Some children can be anxious when they feel sick or are hurt and need to visit the school nurse. A classroom visit from the nurse to demonstrate what he/she does can help to overcome this. There are 8 editable common scenarios here to role play with class toys or teddies. For example, taking temperature, using a hot water bottle or ice pack, putting on a plaster. If children are still anxious, especially about going to the ‘sick room’ they could take a teddy to visit the nurse with a scenario card for a further demonstration. A hospital or doctor role play area with the teddies is a good follow up to this lesson. For more information or ideas check out the post on teacherstellingtales.com https://teacherstellingtales.com/a-visit-from-the-nurse/ Update: new resources developed to encourage writing in the role play area, doctor’s consultation and prescription (simple pictorial sheet for early years). https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/doctor-s-orders-role-play-writing-frames-12248191

A mini story and quiz presentation with pattern colouring and treasure hunt activities. Good for Follow up to reading The Mixed-up Chameleon by Eric Carle. Topics : Animals, Colour, Pattern, Camouflage. Observation Skills: looking carefully at pattern and colour. Contents and Ideas: (a resource guide is also included) The Content Chameleon presentation. A mini story and quiz about the no-longer-Mixed-up Chameleon returning to the zoo. He has lots of fun trying out animal patterns. The children guess the animal from the chameleon’s pattern. (All background photos are free to use and links are provided in the notes.) Pattern Colouring Sheets. An outline of the chameleon filled with an animal pattern. Children continue the pattern to hide the chameleon. Nine animal patterns and a blank outline are provided. Blank chameleon outlines. A portrait and landscape version. These can be used as colouring sheets or traced onto plastic pockets to explore inserting different colours and patterns. The traced chameleons can be placed around the classroom or playground for a chameleon treasure hunt. A few photos of ideas are included in the resource guide. Free Chameleons presentation with interesting facts, free images with links, YouTube and child-friendly website links for further exploration.

Activities to accompany the storybook ‘Flyaway Katie’ by Polly Dunbar. Good for: Actively involving children during story time, developing listening skills, vocabulary, following instructions. Students learning English as an additional language. Topics: colours, clothes, body parts, feelings. Contents and Ideas: Story Elements cards with colours (8), body parts (4) and clothes (4) from the story. Give out to children individually or in pairs and ask to hold up their card when they hear it mentioned in the story. Follow-along Sheet. Children colour the picture of Katie, then look at the checklist with an adult.

Activities to accompany ‘Flyaway Katie’ by Polly Dunbar Good for: Getting to know each other. Talking about feelings. Students learning English as an additional language. Topics: feelings, colours, clothes, shapes, patterns. Contents Lesson plan with ideas for children to talk about what makes them happy. Read and Record Sharing Sheet Blank to enlarge for teacher to record children’s responses. Editable version for students to record with words or pictures. Flyaway Self Portraits Templates, blanks and with simple outline drawings to choose from. Display ideas.

Pirate anagrams are a great way to introduce or reinforce topic vocabulary. This worksheet has picture clues alongside the mixed up letters and a space to write the word correctly. It can be kept to refer to when completing writing tasks to assist with spelling. Also useful as an activity for early finishers. A greyscale version is included for ink saving or for those who like to colour in their work. The worksheet can be downloaded on its own or as part of a pirates pack, check out the other pirate themed resources by Teachers Telling Tales.

Puzzles inspired by Little Fish’s quest to find his mum in the story Hooray For Fish! by Lucy Cousins. A colourful maze in the shape of a heart can be used to demonstrate how to solve a maze by projecting the image on an interactive whiteboard. It can also be printed and laminated for completing with dry wipe pens. The slightly more challenging circle maze encourages problem solving and pencil control skills. There’s lots of detail in the fish and background for colouring. A dot-to-dot picture for children to discover who Little Fish found also reinforces pencil control with the additional skill of following the numbers from 1-10. This resource is also good for colouring when complete. This resource can also be bought as part of a Hooray For Fish bundle.

Featuring the beloved little fish and his mum from the story by Lucy Cousins, these activities explore the rhyming words: tiny and spiny, hairy and scary, carrot and parrot, lime and time, heart and dart. This pack contains sets of picture, silhouette and word cards, Bingo cards and simple worksheets with three levels of challenge. There are greyscale versions of resources for those who want to save ink or include colouring as part of the activity. Themes: rhyming words, fish, under the sea Skills: shape recognition, cut and sticking, colouring, beginning reading and writing skills. A guide is enclosed with the pack which includes ideas for card games. These activities are a great springboard for creative work, inventing new rhyming fish. This resource is part of a Teachers Telling Tales series inspired by the Hooray for Fish story and can also be purchased as part of a bundle.

These sheets inspired by Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins feature little fish and some new fishy friends created by Teachers Telling Tales. They are great for developing fine motor skills, awareness of shape and pattern and early writing skills. The fishy characters feature in a range of resources by Teachers Telling Tales on opposites, rhyming words and puzzles. They can be bought individually or you can bundle and save.

