## Please note We are refreshing our teaching resources and regularly adding new and updated ones. All of our old resources are permanently available in the [UK Government Web Archive](https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20260828114052/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/). Dismiss notification Teaching resource # What can we learn from old board games? The board games used in this lesson are very interesting as historical sources as they can reveal something about the society that made them. Use this resource to find out if the design of a board game can tell us anything about life in the past. Age ranges : Key stage 2 (Ages 7–11) : Key stage 3 (Ages 11–14) ![Illustration of a man and a woman in Victorian dress. The man holds a spoon and grimaces. The woman is pointing at him with a happy expression.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Sugar_and_Salt_board_game.2e16d0ba.fill-900x600.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) About this image Box lid for a game called ‘Sugar and Salt’, 1898, Catalogue reference: COPY 1/142/i/226 ## About this resource ### Time periods * Industrial revolution (1750–1901) * Early Twentieth Century (1901–1945) ### Theme * Family, community and everyday life ## On this page * [Enquiry question](#enquiry-question) * [Sources overview](#sources-overview) * [Investigate the sources](#investigate-the-sources) * [Source 1](#teaching-resource-source-1) * [Source 2](#teaching-resource-source-2) * [Source 3](#teaching-resource-source-3) * [Source 4](#teaching-resource-source-4) * [Source 5](#teaching-resource-source-5) * [Source 6](#teaching-resource-source-6) * [Source 7](#teaching-resource-source-7) * [Source 8](#teaching-resource-source-8) * [Teachers’ notes](#teachers-notes) * [Extension activities](#extension-activities) * [Background information](#background-information) * [Further information](#further-information) * [Download all sources](#download) ## Enquiry question Do we enjoy similar games? ## Sources overview Select a source to view it in more detail. 1. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/The_C9mdBEC.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 1: The Little Teacher, 1908](#teaching-resource-source-1) 2. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Roy_JBMXQoO.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 2: Royal Coronation, 1901](#teaching-resource-source-2) 3. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/ups.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 3: Ups and Downs of Life, 1899](#teaching-resource-source-3) 4. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Owb.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 4: Scout Equipment game, 1912](#teaching-resource-source-4) 5. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/The_L6hsaYO.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 5: The Merry Anglers’ Board game, 1904](#teaching-resource-source-5) 6. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Noa.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 6: Noah’s Ark board game, 1908](#teaching-resource-source-6) 7. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Rai_NQiFdIo.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 7: Railway Bookstall game, 1908](#teaching-resource-source-7) 8. [![](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Sug.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Jump to source 8: Sugar and Salt, 1898](#teaching-resource-source-8) ## Investigate the sources 1. ### Source 1: The Little Teacher, 1908 1. ![An illustration of five young children in Victorian dress playing at school. The oldest looking child has a teacher's cap and a book teaching the alphabet. A child with a slate places a dunce cap on a doll.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/The_C9mdBEC.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Toggle transcript The Little Teacher Let's play at school. Box lid for a game called ‘The Little Teacher’, 1908. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/275 f225 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 1: The Little Teacher, 1908"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/40c9131b-a51e-4d3f-9e8c-c306300ed02f/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 1: The Little Teacher, 1908"](/media/images/The_C9mdBEC.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at the source * What is this game called? * How does the picture tell you what the game is about? * From looking at the picture, how were children taught at that time? Is this different from how you learn in school? * What other information does the picture give us about life in 1908? * We do not have a board design for this game. Can you suggest how this game could be played? * Do you think this game would be popular with children and parents or guardians? Explain why. 2. ### Source 2: Royal Coronation, 1901 Queen Victoria died in 1901 after a reign of 64 years. Her eldest son, Edward, was crowned as King Edward VII at the age of 59. His wife Alexandra also became Queen. A coronation is a special ceremony when a king or queen received the crown. They were also given the orb (a globe with a cross on it) and a sceptre (a staff or wand) held in the hand. All these objects represented the power and authority of the new king or queen. 1. ![Board game with an image of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in the centre. Images of people in different places sit around the edges of the game, labelled: England, Australia, Wales, Africa, Ireland, India, Scotland, Canada.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Roy_JBMXQoO.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Board for a board game called Royal Coronation: The game for all true Britons, 1901. