How women changed the world – and how women explore it – that’s what the World for a Girl family travel blog is all about. So it’s been great fun to compile a list of free online resources about women’s history

I’m an absolute bookworm and have dozens of books on female explorers and amazing women around the world on my rather crowded bookshelves. But it’s the twenty-first century so let’s keep up to date with technology.

Here are some excellent interactive women’s history online resources that I can’t wait to share with you.

How to teach women’s history using online resources

As my day job is teaching, the teacher in me couldn’t help but share some creative ideas on how to use these excellent educational resources to teach women’s history at home (or even in the classroom).

Explore these fantastic women in history online resources and then scroll down to find out how to use them to learn together with our children how women changed the world.

How Women Changed the World by the Open University

How Women Changed the World

Written by Dr Catherine Lee in the Open University’s History Department at this interactive online learning resource is a brilliant example of how women’s history can be accessible to all and globally inclusive.

Strong graphics, a simple interactive element and concise biographies mean that this resource is the perfect homeschooling activity to be explored with children.

Although primarily an adult learning resource – with some reviewing children from 7 upwards will find the content engaging especially if learning alongside a parent or teacher.

Use the resource to learn how women changed the world and picture where these women were based geographically. Keep scrolling to find some age-appropriate learning activities that you can try with this resource.

Women’s Footprint in History by UN Women

Women’s Footprint in History

This impressive multimedia resource is designed and created by UN Women. The timeline takes us on an incredible journey from 400 BC to 2016 AD, introducing us to trailblazers and important females who helped shape history.

My absolute favourite part of the Women’s Footprint in History resource is that for every historical woman commemorated in the text, the next slide refers to the present.

For example, inspiring Japanese editor, writer and political activist, Raichō Hiratsuka who in 1911 founded Japan’s first-ever female-run literary journal is followed by a shocking slide reminding us that today women are still massively underrepresented in the media.

Only 1 in 4 people seen or read about in the news in a woman!

US National Women’s History Museum

Women’s History Museum

Straight from the USA comes an incredible throve of online women’s history exhibits thanks to the National Women’s History Museum.

Of course, my favourite online exhibition must be the slideshow on Female Outdoor Adventurers which features 8 fearless and boundary-breaking Americans female heroines.

Other great online presentations for teaching and learning about great American women include The Women of NASA, Breaking in: Women in STEM and Harriet Tubman.

Although all the material focuses on the USA, it’s a great place to get an overview of women’s history in one of the world’s wealthiest and most politically important nations.

Intrigued and want to learn more about women’s history? Interested in visiting women’s museums around the world? Check out my reviews of two of my favourites women’s museums.

In Hanoi, Vietnam: Vietnamese Women’s Museum, Hanoi 

In Seoul, South Korea: War and Women’s Human Rights Museum, Seoul

How to use online resources to teach children about women’s history

Use the ideas below to teach your children or students about global women in history.

After reviewing the free online resources for women’s history above I’ve brainstormed these teaching ideas to support adults teaching children and teenagers about women’s history.

I’ve included cross-curricular ideas from the humanities, literacy and ICT.

How women changed the world teaching ideas KS2 (7 to 11-year-olds)

• Select a woman featured in the How Women Changed the World interactive map and research more about her.
• Write a creative story about your chosen heroine’s life story trying to imagine her thoughts and feelings as she fought for change and acceptance.
• Print out or photocopy a map of the world – use one or more of the online resources and stick post-stick notes on each woman’s name and stick it on the right country. What do you notice about where the stickers are? Are there are big gaps?
• Draw a timeline from 400 BC to 2020 (try 1 cm or an inch to represent 1oo years). Stick as many of the women you’ve read about on the timeline. What do you notice about the timeline? Why do you think there are big gaps and a huge cluster at the end?

How women changed the world teaching ideas Ks3-4 (11 to 18-year-olds)

• Select a woman featured in the interactive map and research more about her. Find out more about her life and the historical and social context in which she was living.
• Can you find any other women who lived at the same time/ who were involved in the same movement or event?
• Find a biography, documentary or article about women from that country living today and compare their lives. What is the same and what is different? Has much progress towards gender equality been made? What do you think?
• Use the UN’s Gender Equality Index to look at how women live today in that country. Do you think that historically women had it better or worst?
• Imagine the woman you have chosen is alive in the same country today. How could she be trying to change the world today?

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I hope that you find exploring these three women’s history free online resources informative and inspiring. If you know of any other great women’s history free online resources please drop a link to them in the comments below.