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Philosophy for primary schools – KS2 medium-term plan

PDF of medium-term plan for KS2 philosophy, on 'big questions'. Includes link to videos.

This series of lessons will introduce children to the subject of philosophy and develop their reasoning and questioning skills. It also develops their understanding of ethics, virtues and provides wider SMSC (Social, Moral, Social and Cultural) experiences.

It can work well with any year group from 2 to 6, but especially for lower key stage 2, or as part of an Ancient Greece theme. The lessons work by sharing a specially written story, either by watching the videos on YouTube (link below) or by downloading the story for the teacher to read aloud.

It follows Delphi, a girl in ancient Athens, who becomes interested in philosophy after meeting the famous philosopher Socrates. During the story, there are ‘big questions’ which can be discussed with the children and opportunities for activities to develop specific thinking skills.

The stories enable the teacher to model good ways of expressing ideas, and lead discussions at whatever level of difficulty appropriate for the class.

View all videos at tinyurl.com/tp-Delphi

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20 Engaging Philosophy Activities For Kids

March 8, 2023 //  by  Brittney Hallmark

Teaching philosophy can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! Providing an introduction to philosophy and planning fun activities can be a great way to get students interested in this topic. Some of the following activities can be done independently or in small groups, but all of them prompt learners to use their critical thinking abilities to explore complex ideas. Build their philosophy background with these engaging activities and helpful resources! 

1. Philosopher Research 

Students can learn more about philosophers with this activity. Students can conduct research about specific philosophers and these philosophy teachers. This is a great way to pull in nonfiction and internet resources. They can write what they learn about each person on this graphic organizer.

Learn More: Kids Konnect

2. Analyze Quotes 

This is a helpful resource that can be used to dissect quotes from famous thinkers. Students can respond to these quotes by jotting down their own thoughts, ideas, opinions, and philosophical questions.

3. Comic Strips Philosophy 

Using this comic strip as inspiration, students are prompted to make a pictorial form of abstract philosophy. They can use a quote as a basis for creating a comic strip that would represent a specific thought. 

Learn More: Tumblr

4. Philosophy Boxes

This is a great resource to get students to discuss questions about philosophy or to start building background knowledge on philosophy. This is a pre-designed printable that will spark discussion about philosophers and careful thinking. 

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

5. Agree or Disagree Activity 

This activity encourages students to pause and think about why they have a specific opinion of something. Students are given a scenario and are asked if they agree or disagree. This would be great to use if you start a philosophy club! 

6. Picture Card Responses

Printable cards with pictures and questions are a quick and easy resource to use. Elementary students often need the support of a picture clue so use these to inspire discussion and critical thinking. 

Learn More: Nurture Store

7. Be the Philosopher 

This activity is one that elementary school students will love! Let them research a philosopher and dress up as that person. They can pretend to be philosophers and share their life and political philosophies. 

Learn More: Pinterest

8. Word Art 

Students will enjoy the creative aspect of this assignment. Let them brainstorm words about a topic or philosopher. They can then input the words into a website to design a unique artwork. Then, they can use the artwork to spark discussion or write essays. 

9. Crossword Puzzles

Create your own or find a pre-made crossword puzzle about philosophy. You can use this as a review at the end of a unit or as an assessment throughout to see how well students understand the current content. 

Learn More: WordMint

10. Question of the Day 

Posting a question of the day is a good way to get students thinking and prompt them to share their own opinions. This is a good way to encourage written expression if these are done in a journal. 

Learn More: Go Socratic Kids

11. Bucket Fillers 

Bucket filling is the concept of filling another person with positive sentiments and kindness. This is great for getting students to think about others and things beyond themselves. This book would be good to include in building character within your students. Students can write notes to fill others’ buckets. 

Learn More: Walmart

12. Naughty-O-Meter

This is a scenario-based activity that will prompt students to search within to determine if they think something is right or wrong. Looking at a picture-based scenario, students will determine how naughty it is. They can use a rating scale to express how right or wrong things are. 

Learn More: The Philosophy Man

13. Would You Rather Cards

These cards can be used to present two situations to the students. They can decide which one they would rather face. This is a great way to encourage independent thinking and expression, but it’s important to follow up by asking students to explain why they feel the way they do. 