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/180 f247 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 2: Royal Coronation, 1901"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/f866af18-b48f-4df9-b138-184e0f1f712b/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 2: Royal Coronation, 1901"](/media/images/Roy_JBMXQoO.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at the source * Can you describe the picture in the centre of the board? * Look at the pictures around the edges of the board. Make a list of all the places you see. * Why do you think these places are included? (Clue: Check the name of the board game again, and discuss with a friend or helper) * Why do you think the game has the British flag pictured on the board? * How do you think this game was played? * Why do you think it was called ‘Royal Coronation: The game for all true Britons’? * Why do you think this game was made? (Clue: Find out the meaning of the word souvenir) 3. ### Source 3: Ups and Downs of Life, 1899 1. ![Board game cover showing a young newly-wed couple coming out of a carriage next to an old man with a dog.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/ups.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Box lid for a game called Ups and Downs of Life: A capital game for young and Old, 1899. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/146 f17 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 3a: Ups and Downs of Life, 1899"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/d25dca5a-a892-4d8a-a6c5-4eca7d79d932/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 3a: Ups and Downs of Life, 1899"](/media/images/ups.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) 2. ![A game with a chequered surface of red and blue squares. Intermittent squares show illustrations of people doing different activities including ‘biking’, ‘get caned’, and ‘attend a ball’.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/ups_M8wdwg6.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Board for Ups and Downs of Life. [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 3b: Ups and Downs of Life, 1899"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/16f96fe7-4df7-419f-a349-985ba1d9516d/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 3b: Ups and Downs of Life, 1899"](/media/images/ups_M8wdwg6.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at source 3a * What is the name of this game? * What can you see in the picture? * How does the picture help you understand what the game is about? * Who is meant to play this game? * How does the picture try to persuade you to want to play it? #### Look at source 3b * Look at the board, how do you think you would play this game? * What do you think the rules could be? * What can we learn about the following in Victorian times? + Fun and entertainment + Travel and transport + Marriage + School punishment + Clothing * What does the game suggest is the main ‘up’ or goal of life? * What are some of the ‘downs’? * Do you think these ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ are similar or different for us today? * Discuss with a friend or helper what other sources would help you to find more about Victorian entertainment and leisure. 4. ### Source 4: Scout Equipment game, 1912 This is a different sort of game. It is interesting because it was made by a company that sold cough syrup. The makers have included their name in the title of the game. The game is based on the Scouts, an organisation that started five years before. 1. ![Game in which one half has different faces and clothing that can be cut out, and the second half has a wheel and two empty figures.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Owb.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Toggle transcript OWBRIDGE’S SCOUTS EQUIPMENT GAME INSTRUCTIONS: A game for two players. First carefully cut out the pieces forming the two figures of the boy scouts. Each player in turn spins the disc which indicates the piece he is to lay on the plain outline of the scout, but he must start with the Hat and place each succeeding piece to touch the last; for instance, should the indicator point to boots, before the stockings are laid on the figure the player forfeits that turn. The player who completes the equipment of his scout first, wins the game. OWBRIDGE’S LUNG TONIC FOR COUGHS FOR COLDS Owbridge’s Scout Equipment game, 1912. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/321 f343 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 4: Scout Equipment game, 1912"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/b1a26bc0-fde5-4b01-bc61-15cbe52c4b9a/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 4: Scout Equipment game, 1912"](/media/images/Owb.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at the source * This game includes instructions. Can you make them into a simple list that explains the rules? * Can you explain how Owbridge is trying to sell or advertise their lung syrup (cough or cold mixture) in the game? * Why do you think they chose to show their product in this game? * What does this game tell us about life in the 1900s? * If you made a similar game based on clothing or a uniform what would you choose? 5. ### Source 5: The Merry Anglers’ Board game, 1904 1. ![Board game in which a winding trail goes all around the board. It looks like a river and has images of different fish along the way.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/The_L6hsaYO.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) The Merry Anglers’ Board game, 1904. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/218 f309 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 5: The Merry Anglers’ Board game, 1904"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/b3fed7e4-fc7a-4407-afe3-780dab36c4c1/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 5: The Merry Anglers’ Board game, 1904"](/media/images/The_L6hsaYO.