The War and the Flu

Four lessons about the end of the First World War and the influenza pandemic in 1918-19. The lessons here are a prelude to a project to record the experiences, opinions and feelings of children during the coronavirus pandemic a pilot project run by LSE. These four lessons introduce an historical epidemic and thinking about how we remember it as a way in to explore and allow expression of children’s experiences of the coronavirus. However, they can also be used as individual lessons just to look at the end of the war and the epidemic.

Outcomes:
• Learn about the 1918-20 Influenza Epidemic to understand that similar epidemics have happened before.
• To understand that people were emotionally affected by events, such as the influenza epidemic, in history.
• To introduce forms of remembering around loss, e.g. war memorials, and historic events, e.g. plaques.
• To reassure children that worries and anxious feelings are shared and normal