14. Questions and Answers Activity 

Part of being a good thinker is being able to draw conclusions, make inferences, and ask and answer questions. Use pictures or prompts to do this so students will be exposed to a variety of topics and can have the opportunity to respond in a variety of different ways. 

Learn More: Saved You a Spot

15. Great Thinkers Biography Activity 

Biography projects are a great way to help students learn about a specific person and to introduce them to a new topic. Have students complete a biography activity by making a model or creating a presentation of a philosopher. 

16. Respectful Debates

Facilitating a debate may be something better suited for older students, but younger students may enjoy it as well. Pick topics or questions that are age appropriate and have students debate about how they feel and why. 

Learn More: Info Books

17. Philosophers Match Up 

Have students learn more about individual philosophers by reading passages and books about them. Students can review them by matching the description with the picture of the philosopher. 

Learn More: Twinkl

18. Philosophy Flashcards

Philosophy flashcards are a great way to approach complex ideas. Use these cards to ask questions and encourage responses in writing or through discussions. These are great for homeschooling families or to be used in classrooms with small groups. 

19. Use Children’s Books

Especially with younger students, using picture books to teach about philosophy can be a great way to get them engaged. Let them hear the story and use deductive reasoning to form their own opinions and share their thoughts. You could also have them share their thoughts through writing. 

Learn More: Starts at Eight

20. Class Discussions

Round table open discussions are a great way to promote careful thinking and communication. Facilitate a discussion of ideas about different topics or use different scenarios to express their thoughts and opinions. Give them topics that will evoke critical or intuitive thinking.  

Learn More: Thinking Space

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Introduction to Philosophy

Subject: Philosophy and ethics

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

25 January 2021

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This presentation and worksheet will give a broad overview of Philosophy. It discusses where and when Philosophy began, although it mostly focuses on what exactly is philosophy. There are questions throughout the presentation that can be used for normal lower order questioning during class, or as a written activity. The presentation contains lots of interesting pictures and bright colours to engage the students. It is suitable for KS3 and KS4. It can be used in both a denominational and non-denominational classroom.

The worksheet is differentiated and the pupils can either complete it during the presentation or afterwards.

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Creative Philosophy Activities for Students to Exercise the Mind

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When you begin to understand the impact of ideas, philosophy becomes a fascinating subject.

It teaches us to think about the world in a completely different way. It opens a gateway to ideas that can change the world.

But how do you teach a discipline that explores profound questions with intangible answers? How do you teach that tangibly?

Well, I hope to help you with that today. Together, let’s explore a few games, exercises, and activities designed to make philosophy fun and engaging for students of all ages.

How to Introduce Philosophy to Students

Philosophy isn’t just a topic in a textbook that you read and write about. Rather, it’s a subject that can spark your imagination and inspire you to think about the world around you.

Your students will learn so much more by doing an activity based on a philosophical question than from simply reading a passage in a textbook.

So, when introducing students to philosophy, I love starting with questions and structured “what if” scenarios. It sparks imagination (and feels less like school work).

“What if” questions open our minds and get us thinking about the world (and how we view it).

And the best part is: the questions don’t have to be complicated. They can actually be very simple as I will soon demonstrate.

If you’re ready, let’s look at a few fun philosophy activities that strike a good balance between interesting and thought-provoking—without being too difficult or requiring too much setup for the teacher.

7 Philosophy Learning Activities for Students of All Ages

1. read books and ask thought-provoking questions.

This activity is about as simple as it gets and is a great way to introduce philosophy to elementary school students —even the youngest of readers.

Reading stories is a natural way to inspire philosophy discussions. Especially when guide the discussion by asking students what they think about the characters and events in the story.

Follow-up by asking students to share their feelings about the story. Then ask them to explain why they feel that way.

You can do this with just about any book. If you need some ideas to get you started, here are some stories with examples of questions you might ask:

Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

• What does “home” mean to you?
• Can we be “at home” somewhere else?

The Conductor by Laetitia Devernay

• What does “listening” mean?
• Can we listen only with our ears?
• Can we listen to silence?

Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky

• What does it mean to be scared?
• Does fear really exist?

The Wise Woman with Journal Questions is a good option for pre-teens and middle schoolers. It is a thought-provoking story with critical thinking questions at the end of each chapter.

It offers philosophical questions that help students engage in meaningful reflections on the story (and, consequently, on real life issues). Older students can use The Journal as part of their literature and writing work.