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at the source * What is this game called? * Can you work out the meaning of the word ‘angler’? * How many different types of fish can you see on the board? * Look at the bottom left-hand corner of the board. Now can you work how this game was played? * What school subjects could this game be trying to teach children who might have played it? * What do you think of the design of the game? * Do you think people would play this game today? 6. ### Source 6: Noah’s Ark board game, 1908 1. ![Board game in which a winding trail goes from a stormy sea up a hill and mountain to end at Noah’s Ark. The text ‘Animals start here’ is at the bottom of the trail.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Noa.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Noah’s Ark board game, 1908. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/270 f153 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 6: Noah’s Ark board game, 1908"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/b9a07312-830a-46f4-9954-4e7c5b7ef8d2/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 6: Noah’s Ark board game, 1908"](/media/images/Noa.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at the source * Have you heard about the story of Noah’s Ark? Try and find out or ask your teacher or helper. * Look at the board for this game, how do you think it would be played? * Why do you think this game is based on the story of Noah’s Ark? * Do you think that people would play this game today? 7. ### Source 7: Railway Bookstall game, 1908 This is the lid of a children’s game that is not a board game. 1. ![Illustration of an open box filled with books, newspapers, and magazines.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Rai_NQiFdIo.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Toggle transcript The Railway Bookstall The Children’s New Game of Shop Complete with model copies of the principal Newspapers Magazines Weekly papers Novels Money Show bills Pot of Stickphast’s for Billposting Railway Bookstall game, 1908. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/274 f141 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 7: Railway Bookstall game, 1908"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/56a30008-bba8-42e0-a4f3-ac6612d38009/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 7: Railway Bookstall game, 1908"](/media/images/Rai_NQiFdIo.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at the source * What is this game called? * How can you work out what is inside the box? * How would children play this game? * Does this game reveal anything about what people enjoyed reading or were interested in? * Is the game trying to teach children anything? * Would children play this sort of game today? 8. ### Source 8: Sugar and Salt, 1898 This is an example of a game where we only have the design from the lid and we don't know how it would have been played. Perhaps you can work it out. 1. ![Illustration of a man and a woman in Victorian dress. The man holds a spoon and grimaces. The woman is pointing at him with a happy expression.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/Sug.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Toggle transcript Sugar & Salt Across the mountains to Klondyke A side-splitting game for all ages. Box lid for a game called Sugar and Salt, 1898. Catalogue reference: COPY 1/142/i/226 [Image details for "What can we learn from old board games?, source 8: Sugar and Salt, 1898"](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/image/2068b678-a6f7-4372-80b1-8eb82044322c/) | [Download image: "What can we learn from old board games?, source 8: Sugar and Salt, 1898"](/media/images/Sug.max-1200x1200.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) #### Look at the source * What do you think this game could be about? * What does Klondyke refer to? * How might the game be played? * How and why would people find it funny? ## Teachers’ notes Old board games are perhaps not typical historical sources. However, they are examples of our material culture that can help pupils understand past societies by allowing them to examine the objects that have been generated by those societies. Appreciation of material culture also widens pupils’ perception of the sheer range of historical sources we can engage with when trying to find out about the past. This lesson could be used as part of a study following with the National Curriculum Key Stage 2 theme on the history of leisure and entertainment. We have included some games with their box lid designs. In some cases, only the board design exists. In other cases, only its box lid. When we only have the lid, we do not know how a game would have been played! This true of the game shown here, ‘Sugar and Salt: Across the Mountains to Klondyke, a side-splitting game for all ages’ (1898). Perhaps we can only conclude that the game is based on the Klondike Gold Rush 1896-1899, the biggest gold rush in Canadian history. Gold was found in the Yukon River in North West Canada on the Alaskan border, causing a rush of over 100,000 miners looking for gold. Maybe this game was a race to cross the mountains to find gold, with hazards and wins on the way – sugar and salt! The wide selection of games used in this lesson means that pupils could be broken up into small groups or pairs to work on one game, then report back to the class on their particular game. Some games are less complex than others and so this could also allow for differentiation. ### Connections to the curriculum #### Key stage 2 (Ages 7–11) Changes in an aspect of social history, such as crime and punishment from the Anglo-Saxons to the present, or leisure and entertainment in the 20th century. #### Key stage 3 (Ages 11–14) Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901. ## Extension activities * Compare the board games in this lesson to other board games in the past such as Tudor Backgammon, Nine Men’s Morris or Chess for the Anglo Saxons. * Design a class board game based on a race to a particular destination for players using local route near you (a walk to school, or park, part of your town or historic site).  