Dean Close Pre-Prep – MUSEUM IN THE PARK

21 May 2019

Year One enjoyed yet another exciting day out as part of their topic on ‘Food and Farming’. Having visited a working farm recently, this next trip took the children to Stratford Park in Stroud (Museum in the Park) where they learned about food and farming over time. It was fascinating to learn about the survival skills of our distant ancestors and look at stone-age flint tools and how they were used to prepare food. It was also interesting to handle Neolithic axe heads and arrows and to use flints to prepare vegetables for eating. The children even did their bit for conservation by recycling the leftover food in a compost heap.

Everyone enjoyed the ‘Flour Power’ experience, which gave the children an insight into how flour was made and used in the past: it was hard work using the heavy mortar and pestle to grind by hand. Pupils looked at some old mill stones, including one from the Roman period and discovered the difference between the bed stone and the runner stone. We toured the museum and looked at how kitchen gardens were used to provide food in days gone by and we handled a range of kitchen objects that were used by our distant relatives (or not so distant in the case of the jelly moulds and mincer).

Later in the day the  children found out that farming wasn’t just about providing food, but involved the use of wool, willow and wood too. The entire day gave the children a tremendous experience of how food and farming has changed over time and allowed everyone to see, handle and use artefacts from the past.