Meaningful ways to explore Black history with children beyond worksheets and colouring pages
Black History Month takes place throughout October in the UK, and for home-educating families it can provide an opportunity to explore people, places and stories that may not yet have appeared in your child's learning. But where do you start?
A quick search for "Black History Month activities for children" can produce endless colouring sheets, word searches, fact files and posters. There is nothing inherently wrong with those activities. But we can do much more. Black History Month can become an opportunity for children to investigate real historical evidence, read literature, explore maps, visit museums, compare sources, discover African kingdoms, research Black British history and follow their own questions.
And you don't need to turn October into a month-long Black History "unit". Choose a few meaningful activities. Follow your child's interests. Go deeper when something captures their attention. Most importantly, don't feel you have to somehow "complete" Black history by the end of October. You can't.
Black History Month can be the starting point, not the finishing line.
1. Create a Black British History Timeline
One of the most useful activities is also one of the simplest. Take a long piece of paper or tape several sheets together and create a timeline. Then begin adding people and events. You could include:
Roman Britain — African people were present in Roman Britain.
c.1507–1512 — John Blanke — a Black trumpeter at the Tudor courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII.
1729–1780 — Ignatius Sancho — writer, composer, shopkeeper and abolitionist.
c.1745–1797 — Olaudah Equiano — writer and abolitionist.
1805–1881 — Mary Seacole — British-Jamaican nurse and businesswoman.
1888–1918 — Walter Tull — professional footballer and First World War officer.
1918–2015 — Lilian Bader — one of the first Black women to serve in Britain's armed forces during the Second World War.
1948 — Empire Windrush arrives at Tilbury.
1963 — Bristol Bus Boycott.
1987 — Diane Abbott becomes the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons.
Then keep going into modern Britain.
Why I like this activity
It makes something immediately visible: Black British history did not begin with Windrush.
Children can see Black presence stretching across different periods of British history. Leave plenty of blank space too. Every time your child discovers someone new, add them. Your timeline can grow throughout the year.
2. Choose One Person and Become a Historical Detective
Rather than asking your child to complete ten short fact files about ten famous people, choose one person and investigate them properly. Your child might choose: Mary Seacole, Walter Tull, Olaudah Equiano, Claudia Jones, Maggie Aderin-Pocock or somebody entirely different. Then investigate:
When were they born?
Where did they live?
What was happening in Britain at the time?
What did they do?
Why do we know about them?
What historical evidence survives?
What difficulties did they encounter?
Why are they remembered?
And my favourite question:
What else does their story make you want to know?
That's where one biography turns into real historical enquiry.
3. Investigate John Blanke Using a Real Historical Source
If your child is studying the Tudors, introduce them to John Blanke. John Blanke was a trumpeter at the Tudor royal court. Most importantly for this activity, children can actually see him depicted in the Westminster Tournament Roll. Instead of immediately telling your child everything about him, show them the image first. Ask:
What can you see?
What is he wearing?
What is he carrying?
Who is around him?
What might his job have been?
What can this image tell us?
What can't it tell us?
Then investigate what historians know. That final distinction is important. Children begin learning that historical sources provide evidence, but they rarely answer every question.
4. Map Black British History
History and geography belong together. Print a map of the UK and begin marking places connected with the people you're studying. For example:
York — Septimius Severus
London — John Blanke, Ignatius Sancho, Claudia Jones
Folkestone — Walter Tull
Bristol — Bristol Bus Boycott
Tilbury — arrival of the Empire Windrush
Liverpool — Lilian Bader
Then zoom in. Research Black history in your own town or city. Your child might discover local: soldiers, business owners, artists, campaigners, writers, sportspeople, community organisations, migration stories, or links with Britain's imperial and maritime history. History becomes much more tangible when children realise: Something happened here.
5. Explore an African Kingdom
One thing I would particularly encourage families to do during Black History Month is explore African history before European colonialism. If children's introduction to African history begins with slavery, they encounter African people for the first time at the moment freedom is being taken away from them. There is an enormous history before that. Choose one civilisation. You could investigate: Kingdom of Kush, Kingdom of Aksum, Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, Songhai Empire, Kingdom of Benin, Great Zimbabwe or Swahili city-states.
Ask:
Where was it?
When did it exist?
How was it governed?
What did people trade?
What did people build?
What religions were practised?
What evidence survives?
How was it connected with other parts of the world?
If you'd like a starting point, our African Kingdoms and Civilisations Before Colonialism article explores several of these societies in more detail.
6. Follow Mansa Musa's Journey
Mansa Musa is an excellent historical figure for cross-curricular learning. In 1324, the ruler of the Mali Empire travelled on pilgrimage to Mecca. Give your child a map. Find Mali. Then find Mecca. Research the approximate route. Now the questions begin.
