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The AHE Regional History Fair was initiated by Katie Richards in 2006.  She had a vision for children to dig deeper into history, and share their discoveries with the wider community.  Since 2008, the History Fair has been underwritten, organised and promoted as an annual event by Auckland Home Educators Inc. We are grateful to Katie Richards for kick-starting a great event.

The History fair is about children presenting a topic of interest that they have been studying/researching or would like to further study. This can be done in the way of a project board, large book display or via slide shows, videos that they children have put together themselves. All information used has to be cited and referenced in the form of a bibliography.

History is anything that has happened before today, and this year we have three main categories:

1. General History
2. New Zealand History
3. Family History

The participants will then be judged and prizes given out. Every participant will receive a token of appreciation for their participation as well.

History is everything before now.  Without history we wouldn’t be here today.  It’s worth finding out about.

See below for more details about the AHE History Fair in 2024

Doing a History Fair project is a journey of research and discovery! We will be excited to see your project – and find out what you discovered and how you gained your knowledge. We’d love to know what important ideas or issues you uncovered along the way. 

This will be the third year of opening up project submissions in a whole new range of mixed media formats*. This means that you can use any format that can be shared online. There are so many possibilities. Here’s some examples and ideas of how you can present your project:

• Create a static poster or share other work that you’ve done.
• Share your project as a slide show.
• Make a stop-motion video using Lego about your topic.
• Recreate historical cities or buildings in Minecraft and do a narrated fly-through.
• Create an animation or green screen video.
• Recreate a scene in history as a drama (like Horrible Histories).
• Any combination of the above which inspires you to share your history learning.

You are also more than welcome to use the traditional trifold board, or use it to enhance your project as a background. So it’s up to you to choose which medium sounds fun and suits you & your topic best. Consider if you want to pre-record a video, create something static, or present it to us live on the day.

2024 Categories:

You can choose to do a history project on one of these categories:

• General topic – choose an issue, event, person or idea from the past (eg siege warfare; Nelson Mandela; Indian Independence; or food in Ancient Greece….)
• New Zealand topic – choose an issue, event, person or idea from New Zealand’s history (eg The Battle of Gate Pa; Kate Sheppard; Maori food, Auckland’s volcanoes…)
• Family history topic – choose a person from your family to research and investigate (eg Great Uncle Frank in World War 2, My Great-grandmother, My family’s farming days in Piopio).

Remember:

• Parents are encouraged to help and support children in their work, but the words and work must be the child’s own.
• All projects must use a variety of sources where possible – even for Family History projects. Don’t just use one book or one website or one person.
• No copying paragraphs/sentences from sources – unless it is a quote (quotes and sources must be referenced properly).
• Choose a medium or format that you are comfortable with so that it doesn’t hinder you from the core topic, which is learning about history. But do experiment, as this can be fun too. You will need to have your device with you on the day of the fair.

Any queries, contact us at admin@ahe.org.nz.

What is a History Fair?

Not dissimilar to a Science Fair, a History Fair is a chance for children to showcase their research, knowledge and discoveries – about HISTORY.

Who can enter?

Any school-aged child may enter.  For younger children, it’s all about participation and ‘having a go’.  Older students are encouraged to choose historically significant topics that inform, challenge and stimulate. Whatever your age or ability, doing a History Fair project is a great learning process and very rewarding.

You may also do a project as family or with a sibling/friend.

What topic should I choose?

Anything before now is history – so almost anything is possible.  But it’s best to choose a topic that…

• Is ‘researchable’ – i.e. a topic that has a good number of sources (e.g. books, websites, documentaries, people you can talk to, or a museum you can visit).
• You’re interested in!

You may also want to consider choosing a topic that

• You have a personal link with.
• You know DON’T know much about – this makes the research more meaningful.
• You can have fun with.

Are the students judged?

This year we have a team who will go over the projects with each child and discuss their topic with them.  Due to the possible diverse nature of the projects, this will be more an “adult review” as opposed to judging.

The team will give feedback to each child.  The aim is to encourage children, highlight the strengths of their project, and give them positive feedback where possible. Each child will also receive a certificate.

What benefit does my child receive from doing a project?

That’s a great question… glad you asked it!  Here’s what home-schooled kids have said…

• It’s a great challenge.
• You might get a prize.
• It gets you thinking in-depth about a topic.
• You get to show off all your hard work to others.
• You get to investigate something YOU’RE interested in.
• You get good feedback from the judges about your project.
• You feel a whole lot of satisfaction (even if you don’t get a prize).
• It forces you to talk about your topic and explain it – in an encouraging environment.
• You get to show the community what great stuff home-schoolers can do.
  

And from the parents’ perspective, it’s great to watch a child work through the research, thinking, writing and presentation process.

If you are in doubt, please don’t hesitate to contact us.