Cabinets of Curiosity activity 1: around the World challenge
Lots of the artefacts in Learn with Objects come from around the globe.
- Where did they come from?
- How did they end up in Folkestone Museum?
- And what do they reveal about the wider world?
Children work together to create a physical or digital map of the world highlighting some well-travelled Folkestone Museum objects and where they came from.
Learning objectives
Increased knowledge and understanding of the wider world and Folkestone’s links with it.
Research skills.
Being able to use a world map and identify different countries and historic civilisations.
Curriculum links
KS1-2 History (Cabinets of Curiosity, world history).
KS1-2 Geography (other world cultures, maps)
KS1-4 Art and design (world art)
Look at a few artefacts with links to the wider world as a whole class on the interactive whiteboard. All the numbers in the following Learn with Objects topics have links with the wider world:
- Anglo-Saxons 4
- Cabinets of Curiosity 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12
- Maritime 10, 11
- Master Collection (whole topic)
- Roman Folkestone 8, 9, 10, 14
- Seaside holidays 15
- Stone Age to Iron Age 5
- WW1 1, 3, 4, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
- WW2 10, 15
Ask the children to think about some of these questions:
- Can you discover where they come from on a world map?
- Why did they end up in Folkestone?
- How did they travel here?
- By sailing ship, steam train or camel?
- Who brought them back and why?
- Which has travelled the furthest?
- Which is the most exotic or unusual?
- Can you find an object from Africa?
- Asia or Australia?
- Ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome?
- What can we learn from them today?
Children can work individually or in pairs to investigate and report back on a specific object, or browse the website to discover their favourites.
To extend this activity further, children can work together to create a physical or digital map of the world highlighting some favourite Folkestone Museum objects and where they came from.