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Stone Age to Iron Age Quiz: Free Printable Quiz for Year 3
- ForYear 3
- StageKey Stage 2
- CostFree
- FormatPrintable PDF
Stone Age to Iron Age Quiz is a free printable history quiz for Year 3 (ages 7 to 8) in Key Stage 2. It has seven multiple choice questions about early Britain, each with three answers to choose from. Children think about the order of the Ages, the materials people used, how they lived and some famous places.
It comes from the Mini Minds Hub, the free library of printables from Jaques of London, the British games and toy company that has been making games for families since 1795. The quiz is two A4 pages. Page 1 is for the child. Page 2 is for the grown up and has notes, help, a stretch idea and the answers. Black and white printing works well.
What is on the sheet
Children read seven questions about early Britain and choose one answer from three. The questions ask about the order of the Ages, materials and tools, how people found food, a famous village, a famous stone monument and a type of home. Nothing needs writing beyond marking an answer. It works well read aloud, so talk about every choice together.
- Which list is in the right order, oldest first?
- Bronze is made by mixing copper with which metal?
- Which rock did early people use to make sharp tools?
- What do we call people who hunt animals and gather wild plants?
- Skara Brae is a Stone Age village in which islands?
- In which English county is Stonehenge?
- What was a typical Iron Age home called?
Getting the most from the quiz
Read aloud together
Read each question and all three answers out loud. Hearing the choices helps children who read slowly, and it keeps the focus on thinking, not on decoding.
Talk about the wrong answers
Ask why each wrong answer does not fit. Explaining why something is wrong shows what a child really understands.
Use a timeline
Only one question is about the order of the Ages, but a simple timeline gives every question a place. Children can see where a tool, a village or a home belongs in the story.
Look for the real thing
After the quiz, look at pictures in books or on a museum website. Seeing real objects and places makes the answers easier to remember.
Learning about early Britain
Long before anyone in Britain wrote things down, people lived here, made tools, built homes and raised monuments. Historians call this time prehistory. The Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age are names for long stretches of it. Each name comes from a material that was important for making tools and other useful objects.
Because there are no written records from these times in Britain, we learn about them from what people left behind. Archaeologists dig carefully, record what they find and work out what it tells us. Tools, bones, pots and the remains of buildings are all clues. Children enjoy this because history becomes a kind of detective work.
Quick facts about early Britain
- The Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age are named after materials people used to make tools.
- Prehistory means the time before written records.
- Archaeologists learn about the past from objects and buildings that people left behind.
- Archaeologists record exactly where each find was buried, because the position is a clue.
- Some places from early Britain can still be visited today, and many objects are kept in museums.
Skills and curriculum link
- Chronology
- Recall
- Choosing answers
- Using history words
- Explaining a choice
Ideas to help you talk about it
- Names of the AgesEach Age is named after a material that people used for tools. Ask your child what they think a name might tell us about the time.
- EvidenceWe know about early Britain from objects and buildings that survive. Ask what a broken pot or a pile of old tools could tell us.
- Change over timePeople's lives changed slowly over very long periods. New materials and new skills led to new ways of living.
- Places to visitMuseums and heritage sites let children see real objects and places from early Britain. Look at photographs first if a visit is not possible.
Key words
- PrehistoryThe time before people in Britain wrote things down.
- ArchaeologistA person who finds out about the past by digging up and studying old objects and buildings.
- TimelineA line that shows events in the order they happened.
- SettlementA place where people live together, such as a village.
- ToolAn object that helps people do a job, such as cutting or digging.
- EvidenceSomething that helps us find out what is true. Old objects are evidence about the past.
How to use it
- Print both pages. Page 1 is for your child. Keep page 2, which has the answers and notes.
- Read each question aloud, then read all three answers. Let your child choose before you comment.
- Ask why the other two answers do not fit. Accept simple reasons and build on them.
- Check the answers together on page 2. Cover them until everyone has finished.
