Year 2 History Resources and Lesson Plans
Explore ready-to-teach Year 2 History resources, lesson plans and schemes of work covering engaging Year 2 History topics. Designed to support the Year 2 History curriculum, our resources help children investigate significant people and events, explore changes over time and local history, and develop their chronological understanding, historical vocabulary and enquiry skills.
Popular Year 2 History Schemes of Work:
What should children learn in Year 2 History?
In Year 2, children can build on their early understanding of the past by developing stronger chronology, using evidence more confidently and making clearer comparisons between people, events and periods.
Build chronological understanding
Use timelines and sequencing activities to place people and events in order, compare different periods and use words such as earlier, later, before and after accurately.
Make historical comparisons
Encourage children to compare life at different times, identifying similarities, differences and changes in areas such as homes, transport, work or everyday life.
Use evidence to find out more
Explore photographs, artefacts, written accounts, maps and other sources, helping children explain what the evidence suggests and what questions it raises.
Explore historical significance
Help children consider why particular people and events are remembered and explain how their actions or achievements made a difference.
Explore our Year 2 History Resources
Browse our complete collection of Year 2 History resources, lesson plans and schemes of work. Discover engaging History topics for Year 2, including changes within living memory, significant individuals and important events from the past, with ready-to-teach lessons designed to support the KS1 History curriculum.
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Planning Year 2 History
When planning History in Year 2, choose topics that help children build on their existing understanding of the past and make clearer connections between people, events and periods. Topics such as significant individuals, famous events, transport, homes and local history can provide plenty of opportunities to compare change over time and strengthen chronological understanding.
Use a range of historical sources, including photographs, artefacts, maps, written accounts and buildings, and encourage children to explain what the evidence can tell them. Revisit ideas such as chronology, similarity and difference, cause, change and historical significance so that children begin to develop more confident historical thinking.
Planning History for your whole school? Explore our History Curriculum Packs →Frequently Asked Questions about Year 2 History
What do children learn in Year 2 History?
In Year 2 History, children continue to develop their understanding of chronology, change, historical significance and how we find out about the past. They may investigate significant people and events, changes within living memory, events beyond living memory and aspects of local history. Children should also have opportunities to ask historical questions, examine evidence and compare different periods of time.
What are good Year 2 History topics?
Good Year 2 History topics give children opportunities to explore change, chronology and significant people or events in an accessible way. Popular topics can include famous historical figures, explorers, inventors, homes and transport through time, significant events such as the Great Fire of London, and local history. Schools can choose topics that suit their wider curriculum while meeting the requirements of the KS1 History curriculum.
What does the Year 2 History curriculum include?
Year 2 forms part of the KS1 History National Curriculum rather than having a separate statutory programme of study. Across Years 1 and 2, children should learn about changes within living memory, events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally, the lives of significant individuals, and significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.
How can I plan Year 2 History lessons?
Effective Year 2 History lesson plans should combine historical knowledge with opportunities for children to think like historians. Children might sequence events on timelines, compare life in different periods, investigate photographs and artefacts, ask questions about sources or consider why a person or event was significant. Revisiting concepts such as chronology, evidence, change and significance across different topics can help children build their understanding throughout the year.
What should Year 2 History resources include?
Useful Year 2 History resources should help children explore historical ideas as well as learn important knowledge. Timelines, photographs, maps, artefacts, historical accounts, worksheets and activity sheets can all be useful when they support purposeful historical enquiry. PlanBee's Year 2 History lesson plans and schemes of work include teaching slides, differentiated activities, worksheets and supporting resources to help teachers deliver complete lessons.
What are some good Year 2 History activities?
Year 2 History activities could include ordering events on a timeline, comparing photographs from different periods, investigating historical objects, sorting evidence, examining how homes or transport have changed, creating questions for a historical figure or deciding why an event was significant. Activities that encourage children to use evidence and explain their ideas can help develop historical enquiry skills alongside subject knowledge.