How did people travel such enormous distances in the fourteenth century?
What would they need to carry?
Where would they find water?
What landscapes would they cross?
Why was Mansa Musa travelling?
Why was Mali wealthy?
Why did gold matter?
What was the Hajj?
One journey has suddenly created opportunities for: history + geography + religion + economics + mathematics. That's the kind of learning I love.
7. Become an Archaeologist at Great Zimbabwe
Children who enjoy building may particularly like exploring Great Zimbabwe. Look at photographs of its enormous stone walls. Then ask your child to become an engineer. Can they build a wall without mortar or glue?
Use: wooden blocks, LEGO, stones, cardboard, or anything else you have available. Try different arrangements.
Which structures collapse?
Which stay standing?
Why?
Then return to the photographs. The people who constructed Great Zimbabwe built substantial stone structures using sophisticated dry-stone techniques. Now what initially looked like "a pile of old stones" becomes an engineering achievement.
8. Investigate the Benin Bronzes
The objects commonly called the Benin Bronzes provide an excellent opportunity for object-based learning. Choose one plaque or sculpture. Before reading the museum description, ask your child to investigate it.
Look closely
What material does it appear to be made from?
Who can you see?
What are they wearing?
Are some figures larger than others?
What objects are they holding?
Are there animals?
Patterns?
Weapons?
Jewellery?
Then ask
What do you think this object might tell us about the Kingdom of Benin?
Only afterwards read more about it. For older children, take the investigation further. Many Benin objects were taken during Britain's 1897 military expedition against Benin City. Today there are ongoing discussions about restitution and the return of cultural objects. Ask: Who should own historical artefacts?
There isn't a colouring sheet that can replace that discussion.
9. Read a Book by a Black Author
Black History Month doesn't have to consist entirely of history lessons. Literature belongs here too. Choose a book written or illustrated by a Black creator. For younger children, you might explore authors and illustrators such as: Floella Benjamin, Trish Cooke, Nathan Bryon, Dapo Adeola and Atinuke
For older children: Joseph Coelho, Sharna Jackson, Malorie Blackman, Patrice Lawrence and Benjamin Zephaniah
And remember: The book does not have to be about racism. Black children deserve stories about space, mysteries, friendship, dragons, family, humour and ordinary life too. Our Black Children's Books for Every Age guide has recommendations organised by age if you're looking for somewhere to start.
10. Create a Family Reading Challenge
Instead of trying to read 30 books in October, make the challenge more interesting. Choose:
One picture book
One chapter book
One biography
One book set somewhere in Africa or the Caribbean
One book connected with Black British history
One book by an author your family has never read before
Then let children choose which books fulfil each category. Choice creates ownership. And if you find a new favourite author?
Keep reading them in November.
11. Explore Your Bookshelf
This activity costs nothing. Stand in front of your child's bookshelf. Ask:
Who are the main characters?
Who wrote these books?
Who illustrated them?
What countries do the stories take place in?
What types of families appear?
Who gets to be the hero?
Who gets to be funny?
Who gets to be clever?
Who goes on adventures?
You don't need to calculate percentages or feel guilty about what they read. Simply notice.
Is there a type of voice, character or experience your family rarely encounters?
Perhaps your next library visit can change that.
12. Compare Two Historical Sources
For older children, Black History Month provides a wonderful opportunity to develop source-analysis skills. Choose one event. For example: the Bristol Bus Boycott, Windrush, the abolition movement, or the experiences of Black soldiers during the First World War.
Find two different sources: a newspaper report, a photograph, an interview, a letter, a government document, a memoir, or a modern history article. Then compare them.
Who created each source?
When?
Why?
What information does each provide?
Do they agree?
What might each source leave out?
This teaches something much bigger than one historical event. It teaches children how historical knowledge is constructed.
13. Listen to Oral History
Not all history comes from textbooks. Oral-history archives contain recordings of people describing their own lives and experiences. For twentieth-century Black British history, these can be particularly powerful. Children might listen to people describing: migration, school, work, family life, racism, community, music, or arriving in Britain.
Then ask: What can someone's memories tell us that an official document cannot?
But also: Can memories ever be imperfect?
Now children are thinking critically about oral evidence too.
14. Explore Windrush Through Individual Stories
Rather than teaching "Windrush" as one event, choose one person. Find out:
Where were they born?
Why did they come to Britain?
What did they expect?
Where did they live?
What work did they do?
What was their experience like?
Did they stay in Britain?
What happened to their family afterwards?
This turns migration statistics into human lives. Then place that person's journey on a map.
Where did they travel from?
