Year 2 – drawing

Drawing – The Great Fire of London

This half term the children in year 2 have been making cross curricular links with history and have used drawing to help them learn about the past.

Year 2 researched the Great Fire of London using information books and stories. They shared pictures of the Great Fire of London that were completed in 1666. They talked about what they could see in the paintings and drawings and what they noticed. 

The children noticed the houses of that time were built differently from our houses today. They looked at the buildings in London present day and made comparisons between the old houses of 1666 and the houses and buildings today.

The children collected their ideas and facts through drawing and making sketchbook studies. They were encouraged to use different drawing materials and experiment with their use of line to create different effects.

The children learnt about how the houses were built closely together and the bottom floor of the house was narrow but got wider as the houses were built upwards. They used their observational skills to look closely at the wooden beams, small windows and the thatch rooftops.

Next, the children created large drawings which brought together their drawings of houses and they practised in their sketchbooks making flames of different sizes and shapes using different drawing materials. These explorations of colour and texture were then applied to the large drawings.