Featuring the beloved little fish and his mum from the story by Lucy Cousins, these activities explore the opposites: big and little, fat and thin and happy and grumpy. This pack contains sets of picture, silhouette and word cards and simple worksheets with three levels of challenge. There are greyscale versions of resources for those who want to save ink or include colouring as part of the activity. Themes: opposites, fish, under the sea Skills: shape recognition, cut and sticking, colouring, beginning reading and writing skills. A guide is enclosed with the pack which includes ideas for card games. This resource is part of a Teachers Telling Tales series inspired by the Hooray for Fish story and can also be purchased as part of a bundle.

Originally created for the IPC topic Sand and Water, this presentation is designed to stimulate children’s interest in sand, answer basic questions and inspire further exploration. Aimed at young children it features large colourful pictures and simple text (generally one heading and a sentence on each slide, (with more detail and some links in the notes for presenters). Questions prompt children to say what they already know or think and there are a few questions for them to guess where the answer is revealed, keeping their attention. It covers how sand is made and why it is different colours, animals that live or hide in sand, sand in the desert, how we use sand and sand art. This presentation is great as an introduction to scientific or creative exploration of sand, for example whether dry or wet sand is best for sculpture, making patterns by sprinkling or creating texture with sand. It is also a good stimulus for researching sandy habitats and how plants and animals have adapted to living in them.

Read the poem and colour the pictures. Good for reading comprehension, EAL, extending colours and animals vocabulary. This poem is fantastic for introducing new colour words like ‘lavender’, ‘turquoise’, ‘lilac’. It gives students the opportunity to explore blending colours and creating lighter and darker shades using different pressure. The worksheets with the poem allow teachers to assess students’ understanding. The blank sheet (with just the pictures) allows students to use their imagination and be encouraged to record their ideas by writing their own descriptions. A resource guide gives suggestions for use and differentiation. The worksheets are provided in PDF and Word (editable) formats. Dyslexia-friendly versions are included.

Great for a space topic. A fun alien poem for shared reading, worksheets with a copy of the poem for more careful reading and a space to draw the scene. A checklist is provided for students to work with a buddy and see how many of the descriptions they included in their drawing. (This could be printed on the back of the sheet). While they are challenged to include all the specified details, students can be encouraged to use their imagination to complete the scene. The activity provides lots of opportunities for discussion and develops reading comprehension skills. Worksheets provided in PDF and Word (editable) formats. Dyslexia -friendly font versions are provided.

In ‘Quack! said the Billy Goat’, the silly poem by Charles Causley, the animal sounds are all mixed up. The poem is fantastic for learning about farm animals, the sounds they make and using speech bubbles. Children enjoy making the sounds and exploring how to write them. This resource comes with a guide with suggestions for introducing the poem, shared reading ideas to involve children and follow up games. There are animal silhouette pictures, animal names and speech bubbles with sounds. These are in the form of a picture for retelling the poem and to make cards for games and activities.

Improve cutting skills by cutting along the lines. Test skills with zig zag (straight) and wavy lines. Cute cartoon minibeasts at the end of each dotted line. Check out the other minibeasts resources in the Teachers Telling Tales shop.

This resource pack features a board game and a set of cards with ten minibeasts and corresponding movements. The cards are great for brain breaks and circle times. With the board game children perform the action when they land on the minibeast, for example, spin when they land on a spider. There are variation prompts on the game such as saying a fact about the animal, saying how many legs it has or saying where it lives. The board also features pictures of where minibeasts are commonly found, for example, logs, flowers, a pond. There are minibeast habitats resources (as well as a range of other minibeast activities) in the Teachers Telling Tales shop.

Lots of fun activities to explore where minibeasts are found. Good for learning new vocabulary related to insects and small creatures, the natural world and prepositions. Can be used for games and classroom display. Contains a set of habitat cards and minibeast cards for sorting and matching activities. which way home activity, choose and follow the lines tracing lines, great for emerging writing and fine motor skills mazes for more of a challenge The minibeasts cards are perfect for creating class pictographs, of favourite minibeasts. Try sorting minibeasts into groups, e.g. things that fly, nocturnal, etc. Check out the other minbeasts resources in the Teachers Telling Tales shop, you can bundle and save.

Guess the minibeasts in a quiz (PowerPoint presentation), make up your own quiz then create a mini book. Through describing and guessing, children develop their knowledge about minibeasts and vocabulary related to colours, patterns, parts of the body, ways of moving, prepositions, habitats. For more of a challenge students can engage in research to find out more (links to suggested websites included). Instructions and templates for differing abilities are included for making origami books, a ‘mini mystery minibeast’ book! The teacher’s guide has all the information, the quiz questions and screenshots for easy reference. Check out the other minibeasts themed resources in the Teachers Telling Tales shop with bundle and save options.