- Come back another day and try again. Repeating a familiar quiz builds confidence.
Help, stretch and game ideas
If it feels too hard
Show a simple timeline from a school book or the library and point to each Age as you name it. Then try the questions one at a time. Cover two answers, ask if the one left sounds right, then uncover the others.
To stretch confident children
Choose one Age and write three facts about it that were not in the quiz. Use library books or a museum website to find them. Then write one question of your own with three answers and test a friend or grown up.
Make it a game
Make a timeline on a long strip of paper and add drawings for each Age. Or turn the quiz into a team game. Teams take turns to answer, and must give a reason before the answer is checked.
Mistakes to watch for
Watch forA child picks the answer that sounds most familiar without reading the others.
Try thisRead all three answers aloud. Ask the child to say why each one does or does not fit the question.
Watch forA child mixes up which Age is earlier and which is later.
Try thisMake a timeline strip with a labelled box for each Age. Let the child move a small drawing or counter along it as they think.
Watch forA child misses small but important words in a question, such as "oldest first".
Try thisUnderline the key words in each question before choosing. Ask, "What is this question really asking?"
Talk about it
- Which question did you find easiest, and why?
- What do you think it was like to live in Britain a very long time ago?
- How do we know about people who never wrote anything down?
- If you were an archaeologist, what would you most like to find?
- Why do you think people kept looking for better materials to make things from?
- Which place or object from the quiz would you most like to see in real life?
Take it off the page
Draw a timeline
Fold a long strip of paper into sections. Label each section with an Age and draw a tool, a home or a place in each one.
Museum visit or virtual visit
Visit a local museum, or look at photographs of early objects online with a grown up. Ask the child to choose a favourite and describe it.
Be an archaeologist
An adult hides a few safe household objects in a tray of sand or soil. The child digs gently, brushes off each find and guesses what it was used for.
Who it is for
Parents
Sit beside your child for the first question, then let them lead. Read aloud, talk about each answer and keep it relaxed. If they are unsure, look at a timeline or a picture together.
Teachers
Use it as a starter, plenary, early finisher task or homework alongside your Stone Age to Iron Age topic. It needs no preparation beyond printing. Page 2 gives support and stretch ideas for mixed ability groups.
Home educators
Pair the quiz with library books, a museum visit or a drawn timeline. Repeat it a few weeks later for revision, or print it again for brothers and sisters.
Where this fits in history
Before this topic, children usually meet the idea that the past is different from today. They learn to put events in order and to talk about old and new. Simple timelines are a good way to build that sense of time.
After this topic, children in Key Stage 2 go on to study later periods in British history, such as Roman Britain and the Anglo Saxons. The skills practised here carry forward: using evidence, placing events in order and explaining reasons.
Questions parents and teachers ask
- What age is Stone Age to Iron Age Quiz for?
It is written for Year 3 (ages 7 to 8), in Key Stage 2. Younger children can try it with a grown up reading aloud, and older children can use it as quick revision.
- What will children practise?
Children recall changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, which is part of Key Stage 2 history. They also practise chronology and choosing the best answer from three.
- How do I use it?
Read each question aloud, then talk about why the wrong answers do not fit. Do the first go together, check against page 2, and come back to it another day.
- What if it feels too hard?
Look at a simple timeline first and point to each Age as you name it. Then take the questions one at a time, covering two answers and uncovering the others later.
- Is it free?
Yes. It is free to print for home and classroom use. You can print it again for brothers, sisters or revision.
- Is it a screen free activity that teachers can use in class?
Yes to both. It needs only paper and a pencil. Teachers can use it as a starter, plenary, early finisher task, homework or table activity, with no preparation beyond printing.
- Do I need to print in colour?
No. It prints well in black and white on plain A4 paper. Print both pages, give page 1 to your child and keep page 2 for yourself.
Preview the full PDF
Made by Jaques of London, making games for families since 1795. A printable supports classroom learning and does not replace a teacher.