We've added discounted bundles to our shop, to help customers who are looking for educational homeschooling resources.
The sets can be purchased here.
Here are some ways you could use the products in the sets!
Early Years Arts and Crafts Inspo set
Clive and His Art
Can you recreate any of the projects Clive makes in this book?
Once you’ve made some paintings and sculptures, you could convert a room into your own art gallery.
Ideas for role-playing games:
Pretend to be an art critic and talk about what you like about each piece.
Let the children be security guards and see if they can stop you from touching the pieces on display.
Have an art auction. Auctioneers are great at talking quickly - who can talk the fastest?
Zoom Zoom Zoom
Collect some old cardboard and create your own rocket, like the children in this book! Sing the rhyme as you launch your rocket.
What will you do when you ‘land’ on the moon?
Why not lay out a blanket and have a picnic?
You could inflate a balloon and play moon volleyball in slow motion.
Are there any aliens you could greet?
Could you create your own flag and find somewhere to display it?
Not everyone manages to visit the moon - maybe you should video call a relative to tell them all about your trip?
Spring
This board book contains lots of inspiration for fun things you can do. Have a go at copying some of the activities in your garden, or during your daily walk.
Amazing Me: Dressing Up
The children in this board book have lots of fun dressing up.
Do you have a dressing up box? If not, you can create one by filling a box with roleplaying toys and accessories (binoculars, toy stethoscopes, party hats etc.).
Now you should have everything you need to host your own fashion show! Line up toys to make the audience and do your silliest walk in your new fashion.
Can you dress up as your favourite characters?
Depending on your child’s age, you could play a match-up game; mix up some costumes and props in the box and let the child dress you for the job that you suggest. (E.g. Announce you are a vet, and hopefully you’ll be given a stethoscope and a dinosaur toy)
The children in the book use card and paper to make masks - why not try that yourself?
Clive is a Teacher
Turn your house into a classroom; display drawings on the walls and cast some toys as pupils.
Let the child act as a teacher and lead the play; you might learn something new!
Make your own water table: Fill the kitchen sink with water, plastic measuring tools and bottles, and bath toys. Put on an apron and have fun splashing and pouring!
Bib On, Bunny
Waggle the bunny finger puppet and chat to young children about mealtimes. If possible, prepare some of the food shown in the book, so that you can eat as you read together.
Sleep Tight, Teddy
Take on the role of the teddy and use the finger puppet to talk about bedtime. What happens when teddy yawns? Does it make everyone else yawn too?
Clive is a Waiter
Your house is now a restaurant! Take it in turns to play the waiter and customer. Draw food on a piece of paper to make a menu. If you have it, use play food and pretend to cook together.
Early Years New Skills set
Grow It!
If you have a garden, use the book as inspiration to teach children basic skills, such as planting seeds and weeding.
Do you have any food leftovers that you could turn into gardening projects? Look up tips on growing fruit from pips/stones online. You can also make a garden using a tray and carrot tops!
Fix It!
In this book, a child helps an adult to fix something.
Is anything around your house currently broken? Explain to children what the object usually does, and show them that it isn’t able to do that at the moment. Demonstrate how you can fix it so that you don’t need to buy a new one (where safe, ask the child to help you in some way).
Ideas:
Sewing on a button
Glueing a broken toy back together
Oiling a squeaky door
Screwing a screw back into place
This activity teaches children problem-solving as well as specific skills.
Hickory Dickory Dock (softcover)
This book can be used as a great starting point for understanding time. Try to gather toys which match the characters in the book (or draw them on paper and cut them out) to make the reading more interactive.
Check an analogue clock at certain times of the day - if it’s close to an hour, you could sing a relevant line from the book!
My First Signs
This book can be used to teach babies and toddlers basic signs. For very young children, it’s a great way to communicate needs. Older children may enjoy teaching their younger siblings how to understand each other before they learn to talk!
For signing tips, visit the Baby Signing area of our website
Amazing Me - Dance
Put on some music and dance around! Can you create and name your own dance moves? Why not film your new routine and share it with relatives?
Animal Exercises (softcover)
Start off your day with some gentle exercises! Can you think up your own poems about animals? What’s your favourite animal and why? Can you imitate it with a stretch or action?
Dinosaur Diner
In this finger puppet book, Dinosaur learns the importance of a balanced lifestyle. Use the puppet to chat with children about exercise and how often you should eat treats. Can the children convince Dinosaur to change his ways by listing fun activities? If you tell him about riding a scooter or using a hula hoop, he might realise that staying fit is fun!