Of course, just because the book is a story doesn’t mean it needs to be fiction. You can look to history books for examples of philosophies and principles put into action. Even children’s nonfiction books can provide great material for discussion.

2. Explore False Beliefs vs Truth

This philosophy activity is an exciting way to make students aware of the concept of false beliefs and what happens when they abound. It’s a good one for upper elementary school students through middle school.

It can take as long as you want (about 45 minutes is typical.) Older kids should be able to do the activity with minimal help from you.

Start by talking about the difference between knowledge and opinion. Within that discussion, address topics like reason and evidence.

• Have students write 2-4 things they know, along with why they believe it is so.
• Discuss them – either amongst themselves – or with you if you only have one student.
• Then write 3 obviously false beliefs like “blueberries are orange” or “elephants live in the ocean.”
• Ask your students how they know those things aren’t true. Is there evidence? Do they know the statements aren’t true or is it just their opinion?

Finally, circle back to their original written statements of things they know. Ask them how they know it’s true using evidence, proof, and reasons rather than just opinion.

3. Have Students Go to “Court”

This philosophy exercise is a significant activity to break down critical thinking barriers and awaken the critical thinking skills of older students. It’s creates a mock court scenario that fits like a puzzle piece into that larger learning goal.

Use this exercise with junior high through senior high kids, and spend as much time on it as you want. It is often used as a class activity, but it can still work with just 2 people (even if the teacher is one of them).

Present a case that needs to be ruled upon. A popular one is the “transplant” case—where 5 people need the same life-saving transplant, but only one person can get it.

Who gets it? Why? How do you determine that?

Have students write their thoughts and discuss them.

As students imagine themselves in the shoes of a defendant or prosecutor, they are challenged to think deeply about the case.

It’s such a fun and effective critical-thinking scenario that we used it as a philosophy activity in Philosophy Adventure .

4. Play the “What’s Your Reason?” Game

This philosophy activity is fun and flexible. The name says it all, really. It explores the concepts of logic and reason while digging deep into what makes up a “good” reason for believing something. 

• Students will write claims, along with their reasons for making them, and then guess each other’s claim after hearing the reasons. 
• It doesn’t matter how many claims you want to do, but make sure you have at least one genuine claim and one false (which represents the fact that some people believe things that aren’t true).
• Then play the game like charades. But instead of acting out, the student should read their reasons aloud, and others can shout out what they think the claim is. 
• When the game is over, and every claim is guessed, encourage discussion on the philosophy of reason.

5. Do the 1-Minute Critical Thinking Exercise

This quick philosophy activity is great for students with shorter attention spans, but they do still need to have the ability to write. When it comes down to it, this is really just a Q & A style exercise to spark discussion of ideas, so it could be done orally.

Provide your student with a set of 3-5 questions and encourage them to write short answers. If you pose the questions a certain way, you can use this activity as a review at the end of the school day of whatever they learned or practiced that day.

• What questions do you have that remained unanswered today?
• What was the most useful thing you learned today?
• What was the primary purpose of what you learned today? How do you think you’ll use it in life?

6. Pick a Partner and Paint “Blind”

This one’s a fun philosophy activity for students, no matter what grade they’re in. It’ll take about 30 minutes, and you’ll need paper, pencils or crayons, and a whiteboard.

Pair students up, and sit them facing away from each other with one of them having a solid surface to draw on, paper, and a pen or pencil. You, the teacher, draw a picture on the whiteboard.

The student who isn’t drawing is acting as the “eyes” of the “painter” (the other student) behind him. Their goal is to describe the painting in as much detail as possible so that the other student can try to replicate it on their paper without ever actually seeing what’s drawn on the whiteboard.

When students finish the exercise, talk about what worked and what didn’t. Were some instructions or details confusing? How could the “eyes” have described it better?

Then switch roles and let the “eyes” become the “blind painter.”

7. Practice Reasoning and Arguments

This is a good philosophy activity for high school students . It explores deductive reasoning and argument and should practice concepts like premises, validity of those premises, and making a sound argument based on conclusions.

First, discuss the terms—conclusion, premise, and argument—and what they mean.

Next, provide a very simple argument (not as in a “fight” but as in a conclusion/statement based on a premise).

