Watch: Children in the 1990s
Find out what life was like for children in the 1990s.
Nathan: Are we going on a boat to get to France?
Mum: You can do that but weâre driving onto a train that carries the car in a long tunnel under the sea, to get to France. Itâs called the Channel Tunnel.
Nathan: Wow! Can we see fish?
Mum: LAUGHS
Mum: No. There arenât any windows in the tunnel. It was opened when I was your age. I remember we went on a school trip to France on the train one day.
Young Mum: Before the tunnel opened, you had to travel to France by plane or boat. Even the teachers were excited, but me and my friend played on his handheld games console the whole trip!
Lucy: Are all the games in black and white?
Young Mum: Yes, but it was one of the first battery powered games machines where you could play lots of different games. We used to play a game where you had to arrange falling blocks into a wall with no holes in it.
Lucy: It sounds boring.
LAUGHS
Young Mum: We had some other games too, but technology was much simpler back then. Not many people had a mobile phone until a few years later. But gramps did buy a computer for the house for the very first time. We got the internet for the first time as well. It made a really funny noise when it started up.
FUNNY CONNECTION SOUNDS & GIGGLES
Young Mum: A lot more people from other countries in Europe moved to live near us as well. We had some neighbours from France and some from Spain, and they started to teach me all sorts of new words, like âBonjourâ and âBuenos Dias.â
Nathan: Bonjour! Buenos Dias!
Young Mum: It was so exciting. Gramps set up my first ever email address and I could send messages to them when they went on holidays, back to France and Spain.
Nathan: Weâve got French and Spanish friends in our class.
Lucy: We can get them to teach us some new words too.
Mum: Here we are.
An invention that changed the world
In the 1990s the world was changing fast.
- In 1991 the world wide web (www) became available to the public for the first time.
- It was invented by a British man called Tim Berners-Lee.
- People were now listening to music on compact discs (CDs).
- Personal computers known as PCs were finding their way into many homes.
A new way to travel
- In 1994 the Channel Tunnel was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
- It connected England to France with a tunnel under the sea.
- This idea had been refused by Queen Victoriaâs government way back in 1867 as too silly!
What were toys and entertainment like?
- The Spice Girls were a huge sensation.
- Teletubbies were the most sought after toy in 1997.
- Well-loved books included Esio Trot by Roald Dahl and Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.
- Digital pets like the Tamagotchi were all the rage.
- Children collected special coins and stickers for the Olympics and FIFA World Cups.
Did you know?
The first ever World Book Day was in 1995. It was on the 23rd April. That day was picked to celebrate the anniversary of the famous playwright William Shakespeare's death.
In 1997 the first Harry Potter book was published, Harry Potter and the Philosopherâs Stone, by J. K. Rowling.
In 1990 England reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Italy but were beaten on penalties by Germany.
The football Premier League began in 1992. The first team to win the Premier League was Manchester United.
Activities
Activity 1: Children in the 1990s quiz
Activity 2: 1990s colouring sheet
- Download and print this colouring sheet of Lucy, Nathan and Mum in the 1990s.
- Can you colour it in and label it with some of the items that were familiar to children in the 1990s?
Download the 1990s colouring sheet here.
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