This theme shows us that magic, religion, superstition and science have always existed together, and were only separated in Europe in the last few centuries. In today’s approach to medicine, state of mind and belief can have a significant influence on an individual’s physical health. 

Watch our Visitor Experience Assistant Jessica talk about these wooden spiked sandals from our collections. These sandals originate from India and were worn to demonstrate religious devotion. 

Use the information and activity sheets to explore more deeply into the object’s history and health links. Both sheets are differentiated to three levels of ability for Year 9 History students. 

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/9e41be92-6721-4d6b-bcd4-51f4ada3f030_Health+and+belief+in+the+early+20th+century.png?auto=compress,format

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/944443b8-fa8f-42b7-9e44-be0941c6752d_EP_000497_036_Full.jpg?auto=compress,format

Camden Summer University project run by the Youth Programme at Wellcome Collection

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/944443b8-fa8f-42b7-9e44-be0941c6752d_EP_000497_036_Full.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,4000,2250&w=3200&h=1800

Themed thinking

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/9e41be92-6721-4d6b-bcd4-51f4ada3f030_Health+and+belief+in+the+early+20th+century.png?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,2560,1440&w=3200&h=1800

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Fakir’s sandals

Watch our Visitor Experience Assistant Lewis talk about these small charms from our collections. Soldiers took with them to the battlefields of the First World War in the hope they’d give them protection from death and disease.

Use the information and activity sheets to explore the object’s history and health links more deeply. Both sheets are differentiated to three levels of ability for Year 9 History students.

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/203423cf-aefb-46f0-b11e-e29b35345a11_yp-resources-goodluckcharms.jpg?auto=compress,format

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/203423cf-aefb-46f0-b11e-e29b35345a11_yp-resources-goodluckcharms.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1920,1080&w=3200&h=1800

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Good-luck charms

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Good luck charms

Watch our Visitor Experience Assistant Elissavet talk about this glass necklace amulet from our collections. This object helps us explore ideas around the protective qualities of objects and how this can link to good health.

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/75b2427b-18a0-4cb6-936b-9a23047f34ea_yp-resources-evileye.jpg?auto=compress,format

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/75b2427b-18a0-4cb6-936b-9a23047f34ea_yp-resources-evileye.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1920,1080&w=3200&h=1800

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Evil-eye amulet necklace

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Evil Eye amulet necklace

This theme reveals different cultures’ approaches to managing health and recovery in the time of the First World War.

Watch our Visitor Experience Assistants Daniela and Isobel talk about this prosthetic arm from our collections. It was created for an injured soldier after the First World War.

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/b3b6fb35-81c4-455c-ae53-7ef67402a685_yp-resources-prosthetic.jpg?auto=compress,format

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/b3b6fb35-81c4-455c-ae53-7ef67402a685_yp-resources-prosthetic.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1920,1080&w=3200&h=1800

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Prosthetic limb

Treatment and Rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Prosthetic limbs

Watch our Visitor Experience Assistant Rachel talk about this painting showing a battlefield-hospital scene from our collections. This object helps us explore the idea of shell shock.

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/217e8fc9-4de3-47b1-930c-42bdb276b524_yp-resources-verdun.jpg?auto=compress,format

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/217e8fc9-4de3-47b1-930c-42bdb276b524_yp-resources-verdun.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1920,1080&w=3200&h=1800

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: A French underground hospital at Verdun

Treatment and Rehabilitation in the early 20th century: A French underground hospital at Verdun

This theme reveals different cultures’ approaches to managing health and recovery in the time of the First World War. 

Watch our Visitor Experience Assistants Hannah and Becky talk about this carved wooden figure from our collections, exploring its close connection with health, physicality and spirituality.

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/4bbf1657-f9be-400b-b6e8-84bfb8a4618f_yp-resources-kareau.jpg?auto=compress,format

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/4bbf1657-f9be-400b-b6e8-84bfb8a4618f_yp-resources-kareau.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,1920,1080&w=3200&h=1800

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Kareau figure

Treatment and Rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Kareau figure

Learning resources

Object-based activities for Key Stage 3 History students

This suite of student history resources focuses on three sets of objects in our permanent collections, linked by a curriculum theme.

Year 9 students can watch short videos about objects, read through differentiated object-information sheets and then tackle linked responsive activities. 

Teachers can choose which resource type works best for their students if they don’t want to work through all of them.

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/4a0ac21a-6a02-4aa5-95c0-4367e42650f6_EP_000497_032.jpg?auto=compress,format

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection/4a0ac21a-6a02-4aa5-95c0-4367e42650f6_EP_000497_032.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,4000,2250&w=3200&h=1800

Galleries and Reading Room

Café

Shop

Library

Our galleries are quietest on weekdays and weekend mornings. At busy times, particularly on Saturdays, you may need to queue for our temporary exhibitions.

We’re undertaking some research with website visitors to learn more about how people find access-related information provided by museums. This survey shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

Help us organize our website content.

