Imperial War Museum: World War II

Connecting World War II lessons from the classroom to unforgettable experiences at the Imperial War Museum London.

London is an amazing city, bursting with world‑class museums—the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, and National Gallery to name just a few. For families and schools, these places aren’t just buildings filled with artefacts; they’re living classrooms where history, art, and culture come alive.

This autumn, Lady Yeya’s Year 3 curriculum focused on World War II, weaving together history, literature, culture, and even a touch of 1940s swing dance. The children explored:

• Political leaders such as Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill from the Allies Powers; and Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini of the Axis Powers
• Major historical events including the Blitz, D‑Day, and VE-Day
• Notable Black women like Lilian Bader, one of the first Black women to serve in the British Armed Forces, and Princess Ademola, a Nigerian princess who trained as a nurse in wartime London as part of the Black History Month.

It was a thoughtful, layered curriculum designed not just to teach facts, but to help children imagine, empathise, and connect with the past.

Chislehurst Caves & Neighborhood Walkabout

The module culminated in a school trip to Chislehurst Caves, a 22‑mile labyrinth of man‑made tunnels originally dug for chalk and flint mining. During World War II, these caves became a civilian air‑raid shelter, housing around 15,000 people nightly during the Blitz. Walking through the tunnels by lantern light, guided by knowledgeable storytellers, the children had a glimpse of reconstructed dormitories and imagined what life underground must have felt like—families huddled together, listening for the distant rumble of bombs above.

The history became even more personal during a neighborhood walkabout. On the first night of the Blitz, 7 September 1940, bombs rained down on East and South East London, particularly around docks and industrial warehouses. In our own patch of SE London, parachute bombs destroyed around 30 houses—including the site of our own home—later followed by V‑1 flying rockets and V‑2 rockets. Dressed as evacuees with gas masks, ration books, and suitcases, the children walked through the local cemetery to see first‑hand the scars of war still visible in the community. It was a powerful way to connect classroom learning with the very streets they live on.

A Trip to the Imperial War Museum

No study of World War II would be complete without a visit to the Imperial War Museum in Elephant & Castle—an area itself heavily bombed during the war, where families often sheltered in underground tube stations. To round out the curriculum, my neighbor and I took the children for an afternoon of immersive learning. The museum’s World War II galleries, spread across two floors, are packed with artefacts, newspaper clippings, uniforms, books, letters, photographs, and antiques that bring history to life.

Highlights included:

• A replica family home, complete with a reinforced air‑raid bed where up to four people could sleep during bombing raids.
• A reconstructed air‑raid shelter, showing how families endured long nights underground.
• Personal diaries and letters, offering intimate glimpses into the fears, hopes, and resilience of ordinary people.

We chose to skip the Holocaust Galleries, recognising that while vitally important, they were not age‑appropriate for Year 3 children.

I personally thought the Y3 curriculum was unique and well-thought out because it connects history to lived experience. From swing dancing in the classroom to lantern‑lit tunnels in Chislehurst, from ration books in hand to replicas of wartime homes, the children didn’t just learn about World War II—they felt it, imagined it, and understood it in a way textbooks and classroom learning alone could never achieve.