According to what square you land on, your journey could face hazards, an instruction to move backwards e.g. getting stuck in traffic, or find something blocking the route. Instructions to move forward could feature on a square, e.g. an offer of a lift from a friend*.* * Find out about Victorian and Edwardian toys and games, for example: spillikins, ‘Ring Taw’ marble game, dolls and doll’s houses, zoetrope, hoops, spinning tops and jack-in-the boxes. Compare these toys and games to those of today. What are the similarities and differences? ## Background information ### An enduring pastime According to the Guardian newspaper in April 2020, ‘sales of board games and jigsaw puzzles soared 240%’ in the first week of lockdown against COVID-19. Clearly, they offered a great way for families to spend time together at home. Similarly, Victorians and Edwardians enjoyed board games and were familiar with games like chess, backgammon and draughts. Another traditional board game, Ludo, which originated from India in the 6th century known as pachisi, came to Britain in 1891, patented by Alfred Collier. A form of ‘Monopoly’ called the ‘Landlord’s Game’ was invented in 1903, and later became ‘Monopoly’ when copyrighted by Parker Brothers in 1935, then Hasbro in 1991. Board games were highly valued as a form of entertainment for Victorian or Edwardian children as they were not too physical or noisy, allowing them to be ‘seen and not heard’. They could be played at home with the whole family or a group of children under the watchful eye of a parent or governess. They offered a change from the usual ‘parlour games’ that the Victorians favoured such as ‘Charades’ or ‘Pin the tail on the donkey’. ### Board games in the Archives Many board games, not on sale today, were devised in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and some of their designs are held at The National Archives. The board games used in this lesson are very interesting as historical sources as they can reveal something about the society that made them. ### Marriage goals Family and marriage were highly valued by the Victorians, and board games based on the end goal of marriage were not unusual. For example, in a board game called ‘Maricout’ (1882) players had to move around the board facing a range of setbacks during courtship. It emphasised Victorian values rewarding players who landed on squares holding specific virtues, including honesty and humility and highlighted the importance of acquiring, wealth and status in society – epitomised by the acquisition of carriages and servants. Another game called ‘The New Game of Married First or Wedding Bells’ (1904) followed a similar approach. ### Games for education and moral instruction Edwardian board games were often educational and covered topics like history, science or geography. There were games based on the life of Dick Turpin: ‘The Game of Dick Turpin’s ride to York’ (1904), or the ‘Game of Scouts’ (1909), the ‘Boer War Game’ (1900) or even one called the ‘Game of Lord Gordon-Kitchener’ (1900). There was a somewhat tasteless game about the Titanic entitled: ‘The new game across the Atlantic, from Liverpool to New York without touching icebergs’ (1912). Some games signalled moral values such as good behaviour, for example ‘The Little Teacher game’ (1908) and the importance of work. The game of ‘Temperanzo’ (1909) was designed to warn against the perils of drink and the importance of taking the pledge for adults. Children could play at shops with ‘The Play Town Post Office game’ (1909) or with ‘the Railway Bookstall game’ (1908). Other games were based upon nursery rhymes or fairy tales where the winner triumphed over evil characters during the course of the game, such as the ‘Enchanted Forest’ (1911). ### Manufacturers’ innovations New printing techniques meant companies could produce a wide range of board games fairly cheaply. The games were often very colourful and highly illustrated to make them appear more attractive to children. Sometimes instructions were printed on the board itself. The designs often involved a race with other players along a circuit or path in some shape or form. Counters or buttons were used to move along the board. The number of moves was determined by teetotum or spinning top marked with letters or numbers to show the result of each spin. Dice were not often favoured as they were associated with gambling. Some games incorporated hazards or rewards, like in ‘Snakes and Ladders’ when players were sent backwards or forwards. In more sophisticated games, the players picked up cards that aided or impeded their progress in terms of ‘disasters’ or ‘windfalls’ according to the theme of the game. ## Further information In pictures ### [Tom Smith’s Christmas crackers](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-collection/explore-by-topic/arts-and-culture/tom-smiths-christmas-crackers/) ![Six children of differing ages dance around a Christmas tree.](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/media/images/copy1-259-pt2-183-to_bcV2sHF.abf138cf.fill-600x400.format-jpeg.jpegquality-60.bgcolor-fff.jpg) Confectioner Tom Smith invented the first Christmas cracker in the 1840s. These box labels show how he used popular themes to sell more crackers. 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