Children's lives varied greatly across ancient civilizations. In Egypt, boys learned trades from their fathers like farming while girls learned skills like cooking and sewing from their mothers. Only wealthy boys may have become scribes. In ancient Greece and Rome, education was typically only for boys, though Spartan girls learned athletics. Aztec and Inca children faced harsh discipline but also received religious and academic instruction. Across Europe in the Middle Ages, childhood was brief as children worked to support their families from a young age.

2. Children in ancient Egypt
Egyptian children played similar games to the ones children play today
Most children in Egypt did not go to school
Instead boys learned farming or other trades from their fathers
Girls learned sewing, cooking and other skills from their mothers
Boys from wealthy families sometimes learned to be scribes
Teachers beat naughty boys

3. Children in ancient Greece
• Girls get married when they were about 15
• girls learned skills like weaving from their mothers
• Only boys went to school
• Boys from a rich family were escorted to school by a slave
• Discipline was severe in Greece and children were often beaten
• In Sparta children were treated very harshly. At the age of 7 boys were
removed from their families and sent to live in barracks
• Spartan girls learned athletics and dancing

4. Children in Rome
• Many of the inhabitants of Rome were slaves
• Prisoners of war were made slaves The
children of well to do Romans went to a
primary school called a ludus at the age of
• Girls left school at the age of 12 or 13 and only
boys went to secondary
• Teachers were often Greek slaves Roman
children played with wooden or clay dolls and
hoops

5. Children in Middle Ages
Childhood
ended early
Children from noble
families , boys also
learned to fight
Girls learned the skills they
needed to run a household
In upper class families
girls married as young as
12 and boys as young as
14
They did not normally
choose their own
marriage partners
Children were expected to
help the family earn a
living as soon as they
were able to

6. Aztec children
• Aztec children were treated very harshly.
• If they misbehaved they could have cactus spines pushed into their
skin
• However the Aztecs believed education was important
• Boys learned jobs like farming and fishing from their fathers
• girls learned skills like cooking and weaving from their mothers
• However both boys and girls attended schools
• They learned about history and religion but also about music and
dance
• When they were older boys learned to fight.
• Noble children went to a school called a calmecac
• Upper class children also studied religion, mathematics and
astrology

7. Inca children
• Inca children were treated harshly to toughen them At
about the age of 10 the most beautiful girls were
selected to be chosen women or Aqllakuna
• They were taught the Inca religion and skills like
cooking and weaving
• When they were about 14 some of the girls became
priestesses or they married important Incas
• Boys learned farming, fishing and other trades
• Noble boys had tutors called Amataus who trained
them to rule.

8. Conclusion
• Before the 16th century, children throughout medieval
Europe did not attend school
• It was only during this time frame that ‘upper class’
children first attended school
• there had been no direct barrier between adults and
children, with children working side by side with adults
• children of the upper class were allowed to attended school
• Throughout the industrial revolution, many children
worked in factories and mills right up until the 19th century
where laws regarding factory acts banned child labour in
mines and factories.
• Children were not only viewed as adults but also portrayed
as adults