• Premise: If you’re about to paint, you should change out of your nice dress clothes.
• Premise: You’re about to paint.
• Conclusion: Therefore, you should go change clothes.

Then ask your students whether the conclusion is based on a sound premise. Is the conclusion well supported? Discuss why or why not.

How to Use These Activities

There is no right or wrong way to do these philosophy exercises. You can incorporate them into your homeschool day however works best for your family.

As an example, I’ve heard of homeschool families turning their “morning time” (where all students gather to focus on one subject) into “philosophy time.” It’s a great way to wake up the brain, spark imagination, and engage the entire family.

You can also create a philosophy club of sorts with your kids that meets once a week or twice a month. Keep it positive and fun, respecting students’ levels of understanding, as you would when working individually with them.

I hope this selection of philosophy activities for students inspires you with ways to incorporate philosophical thought and critical thinking exercises into everyday life!

Want to go a little deeper? Try Philosophy Adventure , an award-winning homeschool philosophy course where students learn to think critically, write skillfully, and speak articulately as they explore the history of ideas.

will your children recognize truth?

About the author.

Jordan Mitchell

Philosophy in KS2

DISCOVER PHILOSOPHY IN KS2

Sample Philosophy Plan

Check out this Year 3/4 plan based on exploring what morality is and how we can talk about rules logically. This is an introduction to Aristotelian logic. 

For more information on the assessment of philosophy click on the Age Related Expectations button on the Home page. 

Further plans are available to course attendees.

Overview of plans available for Course attendees

Eyfs lessons - optional use of socrates doll.

Socratic Method: Plan, script - question sorting and introducing 'Big Questions'

What is 'real'? Plan - thinking about where knowledge comes from and whether we can tell if something is real or not. Discusses personhood. 

Years 1 and 2 Lessons

What's the Big Idea? Plan - an introduction to philosophy and some of the big ideas it delves into. 

How Did the Universe Come to Be? A discussion based unit about creation and the idea of God. 

Year 3 Lesson

What is the Difference Between Knowing and Believing? Plan - a look at observation, faith and miracles. 

Year 4 Lesson

Morality: How do People Make Moral Decisions? Plan - a look at how people justify moral decisions with logical arguments.  

Year 5 Lessons

Utilitarianism Parts I & II - Plans, Presentation, Scenario Cards - a look at Bentham and Mill's system for moral decision making.   

Ontology: Plan, Presentation - A look at the Ontological arguments for the existence of God and its problems. 

Year 6 Lesson

Plato's Cave:   Plan - A look at the role of the philosopher in society and the idea of knowledge through revelation. 

Primary Range Home/School Lesson 1

The Purpose of Things:   Plan - A discussion based enquiry into the purpose of everyday things. It examines the 'why' of objects, both made and naturally occurring. An introduction to teleology. 

Primary Range Home/School Lesson 2

Of Superheroes and Miracles:   Plan and Presentation - A discussion based enquiry into the origins of the idea of the 'superhero'. Encompassing believability, scepticism, Hume and his views on miracles. 

Primary Range Home/School Lesson 3

Morality with a Buddhist Focus: Plan - A discussion based enquiry looking at morality and the externalised, spiritual drives behind it. Encompassing non-spiritual reasons of morality, inviting discussion about internal morality as well as a starting point to study belief in karma. 

Primary Range Home/School Lesson 4

Knowing VS Believing Part 1:   Plan - A discussion based enquiry looking at the difference between 'Knowing' and 'believing'. Part 1 covers magic tricks and the senses as a source of 'fact'. It asks whether scientists need a little belief in their line of work too. Introduces concepts such as dark matter.

Primary Range Home/School Lesson 5

Knowing VS. Believing Part 2:   Plan and Presentation - A discussion using Flew's The Invisible Garden Parable. How do we know things? Is there a battle going on between science and belief? Do scientists believe? An introduction to the Falsification Principle. 

Philosophical Activities: 3 Philosophical Twists for Everyday Teaching

This week, most us will:

• Ask our class for the definition of a word
• Get them sorting things into categories, or…
• Instruct them to put things in an order

Some of us might do all three! One of their many strengths is their simplicity. Children will get what we’re asking of them.

