The Queens Hat/Handbag Lesson Idea - Explore geography and learn about famous landmarks!

The Queen’s Hat is a tour of London. The Queen’s Handbag is a tour of the UK. Both books can provide fun and imaginative ways to introduce your class to some of London and the UK's most famous landmarks.

As part of your lesson you can learn some fun facts about each of these landmarks.

Below are a list of fun facts about each London landmark that features in The Queen’s Hat.

  • Buckingham Palace is the Queen's London home. It has 775 rooms. Its largest room is the Ballroom, which is big enough to hold eighty-four double-decker buses.

  • Trafalgar Square is one of the biggest squares in the world. It is home to four bronze lions and Nelson's Column.

  • The London Underground is the oldest underground railway in the world, and it covers 250 miles of track. Over three million journeys are made every day on the London Underground.

  • London Zoo is home to many animals, including lions, camels, giraffes, penguins, tigers, monkeys, and meerkats. Altogether, over 750 species of animals live there.

  • The London Eye is one of the world's largest Ferris wheels. With its thirty-two capsules, it provides a bird's-eye view of some of London's most-loved landmarks.

  • Tower Bridge crosses the Thames River, and it is close to the Tower of London. The world-famous bridge is crossed every day by over 40,000 people.

  • Big Ben is one of London's most iconic landmarks and the world's largest chiming clock with four faces. Big Ben first chimed on July 11, 1859.

  • Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens. It is the birthplace of Queen Victoria, and it continues to attract many tourists.

Older pupils might like to pick a landmark to draw and learn more about. Younger pupils can draw a landmark from the book (or even landmarks that aren't in the book) or paint soldiers on the landmarks, like in the photo at the top.

A brilliant picture from a pupil at Littleport Primary School.

A brilliant picture from a pupil at Littleport Primary School.

The same can be done for THE QUEEN'S HANDBAG, in which The Queen and thousands of police take an impromptu tour of the UNITED KINGDOM. Below is a list of all of the famous places that feature in The Queen's second adventure.

  • Windsor Castle

  • Stonehendge

  • White Cliffs of Dover

  • Oxford

  • Snowdonia

  • Giant's Causeway

  • Angel of the North

  • Edinburgh Castle

If you're feeling ambitious you can even create your own map of London or the UK to stick on the wall, which pupils can then attach their drawings to!

And if you really want to go the extra mile, you could even create your own animation, like this animation (below) by the children of Thomas' London Day School!

Sacred Heart School painted soldiers on the landmarks.

Sacred Heart School painted soldiers on the landmarks.

For more fun lesson ideas, press HERE.