Teaching Resources
This history isn’t currently taught in Manx schools. These materials are designed to help change that — resources that teachers can use in the classroom and parents can use at home.
All materials are free to download and use for educational purposes.
Key Stage 2 (Ages 7–11)
Activities for upper primary, suitable for themed projects and cross-curricular work. The focus is on the world that existed — ships, trade, Tynwald, daily life — rather than the constitutional complexity of what Parliament did.
The Smuggling Ship Challenge
Design a Manx lugger. Build a craft to carry cargo (an egg!) safely across the "sea." Includes design brief, historical background, and extension activities.
Find the Hidden Cargo
A hidden object puzzle. The customs cutter is approaching — can you find all the contraband hidden aboard the ship before the officers board?
Maps and Cargoes
Where did the ships go? What did they carry? Trade routes across the Irish Sea, ports to label, cargoes to match.
Tynwald Hill
Colouring sheets and labelling activities. The four tiers, the ceremony, the flags. The parliament that still meets every July.
The Manx Lugger
Colour and label a traditional Manx sailing vessel. Parts of the ship, the rigging, the sails.
The Three Legs of Mann
What does the symbol mean? Where did it come from? Design your own coat of arms.
Life on Mann
Fishing, farming, the herring fleet. What did people eat, wear, do? Diary-writing prompts and daily life activities.
Key Stage 3 (Ages 11–14)
Materials for secondary history classes. These resources engage with the real history — the constitutional questions, the primary sources, the human cost. Students can handle the complexity; these materials help them access it.
The Running Trade
Why did smuggling happen? The economics, the risks, the people involved. Primary source extracts and discussion questions.
The Revestment: What Parliament Did
The Act of 1765. The garrison. The consequences. Document study with guided questions.
Voices from the Island
The Keys' petition of 1771. Witness testimony from 1792. "Write a letter as if you were..." — empathy exercises grounded in primary sources.
The Aftermath
Population decline. Emigration. Language death. Working with historical data — census figures, revenue tables, the numbers that tell the story.
Source Evaluation
Comparing primary and secondary sources. Governor Wood says troops came "not to oppress." The Keys say people are "reduced to Despair." Who do you believe? Why?
For Teachers
These materials are designed to be flexible. Use them as standalone activities, as part of a larger unit on local history, or as cross-curricular resources linking history with literacy, geography, art, and design technology.
All PDFs can be shared via Google Classroom, Teams, or printed for classroom use.
If you use these materials in your school, we’d love to hear about it. Feedback helps us improve the resources and understand what teachers need.
For Parents
Rainy half-term? Looking for something educational that isn’t a screen? These activities work at home too. Build a smuggling ship in the garden. Colour Tynwald Hill at the kitchen table. Learn something about where you live — history that most of us never learned ourselves.