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Primary teaching resources

Our free, easy-to-use teaching resources help children aged 5 to 11 to look at the world from a humanitarian point of view.

These curriculum-linked activities, sessions and teaching packages are ideal for PSHE, citizenship, English, art, geography and informal learning time. They help primary learners develop empathy with others, learn to help others, develop their resilience and gain many other life skills.

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1 - 12 of 91 results

  • A photo taken from inside a car as a British Red Cross emergency response volunteer drives across a wintery landscape.

    Act of courage

    Age:

    11 - 16

    Type:

    Lesson plan

    Subjects:

    PSHE, Tutor time

    Topics:

    Newsthink, Disaster and emergencies

    Secondary PSHE discussion activity looking at what drives us to help others and the importance of personal safety while helping.

  • Understanding people’s experience of migration (ages 16-19)

    Age:

    16-19, ks4

    Type:

    Activities

    Subjects:

    PSHE, SMSC, Citizenship

    Topics:

    Kindness, Refugees and migration

    Teaching resource to help students develop empathy and understanding towards people with migration experience. Suitable for ages 16 to 19, key stage 4.

  • Two Spanish Red Cross responders walk through ankle-deep floods from torrential rain, as an older couple pump water into the flooded street from their doorway and another man passes by.

    Newsthink: Flash floods in Spain

    Age:

    10-19

    Type:

    Quick activity

    Subjects:

    PSHE, Tutor time

    Topics:

    Disasters and emergencies, Newsthink

    Teaching resource to help students explore how floods impact communities and how people come together after extreme weather events.

  • Sepia image of two World War I soldiers manning a machine gun in a trench piled high with sandbags, and a forest visible beyond.

    WWI: The Unknown Soldier

    Age:

    14-19

    Type:

    Lesson plan, video

    Subjects:

    Citizenship, drama, English, history, media studies

    Topics:

    Conflict

    Session plans exploring WWI and the humanitarian impact of armed conflict using an impactful film, shown from a WWI soldier's point of view.

  • A black and white historical photograph showing three young women medical volunteers in World War One nursing uniforms wearing white caps, aprons, and dresses with red cross symbols on the front.

    World War One: centenary resource

    Age:

    11-18

    Type:

    Teaching package

    Subjects:

    Citizenship, History

    Topics:

    Conflict

    Secondary citizenship and history teaching package highlighting remembrance, using the volunteer archive and source material from the First World War.

  • A Red Crescent worker speaks gently to a boy holding a relief sack in earthquake-hit Afghanistan, with damaged homes and mountains in the background.

    What is humanitarianism?

    Age:

    11-14

    Type:

    Lesson plan, videos

    Subjects:

    PSHE

    Topics:

    Humanitarianism and the Red Cross

    Secondary PSHE lesson plan exploring the concept of humanitarianism and what it means to be human.

  • Anxious teenage student holding her head while sitting an examination in a school hall with students writing at a row of desks in the background.

    Wellbeing activities: managing stress

    Age:

    7-18

    Type:

    Activities

    Subjects:

    PSHE

    Topics:

    kindness, home learning resources

    Educational activities for young people and children ages 7 to 18 to explore what personal resources they have to manage and understand stress and anxiety.

  • Illustration of a stylised cloud, lightning bolt and sun with the words ‘Weather Together’ in bold red and black blocks. Surrounding the title is a grid of illustrated diverse people. Bottom right corner features British Red Cross lettering.

    Weather Together resources

    Age:

    10-16

    Type:

    Teaching resources

    Subjects:

    PSHE, Geography, Tutor time

    Topics:

    Disasters and emergencies

    This British Red Cross environmental education resource includes weather activities to teach learners about extreme weather, eco-anxiety and heatwaves.

  • A refugee family walks past Turkish Red Crescent emergency relief lorries, part of the humanitarian aid operation supporting those affected by the conflict in Ukraine.

    Understanding peoples experience of migration

    Age:

    10-15, ks2, ks3.

    Type:

    Activities

    Subjects:

    PSHE, SMSC, Citizenship

    Topics:

    Kindness, Refugees and migration

    Teaching resource to help students develop empathy and understanding towards people with migration experience. Suitable for ages 10 to 16, key stage 2 to 4.

  • A Red Crescent flag and a Red Cross flag wave in the air on adjacent flag poles over Lake Geneva, framing the Jet d’Eau fountain in the middle, and a sunset in the background.

    The Red Cross emblem

    Age:

    11-16

    Type:

    Assembly

    Subjects:

    Citizenship, PSHE

    Topics:

    Humanitarianism and the Red Cross

    A PSHE and Citizenship or whole school role-play assembly exploring the meaning of the Red Cross emblem, especially in conflict situations.

  • An Afghani father holding his two toddlers

    The Afghanistan crisis

    Age:

    11-19

    Type:

    Quick activities

    Subjects:

    PSHE, Tutor time

    Topics:

    Conflict, Newsthink, Refugees and migration

    Secondary teaching resource exploring the 2021 Afghanistan crisis. Have conversations with students to examine humanitarian issues and their impact on people.

  • A group of young teenagers sit in a circle on the floor, having a serious conversation. One boy looks down while others listen or speak.

    Talking with young people about a major emergency

    Age:

    11-19

    Type:

    Lesson plan

    Subjects:

    Citizenship, PSHE

    Topics:

    Disasters and emergencies

    A PSHE lesson plan to support young people to discuss and explore their emotions following news of a major emergency.

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