The Children’s Commissioner for England, Ann Longfield, is a politician who works especially on making children's lives better. She is asking children across the country to take part in a video selfie challenge called the Our Lives 10 Questions Challenge.

The purpose of the project is to help create a new library of childhood and make sure that the people who make decisions that impact on children’s lives know what children say about the things that matter to them.

The Commissioner is asking children to record a video selfie about themselves answering some key questions. She'd like to hear:

• how you feel about where you live;

• who are the most important people in your lives;

• how you spend your time;

• and most importantly what you would do if you were in charge of the world.

The Our Lives project has been designed to be a fun, easy activity that teachers can can do with a whole school or group.

No fancy film making skills are required, all your teacher needs to take part is a tablet/phone/camera, an internet connection and most importantly you - some children!

Schools and organisations taking part in Our Lives before Monday 20 March will receive an exclusive certificate from the Children’s Commissioner recognising their contribution to this new library of childhood.

Download the step by step guide here.

You can also explore how children's lives have changed in the special Our Lives collection by the V&A Museum of Childhood.
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For Teachers

More about the Our Lives Curriculum Links and Classroom Integration
The Our Lives challenge and creative activity support many areas of the primary curriculum, particularly Literacy, Computing and Citizenship.
Teachers have been integrating the activity into lessons as a warm up for literacy and for reflection after lessons. Planning and recording responses to Our Lives questions gives pupils a fun and engaging way to write for a real purpose and audience and to develop their English speaking skills – individually and as part of a group. Interviewing, filming and editing for Our Lives clips also present opportunities for pupils to undertake creative projects and understand the safe and responsible use of technology as part of computing. Throughout the project pupils will learn more about their rights under the UN convention and the role of the Children’s Commissioner in protecting and promoting those rights.
Find examples and see how a teacher has integrated Our Lives into their lessons.

You can also find out more about how childhood has changed over the years by visiting or exploring online resources from the V&A Museum of Childhood – Our Lives Collection
Explore how childhood has changed and link to museum artefacts with this special Our Lives collection curated by V&A Museum of Childhood.
New items from the V&A’s collection will be added over the next few weeks each linking to the ten Our Lives questions with fascinating heritage stories and objects. 

There is still time to join in with the Children's Commissioners Our Lives project, the new teacher resources and a new collection with V&A Museum of Childhood. This phase of Our Lives will close on Monday 20 March.