So here’s 3 philosophical twists on these activities, to make it easier for children to think about the harder questions. These were inspired by observing lessons at Harris Primary Academy, Chafford Hundred on Monday.

r 1. Asking for definitions

We ask children for meanings or definitions of keywords to check for understanding. These are usually technical terms. What is respiration? What does latitude mean? What’s a primary source?

The twist: Give pupils a concept to define. For example, what does ‘fairness’ mean? One way to find the concepts in a topic is to imagine what big ideas would be left behind if an explosion blew away the specific details. Concepts are usually juicy, abstract nouns that are hard to pin down – like bravery, freedom or justice.

Once a meaning is proposed, encourage counter-examples to test this definition. For example, if a pupil says fairness is ‘treating everyone equally’, ask if there’s any examples of equal treatment that isn’t fair. You could also explore the relationship between concepts by asking ‘Do ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’ mean the same thing? Or are they different?

2. Sorting things into categories

It’s the classic cut-and-stick exercise. On Monday, Year 1 children were sorting statements about seasons into columns titled True and False.

The twist: Give children a set of contentious statements to sort under Agree and Disagree. For example:

‘Summer is better than winter’ ‘Building snow-people is more fun than building sandcastles’ ‘Controlling the weather would be a good idea’

You could then divide the floor in two with a skipping rope or metre ruler, and read out each statement. Let pupils show their thinking physically by standing on the side of Agree or Disagree. Whichever statements divide the class nicely could then be used for a wider discussion. They might return to their desks and move some statements to the other column, if they’ve been convinced by the other side.

3. Putting things in order

We often ask pupils to make timelines, or sequence events from a story. It helps them understand chronology and causation.

The twist: Give pupils things from your topic to order from ‘most’ to ‘least’. Such as ordering from most to least important / valuable / beautiful. An example of this is our Naughtyometer, which fits into PSHE for all ages. You can download it here:

www.thephilosophyman.com/naughtyometer

If you like the look of these suggestions, but you are struggling for a resource, reply direct to this email and we’ll send you an idea to match your topic.

Best wishes,

PS: We’ve had a brilliant response to our Philosopher in Residence CPD Programme launched last week. If you missed it, your school can still apply here:

www.thephilosophyman.com/philosopherinresidence

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Greek Philosophers

Philosophy is the study of knowledge, reality, and existence. That sounds very nice but what does that mean? That's just it - there is no exact in philosophy. The word philosophy comes from the Greek words for love and wisdom. Simply, philosophy is the love of wisdom.

Philosophers ask really big questions that have no clear answers or that have more than one answer. The purpose of these questions is to open topics of discussion and to get people thinking.

Here are five questions a philosopher might ask:

1. Is our government working?

2. What does it mean to be beautiful?

3. What makes something music?

4. Who is the most important person in your classroom?

5. Should asking some questions be against the law?

The ancient Greeks thought of philosophy as an art and philosophers as teachers of the art of asking questions. But some things in ancient Greece could not be questioned. It was against the law to do so. That did not stop one famous philosopher from asking these questions anyway. He found himself in a lot of trouble because he ignored the law. His name was Socrates. Two other famous Greek philosophers were Plato and Aristotle.

Socrates taught Plato. Plato taught Aristotle. Plato actually had an academy of instruction, and taught many students many things, including philosophy.

There were other philosophers in ancient Greece, but Socrates, Plato, and Artistotle are the three most famous. All three men wrote down some of their philosophical questions. These writings are still studied and are topics of discussion by philosophers today.

Any question will work as a philosophical question as long as it is a really big question that has no clear answer, and gets people thinking.

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Religion, Gods

Acropolis & Parthenon

For Kids: Ancient Greek Daily Life

Greek Women

Greek Slaves

Pets & Toys

Hair Styles

Education, School

Wedding Customs

For Kids: People

Famous People

Pericles Funeral Oration

Greek Philosophies

Greek Legends

Greek Fables

Aesop's Fables

Homer's Iliad & Homer's Odyssey

For Kids: Interactive Quizzes

Greece Geography

Early Greece

Greek Government

Greek Olympics

Alexander the Great & Gifts from the Greeks

For Teachers

Activities and Projects

Lesson Plans & Units

PowerPoints

Jeopardy Games

Interactive Games

For Kids and Teachers: Other Ancient Civilizations

See Also: Early Humans for Kids and Teachers

Archaeology for Kids and Teachers