Battle of Britain 'War Games' Investigation

In this exciting and impactful lesson, children investigate the question: How close did Britain come to being invaded by Germany?

Learning Intentions: Understand the decisions made by Germany and Britain before the Battle of Britain took place. Think and communicate as a historian.

Children recreate the Battle of Britain by thinking through the decisions made by Germany and Britain after Dunkirk. Through this reconstruction, they gain a deep understanding of how the battle played out and why Britain succeeded in its defense. They ultimately gain insight into its historical significance.
The lesson is in two parts:
Step 1 - A Military Analysis (Children act as military analysts, weighing up who had the strongest a) infantry b) air force and c) naval force using information provided. They then use this knowledge to complete the next task:
Step 2 – War Games Re-enactment (Children are divided into Germany and Britain. They have a board map and game pieces and must use the understanding from Step 1 to make decisions together). Each group present their decisions and they then get to see how close their decisons were to the real thing!

This lesson had been tried and tested. Not only do children love it but the learning really sticks!