Way Back When… Bicycles

Way Back When… Bicycles is an Early Years mini–history project exploring how bicycles have changed over time. Children investigate early walking bikes, boneshakers, Penny Farthings, tricycles, sociable bikes and modern safety bicycles, building a timeline to understand past and present. Through hands-on activities, wacky wheel experiments, junk-modelling vehicles, bike workshops, role-play, songs, movement, stories and practical exploration of real bikes, children learn about forces, materials, safety, invention and transport history. The unit develops observation, comparison, vocabulary, creativity and curiosity, encouraging children to become “young historians” while exploring wheels, motion and innovation.