Down in the Jungle (softcover + CD)
This book comes with a CD and lends itself to lots of different actions! Come up with a gesture for each animal together. A great way to keep children occupied on laundry day; talk them through using a washing machine and how much easier it is than washing clothes in a jungle river (the socks won’t float away!) After the washing has finished, hang it up together and later have a game to see who can pair socks the fastest!
It’s always important to support the people around you, but this theme is particularly relevant at the moment.
The Little Red Hen (softcover)
This book about fairness can be used to start a discussion about sharing work and offering to help.
Ask children who they think is being fair and who is being unfair.
What would they do if they were the Little Red Hen?
The Big Red Rock
Bif learns to overcome an obstacle with the help of his friends.
Each of Bif’s friends has a special skill; ask the child what they’re good at - how could they use their skill to help Bif? Could they sing at the rock? Or kick a football against it?
Draw a big red rock on a piece of paper. On the left of the rock list things that the child finds difficult; on the right side list the people who help them with these problems. For example, a child who struggles with spelling might write that on one side and their teacher’s name on the other.
Crunch
Crunch regrets his decision to refuse to share his food with a visiting rat. This book can be used to discuss the importance of sharing. If appropriate, you could link the book to the reasons why people are currently only buying necessities at the supermarket and why there’s a limit to the quantities you can buy.
Find printable Crunch activities here
Ice in the Jungle
Ice leaves her home and moves to the jungle. The unfamiliar new place makes her anxious, but her classmates find a way to make her feel better.
Discuss how the animals make Ice feel welcome. Encourage empathy by asking the child what they would do to help Ice.
Although Ice struggles with change initially, the support of her new friends makes it easier for her to adjust. You could link this book to the Coronavirus crisis by talking about how difficult times are temporary. You could also use it to teach children that communities will always support each other, even if it’s hard to see; there’s a part of the book where Ice’s classmates are too busy to spend time with her, but that’s because they’re preparing a party. Social distancing is a bit like that; we’re avoiding each other so that we can all celebrate afterwards.
Find printable Ice in the Jungle activities here
The Lion's Share
This book is about sharing in its many different forms!
Use the puppet to chat with children about all the different kinds of things that can be shared (e.g. food; time; work) and how they feel when someone doesn’t share. How does the child feel when they share something nice with a friend?
Errol's Garden
Errol and his neighbours work together to create an amazing garden on their shared roof!
The book contains lots of examples of people using their individual skills to create a green space - can you and the child think of other ways that people can work together to help others?
Draw a birds-eye-view of a dream garden. What sort of flowers, trees and plants will you grow? Would you have a big lawn or a patio? Is there space for a treehouse?
The Flower
Brigg lives and works in a gloomy city where everyone is lonely. His life is brightened when he plants a flower seed. This book can be used to show children that it’s possible to reverse bleak circumstances and that things will be better soon.
Scaredy Cats
Two kittens go on an errand for their mother. They worry about all the things that could go wrong, but they’re brave and don’t give up. The book can be used to teach children perseverance and help them to understand that certain worries are unrealistic.
The Boy Who Lost His Bumble
A boy loves spending time with the bees in his garden, but one day they disappear - what should he do? Like the other titles in this set, the book shows children that things can and will get better soon.
The Very Long Sleep
Fox’s housemates forget to mention that they sleep through winter, leaving poor fox all alone! A timely story about loneliness and isolation with a reassuring message that things will return to normal soon.
3-7 Homeschooling Resources set
Ants Go Marching (Softcover)
Practice times tables with this fun rhyme!
Our Solar System
An enthralling and educational tunnel book. Dim the lights and shine a torch through the hole for a magical lesson about the planets.
Ocean Deep
Peer through the hole of this tunnel book and learn all about the creatures who live deep beneath the ocean!
Butterfly
A pop-up book filled with facts and details to explore!
Numbers Factory (game)
This game can be played on different levels of difficulty. It’s a great way to learn maths and have fun at the same time!
Tilly's At Home Holiday
Tilly’s friends are going away on holiday, but she’s staying at home! Luckily, her mum has plenty of imaginative ideas to make their staycation experience exciting. Tilly’s mum shows us that even ordinary things can become special treats, if you take a different approach. Here are some ideas from the book:
Have breakfast in bed
Make a blanket fort just like Tilly’s and fill it with books.
Have a picnic in your garden
Find printable Tilly’s At Home Holiday activities here
And Then…
Children are great storytellers! The girl in this picture book tells an incredibly long and interesting story.
Ask the child if they can create a story of their own, but it must include five things that you list for them. Alternatively, you could select the words together: open a dictionary on random pages and note down the first words your fingers land on.
