Roman market (KS1 or KS2)

Shopping in a Roman town
We were studying 'The way of life of people who lived in the more distant past in Britain'.

Roman market, Exeter

The whole unit was focused on enactive learning - learning by doing. Over the ten weeks the children handled Roman artefacts, built a Roman road, and created Roman baths and a Roman market. They loved it. Parents reported that all their children talked about was the Romans, and were amazed at how much they knew about Roman life.

Town markets were a central aspect of life in Roman Britain, so to end our term's work on the Romans we decided to stage a Roman market. Through this activity the children could begin to answer such questions as: How did people shop in a Roman town?

How did they dress? What was Roman food like? Where did they buy it? Through enacting a day at the market, the children could experience a different shopping pattern from our supermarket-dominated one today.

We were teaching a Reception / Year 1 class. The shopping/market approach can be used for any period of history and adapted for any age group. When we staged a Roman market with Year 3 children at a different school, we incorporated numeracy - the children had to price their goods in Roman asses, sestertii and denarii. (The British Museum's The Romans activity book gives a guide to Roman money and realistic pricing.)

by Jacqui Dean

Roman goods