On August 3, 1914, Germany declared war on France leading Britain to declare war on Germany the following day.  With many events planned throughout the year to commemorate the start of the First World War it’s natural for any budding young historian to be interested in finding out more about the global war that centred in Europe.

Claiming the lives of more than 16 million people, the huge sacrifice the world paid to restore peace is certainly one we don’t want future generations to forget.

“The war to end all wars” may be a topic your children have been discussing at school but there are also many downloadable resources available on the internet to help you approach the subject with your children at home.

On her blog Jimmie’s Collage, the American home schooling mom shared a World War 1 Notebook or Lapbook project she completed with her daughter in 2010.  As well as suggestions of helpful books, Jimmie also provides links to other online sources including worksheets from Schoolhistory.co.uk and maps from Teacheroz.com – and if all those ideas don’t sate your child’s interest there’s plenty more useful links provided be fellow readers in the comments section.

A Word Mat, Key Topic Word Poster, Mising Vowels Worksheet, Christmas Truce Worksheet and Acrostic Poem Sheet are just some of the printables available on teaching resource website Primary Treasure Chest.

Fellow teaching resource website, Teaching Ideas includes a download entitled Dogs in War – “Learn about the key topics in World Wars I and II by highlighting the ways in which the military and governments on both sides made use of man’s best friend” – as well as several strong visual printables including a World War One banner, The Great War banner, display letters, image pack and fact cards.

Free history information website History on the Net, that “provides easily accessible information on a range of historical topics”, includes wordsearches, crosswords, newspaper sheets, matching exercises and many other worksheets on the period.

And Dead Chicken Hat, which offers “Hands-on History for Schools” through curriculum-linked themed costume days to help put history in context for KS1 and KS2 students also offers lots of interesting activities on its website including four World War One colouring sheets featuring officers, a soldier, a Prussian officer’s helmet and a scene from the trenches.

Do you love finding printables on the internet?  Do you have any particular favourites?  Or have you featured some on your own blog?  Email karen.malpass @ inkfactory.com with your links and we may be able to feature them in a future post.