The Great Fire of London – KS1 resources

Get your class to explore the Great Fire of London with our animated videos and a variety of activities, created for KS1 teachers. Some of the activity sheets are available in different versions for those who may need a little help, or those who want an extra challenging task.

Teachers' notes for these resources

The KS1 teachers’ notes provide additional facts and context for each of the resources below, and some instructions for using them in your classroom.
The teachers’ guide to 1660s London explains who the characters in the three videos below are, with details about their lives and their connections to Pepys’s diary.
The glossary explains some of the key terms.

1. What was life like in 17th-century London?

Please note, this video contains a street scene from the plague at 00:23.

The accompanying activity is available in two versions, one a little more challenging, and one with a little bit of help.

2. How did the Great Fire of London start?

This timeline activity teaches learners the story of the Great Fire from start to finish, while building their chronology skills. There are two difficulty levels.

3. How do we know what happened?

This activity sheet introduces the concept of historical evidence, explaining primary and secondary sources. There are two difficulty levels.

4. Who was Samuel Pepys?

This video and activity sheet introduce the life and work of the man behind the famous diary.

Photograph of the Pepys Library by Andrew Dunn (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The activity accompanying the video is available in two versions.

4.a. How did Pepys write his diary?

Learn more about how Pepys kept his diary secret and try reading the words he wrote.

5. How did people fight the Great Fire of London?

Using objects from the museum’s collection, this group activity challenges learners to think about 17th-century firefighting tools.

6. How did they rebuild London?

The activity accompanying this video helps learners build connections between causes, problems, and solutions.

These resources were produced by the Reimagining the Restoration project, a partnership project between London Museum and the University of Leicester. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (grant ref. AH/W003651/1).

We’d love to know what you think of these resources. Please get in touch with [email protected] and [email protected]