Creativity in the Classroom: Caesar’s Footsteps

Welcome to our Creativity in the Classroom series! In this series, we share some of our favourite activities, games and challenges to stimulate creative learning on curriculum topics. All ideas come from our online teaching resource, Uno. To find even more engaging activities and interactive videos, visit the Uno website and sign up for your free trial!  

We love Roman workshops here at One Day Creative. In fact, our Ancient Rome workshop for KS2/P4-7 was one of the very first we filmed and uploaded to our online teaching resource, Uno!

From amazing architecture to legendary warriors, the Roman history topic is jam-packed with fascinating facts. Today, we want to share one of our favourite Roman workshop games with you. It’s called ‘Caesar’s Footsteps’!

This game is a re-enactment of the classic children’s game, Grandma’s Footsteps. Use it as a tool mid-topic to explore the relationship between Julius Caesar, and his ‘friend’, Brutus.

Caesar’s Footsteps: Roman Workshop Game for KS2

Before you begin, make sure you have covered the basics of Roman government. Here is a great resource to help explain what democracy is to children.

Then, if you haven’t already, it’s time to introduce the characters of Julius Caesar and Brutus. Julius Caesar was a famous Roman Emperor. Brutus was originally his friend, but soon began to think Caesar was becoming too ambitious. In order to defend the democracy the Romans had created, Brutus crept up on Caesar and stabbed him in the back.

• Give one child the role of Julius Caesar and ask them to stand at one of the room with their back turned. It may be helpful for you to be Caesar to begin with, to set the standard
• The rest of the class become Brutus. As Caesar’s back in turned, every Brutus should creep up very slowly towards him
• When Caesar turns around, Brutus has to remain statue still. If Caesar sees anyone move, he will proclaim “Veni Vidi Vici!” which means “I came, I saw, I conquered!” in Latin
• Everyone must then return to the beginning and start again. The first Brutus to quietly creep up and tap Caesar on the shoulder wins the game.

Pretty simple, right?! Here are some bonus extras you can add to this Roman workshop game to enhance learning.

Bonus activities for Caesar’s Footsteps

• Ask the pupils playing Brutus to think of an expression to proclaim if they get caught. It doesn’t have to be in Latin! Perhaps “protect Rome at all costs!”
• Encourage performative footsteps and facial expressions. Ask pupils to think about how Brutus would have been feeling in that moment
• Add some physical challenges into the game! Perhaps each Brutus has to do five star jumps before they can reach Caesar?
• After the game, hot seat Caesar and Brutus and ask them why they feel so passionately about democracy
• Hold a debate in class as to whether Brutus was right to stand up to Caesar. How else could he have managed the situation?

If you’d like to learn more tips for improving Creativity in the Classroom, take a look at our online teaching resource, Uno. This easy-to-use website is packed with interactive videos and teacher guides on a wide range of topics. Please get in touch to find out more and begin a free trial for your school.