Here are lots of activities based on the full text of the tale of Hansel and Gretel from the collection made by the Grimm brothers. There’s loads of ideas for both indoors and outdoors, with plenty to keep children’s minds and hands busy and active as they explore and learn, while interacting with one of Europe’s oldest folk tales. There is a full introduction to the text used, with a brief historical notes on the context of the setting. I have included an approach to how to bring the text to children, either as a read story or a performed oral tale. Following that, there are fun activities designed for warm-up games for concentration or drama, creative activities indoors or outdoors, at Forest School or outdoor learning areas. Tasks include: carving, cookery, puppetry, making and following pathways, fire safety, hot chocolate and bread, having a feast, drama, problem solving, art and design, science (light and dark), poetry and understanding texts. I have included a recommended background reading for teachers interested in the history of the Grimms Tales and the darker versions of the stories than the norm… Most of the activities are suitable for EYFS or Key Stage 1, but Lower Key Stage 2 would probably benefit from them too.

A fun-packed, jam-packed goodie bag of Tricks and Treats for primary aged children at Hallowe'en time. There's a detailed set of activities for drama games, an arty party and warm-up games with a spooky twist, involving music, mindfulness, concentration , role-play, and moments of calm. The activities can form sessions on their own, but can be cherry picked to be incorporated to stimulate or round-off similarly themed lessons. At the end of the document, there's a short but informative recommended book list, including notes on the origins of the folk stories we know today that are far more terrifying in their original forms than their Disneyified counterparts. JUST ADDED! A set of worksheets based on the skull decorations often seen during Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico and America. The first sheet provides illustrative examples for the children to look at and discuss (as a class. group, talking partner etc), the second sheet is a very basic colouring in (that can be added to with the children's own design and flowers etc), and the third is the basic skull shape, which is up to the children to design (and again flowers etc can be added). The children's skull pictures can be printed or stuck to card and made into masks by cutting out the eye holes and making holes at either side of the face.