How far was it?
How long might the journey have taken?
What did they leave behind?
15. Investigate the Bristol Bus Boycott
Children often learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Rosa Parks in the United States. Far fewer know about Britain's Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963. At the time, the Bristol Omnibus Company operated a discriminatory employment practice that prevented Black and Asian people from working as bus crews. Campaigners including Paul Stephenson challenged the policy. The boycott attracted national attention, and the company eventually changed its policy. For older children, compare Bristol with Montgomery.
What caused each boycott?
What tactics did campaigners use?
What changed?
What remained different?
This helps children understand that struggles against racial discrimination were not something that happened only in America.
16. Explore Black Scientists
Black History Month can easily become dominated by social history. So change subject. Explore science. Your child could investigate:
Maggie Aderin-Pocock — space science
Katherine Johnson — mathematics and spaceflight
Mae Jemison — medicine and space exploration
Then don't simply create biographies.
Investigate their science.
If you're learning about Katherine Johnson, explore trajectories.
If you're learning about Mae Jemison, investigate human spaceflight.
If you're learning about Maggie Aderin-Pocock, explore telescopes and astronomy.
The person's identity provides the doorway.
The subject provides the learning.
17. Connect Black History Month With World Space Week
October gives home educators a particularly nice crossover because World Space Week runs from 4–10 October. You could explore Black contributions to astronomy and space exploration. Research: Black astronauts, space scientists, engineers, NASA mathematicians, astronomers, and contemporary space careers. Then ask children to choose a space career they didn't know existed. This also helps move Black History Month beyond the history curriculum. Black achievement belongs in STEM, literature, art, music, sport and every other area of learning.
18. Visit a Museum — Including Virtually
You don't need to live near London. Many museums now have digital collections that allow families to examine objects online. Look for collections relating to: African kingdoms, Black British history, migration, the transatlantic slave trade, Windrush, art, archaeology, and local history.
If you do visit in person, don't try to see everything. Choose five objects. Spend time looking. Ask questions. Sketch one. Choose a favourite. Find something unexpected. A museum doesn't have to become an endurance test.
Useful Resources for UK Home-Educating Families
There are some excellent organisations and collections families can explore.
The Black Curriculum
Focused particularly on Black British history and improving its representation within education.
Black Cultural Archives
Based in Brixton and dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain.
National Archives
Its education resources and collections can provide primary sources for older children investigating Black British history.
British Library
Useful for exploring literature, manuscripts, historical collections and recorded voices.
Historic England
Particularly useful when exploring Black British history through actual places and local heritage.
Imperial War Museums
Useful for exploring Black and Commonwealth experiences during the First and Second World Wars. You don't need to use every resource. Choose what supports the question your child is currently investigating.
What I Would Avoid
Home education gives us enormous freedom in how we approach difficult history. Use that freedom carefully. I would avoid activities asking children to: role-play being enslaved, simulate racist discrimination, write from the perspective of an enslaved person without substantial historical context, or turn traumatic experiences into games.
Children do not need to personally recreate suffering in order to understand that it happened. Instead use: historical evidence, age-appropriate literature, artefacts, maps, testimony, photographs, museum collections, discussion and carefully chosen documentaries. We can teach difficult history without trivialising it.
A Simple Four-Week Black History Month Plan
If you're reading this thinking, This all sounds great, but what am I actually supposed to do on Monday?, keep it simple.
Week | Focus | Try |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 | Black British History | Start a timeline + investigate one historical person |
Week 2 | African History | Explore one precolonial kingdom + map its trade routes |
Week 3 | Literature & Culture | Read a Black-authored book + discover its author/illustrator |
Week 4 | Modern Britain & STEM | Explore a modern Black Briton + investigate their field |
You could spend one afternoon each week on this. Or ten minutes. Or an entire day because your child suddenly becomes fascinated by Mansa Musa and wants to know how medieval people crossed the Sahara. That's one of the advantages of home education. You can follow the question.
When October Ends, Don't Stop
This is the thread running through this entire Black History Month series. We don't want to create an October box labelled BLACK HISTORY, teach it for four weeks and put it back on the shelf. Instead, integrate what you've discovered.
Studying the Tudors? Include John Blanke.
Studying the Victorians? Include Mary Seacole and Pablo Fanque.
Studying the First World War? Include Walter Tull.
Studying the Second World War? Explore Black British and Commonwealth contributions.
Studying post-war Britain? Include Windrush and Britain's civil-rights campaigns.
Studying space? Include Black scientists, mathematicians and astronauts.
Choosing books? Keep reading Black authors.
Studying ancient and medieval world history? Africa belongs there too.
That is how Black history becomes part of education rather than an annual event.