The Jar of Happiness
Meg invents her own happiness and stores it in a jar. This book inspires lots of sensory activities; you could find a clean, empty jar and fill it with objects that make you happy. What does your happiness smell like? A sweet shop? Does it taste like bananas?
Find printable The Jar of Happiness activities here
Baking with Dad
It’s rewarding to bake together; take inspiration from the father and daughter in this funny picture book and have a go at making something yourselves!
Keep an eye out for the cat!
If you don’t have enough ingredients to bake at the moment, you could print off one of the ‘Baking session’ vouchers from our website and gift it to someone in a handmade card.
Find printable Baking with Dad activities here
This collection of books and games were selected for their use of language!
Learn lots of new words together and practice spelling them.
You could also practice looking up words in a dictionary.
If you’re feeling creative, choose one of the books and have a go at writing in the author’s style.
Wind
Make your own pinwheels, flags and windsocks. Display them in your garden, or attach them to a long stick and hold them out of a window so children can see how the wind affects them.
Spring & Summer
These board books contain lots of inspiration for fun things you can do. Have a go at copying some of the activities in your garden, or during your daily walk.
Cat's Colours
Cat calmly walks around collecting colours she sees in nature. This picture book can be used to encourage children to look more carefully at the things they find in nature, like plants and insects.
On your daily walk, take photos of brightly coloured things - can you collect all seven colours of the rainbow?
Click here for Cat's Colours activities!
Sun
Cast shadows together - can the child make a shadow that’s taller than yours?
Can you make shadow puppets of your favourite animals using just your hands?
Use a small mirror to manipulate sunlight around a room (taking care to avoid shining it in someone’s eyes!) See if you can make the spotlight ‘dance’ to music.
Animal Babies: In the River
Animal babies have interesting names! How many can you remember?
Talk about which of the animals you have seen in real life. Which is your favourite?
Pocket Frog
After you’ve finished reading this pocket-sized book, hide it somewhere in the room and ask the child to find it. Make frog noises while they search, and ribbit louder and more often whenever they get closer to it.
Beyond the Fence
Piggy’s life is lonely until he meets a wild pig, who tells him all about the world beyond the fence. Children may be able to empathise with Piggy’s isolation. This book can be used to encourage children to look forward to spending more time outside once it is safe to do so.
Click here for more information about Beyond the Fence and discussion prompts
Hide and Seek
The little girl in this book spends a day in the countryside, playing hide and seek with her animal friends.
While on your daily walk, point out good hiding places.
Can you see any animals that are hiding? You may spot some squirrels watching you from trees, or birds chirping in hedges.
Little Home Bird
Little Bird is anxious when he needs to migrate for the winter. Children may find Little Bird’s fears about his future relatable. The book can be used to introduce children to the topic of migration - after reading the book you may want to look up which of your local birds are only visiting you for a few months.
Butterfly & Egg, Tadpole, Frog
These pop-up books about metamorphosis are fascinating!
After learning about the shape-shifting abilities of common creatures, children will have a new appreciation for them.
Grow It
If you have a garden, use the book as inspiration to teach children basic skills, such as planting seeds and weeding.
Do you have any food leftovers that you could turn into gardening projects? Look up tips on growing fruit from pips/stones online. You can also make a garden using a tray and carrot tops!
3-7 Respecting the Environment Set
Recycling!
Filled with conversational text, this book about recycling is a fantastic introduction to the crucial habit of recycling as much household waste as possible.
Ask children to help you sort your recycling into the correct boxes. Talk them through the importance of cleaning the waste carefully, and point out the recycling information displayed on most packaging.
King Leonard's Teddy
King Leonard learns the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling our waste.
Click here for discussion points and teaching notes for King Leonard’s Teddy! (External link)
Click here to find some printable activity sheets for King Leonard’s Teddy!
The Lost Stars
In this picture book about light pollution, the stars get fed up of being ignored and leave the sky!
Click here for teaching resources for The Lost Stars!
Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer (softcover)
Our version of this popular song contains illustrations related to the environment. After singing your way through the book, go back to the start and talk about what you can see in the illustrations.
What do the aliens think of our planet?
Rainforest
Learn all about the biodiversity of our precious rainforests using this picture book.
Fact sheets at the back provide more details about the unique creatures that live in the habitat.
Click here for printable activity sheets for Rainforest!
Great Googly Moogly
Stella is determined to reel in the huge fish in her lake - but is it hers to catch?
This book can be used to discuss selfless decisions and the surprising results of showing kindness to the animals that share our planet.
The Flower
Brigg lives and works in a gloomy city where everyone is lonely. His life is brightened when he plants a flower seed. This book can be used to show children that it’s possible to reverse bleak circumstances and that things will be better soon.
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