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Watch: How children helped at home

Watch our video to find out more about how children helped with the war effort.

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Growing vegetables

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 3, A photograph of children tending vegetable patches during World War One, 鈥楪rowing your own鈥 food became very important There wasn't a lot of food because German U-Boats (submarines) were sinking the ships bringing supplies. Children helped by digging, weeding and looking after vegetable patches.
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Raising money and collecting things

Conkers and their shells on brown leaves
  • Children collected useful things, like blankets, books and even conkers.

  • They even raised money to help horses hurt in battle.

Conkers and their shells on brown leaves
Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 3, A photograph of schoolboys in front of a crowd carrying bags of conkers in World War One, Chemicals from conkers were used in making shells and bullets Posters were put up in schools encouraging pupils to gather conkers. Around 3,000 tonnes were collected by Britain's children in 1917.
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How the Scouts and Guides helped

A boy scout delivering a message to a solder at the war office in World War One
Image caption,
Here we can see a young boy scout delivering a message to a solder at the war office.
  • Boy Scouts guarded railways, water reservoirs and coast.

  • They watched the sky for enemy planes.

  • They blew a brass instrument called a bugle when an air raid was over.

  • Girl Guides knitted socks and scarves for soldiers.

  • They learned first aid to help injured people.

  • They carried important messages.

A boy scout delivering a message to a solder at the war office in World War One
Image caption,
Here we can see a young boy scout delivering a message to a solder at the war office.
A photograph of a group of Girl Guides during World War One
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How did children help their families?

Many children tried hard to 'do their bit' in whatever way they could.

Sometimes this meant looking after younger brothers and sisters, helping with housework or joining long queues for food in the shops.

Boy scouts working in a field during World War OneImage source, 漏 IWM Q 30597
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Activities

Activity 1: Quiz 鈥 Children during World War One

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Activity 2: History Explorer game

Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about World War One.

History Explorer: Secrets through time

History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History

History Explorer: Secrets through time
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Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
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