Guy Fawkes Day Resources

Tomorrow, November 5th, is Guy Fawkes Day (also known as Bonfire Night and Gunpowder Treason Day). It is a remembrance of when Guy Fawkes was caught with 36 barrels of gunpowder under parliament in London. He was a part of a group of men who intended to blow up the king and other members of parliament.

I was introduced to Guy Fawkes and the day when I was an au pair in England back when I was 18 (a lifetime ago) and I spent that evening watching fireworks and bonfires.

Today I thought I would give my kids a little history of the day and tomorrow (the actual day) we may do a little more.

I wanted to share the resources in case you wanted to learn a little bit of history with your kids!

 

 

VIDEOS

We watched a couples of videos, these two are the best in my opinion:

 

 

 

POEM

We read this poem. It gets a little dark, I read it all to my kids (9 & 6) but feel free to just read the first part with your kids.

 

The Fifth of November

    Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!
    Guy Fawkes and his companions
    Did the scheme contrive,
    To blow the King and Parliament
    All up alive.
    Threescore barrels, laid below,
    To prove old England’s overthrow.
    But, by God’s providence, him they catch,
    With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
    A stick and a stake
    For King James’s sake!
    If you won’t give me one,
    I’ll take two,
    The better for me,
    And the worse for you.
    A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
    A penn’orth of cheese to choke him,
    A pint of beer to wash it down,
    And a jolly good fire to burn him.
    Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
    Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
    Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

 

BOOKS

I couldn’t find much for book resources for kids but I read this teen/adult historical fiction/fantasy book a couple of months ago which was based on Guy Fawkes, I would recommend it if you enjoy fantasy and/or historical fiction!

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

We haven’t used these yet but I found a this (free) resource online (just click the image to be taken to the website):

 

 

Do you have any resources for Guy Fawkes Day?