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection%2F54279ef9-18ab-4834-bccb-ec91c426ea0b_c0134559.jpg?auto=compress,format

We’ve created a range of activities based around recordings of our public events as enriching resources for your post-16-year-old students. Each resource includes activity sheets for the relevant subject area and focuses students on a specific section of the recorded event (around 8 to 15 minutes long). The activities are designed to challenge A level Biology, Art, Sociology or Psychology, or BTEC Health and Social Care students. 

Teachers and students can find A-level activities for Biology based on Joycelyn Longdon’s presentation about her work as an activist and researcher on environmental issues surrounding climate change.

This activity sheet contains event recording links and three student tasks focusing on ecosystems, species extinction and AI, and biotechnology.

This activity sheet contains event recording links and three student tasks focusing on infographics as an artistic communication method, an inspiration and creation task, and artist analysis in the form of a presentation.

This activity sheet contains event recording links and four student tasks focusing on race, identity and difference feminism, the social responsibility of wealthy societies for climate change, a documentary task on climate and race, and a curriculum-mapping task.

This activity sheet contains event recording links and three student tasks focusing on the psychology of conservation behaviours, protest and environmental change, and student knowledge and application of different psychological approaches.

Young People, Mental Health and Recipes for Self-care

This activity sheet focuses on an animated poem called ‘Something New’, about a creative research programme, written and read by Koleka Putuma, with illustrations by Ivyy Chen. It explores and illustrates the coping activities young people used to manage the challenges of the spring 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. It contains event recording links and three student tasks focusing on artist research, a found objects group sculpture task, and a poetry and illustration task.

BTEC level 3 Health and Social Care, unit 11, ‘Psychological Perspectives’

This activity sheet focuses on a clip in which Wellcome’s Mental Health research team presents an intervention programme called ‘The Active Ingredients’. It contains event recording links and three student tasks focusing on psychological perspectives. Tasks include an analysis that demonstrates an understanding of anxiety and depression, medication as a viable treatment option, and a research task on psychological approaches.

BTEC level 3 Health and Social Care, unit 4, ‘Enquiries into Current Research in Health and Social Care’

This activity sheet focuses on a clip in which Wellcome’s Mental Health Research team presents an intervention programme called ‘The Active Ingredients’. It contains event recording links and three student tasks focusing on current research enquiries. Tasks include communicating research approaches and public engagement, analysis of a mental health research intervention, and creating a research plan.

Supporting Ourselves While Supporting Our Communities

These activity sheets focus on a conversation between climate activist Daze Aghaji and writer and podcaster Natasha Lipman as they reflect on their recent experiences of balancing personal wellbeing with supporting their communities.

This activity sheet contains event recording links and four student tasks focusing on social and cultural construction, online behaviours and society, the experience of the chronically ill and creating a research plan.

This activity sheet contains event recording links and three student tasks focusing on personal identity online, theories of positivism, behaviourism and psychoanalysis in relation to social media and student knowledge, and application of the theories of psychology.

Happiness exhibition artist interview films

These A level Art and Photography activity sheets focus on four interviews with artists who contributed work to our Tranquillity and Joy exhibitions. Amalia Pica, Jasleen Kaur, Stefanie Posavec and Chrystel Lebas all discuss how their work highlights different aspects of the emotion Happiness.

This activity sheet contains interview recording, exhibition background and event links. These are followed by three student tasks focusing on creative transformation, paired experimental communication and research into performance art. 

This activity sheet contains interview recording, exhibition background and event links. These are followed by three student tasks focusing on visualising emotional states, and two linked activities on the theme of cultural appropriation. 

This activity sheet contains interview recording and exhibition background and event links. These are followed by three student tasks focusing on data and creativity, art-themed research, and collage. 

This activity sheet contains interview recording, exhibition background and event links. These are followed by four student tasks focusing on photographer research, object-based photography, photographic technique and personal reflection. 

A workshop at Wellcome Collection

https://images.prismic.io/wellcomecollection%2F54279ef9-18ab-4834-bccb-ec91c426ea0b_c0134559.jpg?auto=compress,format&rect=0,0,4000,2250&w=3200&h=1800

Wellcome uses cookies.

Themed thinking

Object-based activities for Key Stage 3 History students

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Fakir’s sandals

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Good-luck charms

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Evil-eye amulet necklace

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Prosthetic limb

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: A French underground hospital at Verdun

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Kareau figure

More from Learning resources

Enrich your studies

Wellcome uses cookies.

Themed thinking

Object-based activities for Key Stage 3 History students

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Fakir’s sandals

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Good-luck charms

Health and belief in the early 20th century: Evil-eye amulet necklace

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Prosthetic limb

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: A French underground hospital at Verdun

Treatment and rehabilitation in the early 20th century: Kareau figure

More from Learning resources

Enrich your studies

Stay in the know