Using Artefacts in RE

These pictures show the use of artefacts within the teaching of Religious Education. Although it is great to see pictures of these items, throughout the school, the children have been able to gain a better understanding of how artefacts play a key role in religious practices by getting to grips with and studying the physical items.

Learning about Eid al-Fitr in Nursery

The Nursery children watched a video and spoke about the Islamic celebration – Eid al-fitr. As part fo this they looked closely at some Islamic artefacts, talked about what they are used for and whether anyone had them at home. This sparked interest and led to discussion about their own individual celebrations and routines (e.g. – Christmas, saying prayers at bedtime).

Passover in Year 1

In Year 1, whilst studying Judaism, the children looked at the Jewish festival of Passover. As part of this learning, the children were able to look at a real Seder plate and learn how it contains symbolic foods that are eaten or displayed at the Passover Seder. They used this physical artefact to label a Seder plate drawing. This child has shown their understanding of what each item of food represents in the retelling of the Passover story. In this lesson, the children were also able to use the artefact to act out being in a Passover celebration.

Buddhism in Year 4

The Year 4 children built on their learning of Buddhism by learning about Buddhist worship. In this lesson, the children walked around the classroom where they were provided with a mixture of pictures and physical artefacts that are commonly used in Buddhist worship (e.g. – candles and prayer wheels). They took photos of these items and matched them with the explanations of what they represent and why they are used.

Artefacts in Worship in Year 6

In Year 6, the children built on their learning of artefacts used in Buddhist worship by looking at worship across various faiths and were able to look at artefacts used in worship. They used this to learn that although the artefacts may be different, many of the world religions use similar forms of worship. Being able to look at the Christian cross, Jewish Shabbat Kiddush cup and the statue of the Buddha as examples of worship-related artefacts allowed the children to understand the focus and guidance these artefacts give to worshippers and relate this to themselves.