World War roleplay sessions assume that the children have been evacuated with their school at some point during the war. It adds a great deal to the authentic feel of the session if adults and children come in wartime costume (if this is likely to be a problem, school uniform is historically accurate for evacuees) and bring a labelled gas mask box, an identity label and a wartime lunch.
Templates for the gas mask box and identity label are below.
Lunch items can include bread with jam, honey, beetroot or Marmite; apples, pears, plums, tomatoes or scrubbed carrots; rock cakes made with dried egg, all in a paper or cloth bag. Cheese, meat, chocolate, crisps, bananas and plastic lunch boxes are banned.
Coming in wartime dress need not be an expensive enterprise and can be
achieved with just a little effort and imagination!
Ideas for boys
Short trousers, shirt and sweater or sleeveless pullover.
Dark knee length socks, shoes, plimsolls or even wellington boots but
NOT trainers. If possible, a school cap or balaclava.
Ideas for girls
A dress or skirt and blouse with a cardigan. Shoes, plimsolls and short socks. Hats could include hand knitted ones, berets, straw boaters or even balaclavas. Long hair can be tied in plaits. Any items of clothing that are home knit would add to the effect as most adults and children would have worn these.
Ideas for ladies
Any dress worn with an apron and a scarf tied around the head gives an immediate appearance of the wartime housewife. Trousers, dungarees and siren suits (jumpsuits) could represent those working for the war effort as ammunition workers or Land Army girls. Dark blue, khaki, greens and browns add a wartime feel.
Ideas for men
A dark suit with waistcoat and a hat of some description. A look that can be created quite simply is to represent a member of Civil Defence such as an Air Raid Warden. Dark blue overalls, boots and an armband worn on the sleeve (initialled ARP) would create an instant impression. Alternatively, and if obtainable, men could always dress as members of one of the armed forces.
Gas Mask Box template
Please don’t actually make a gas mask to put in the boxes – the ARP warden’s horror at finding that they are all empty gives us a chance to hand out a replica to each child.
· Measurements are not to scale. The template fits on paper measuring 60 x 53cm (A1).
· Use brown card or cover in brown paper. If you are short of time, you could cover a small cardboard box in brown paper rather than starting from scratch.
· Glue the back of all four tabs so that they are stuck on the inside of the box.
= hole for string
Identity Label Template
Children being evacuated would have been given a label like the one shown here:
You can find this image at http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30083301
To make your labels
Print the template below onto buff or brown card.
Children can fill in their own details (name, school address and date, remembering to avoid including the year).
Cut out and punch a hole so that the label can be attached to the child’s clothing with string on the day of your visit.
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Key Stage 2: The ARP Warden