A creative and fun set of lesson plans linked by the theme of a Treasure Chest. Relevant to the EYFS and the National Curriculum, any teacher, supply teacher or NQT can pick up and use these lesson plans. All resources or their alternatives should be easily found in teaching bases, and there is a good mix of teacher- and child-led activities. Each plan has carefully constructed aims and success criteria, learning sequences and relevant key words, lists of requirements and resources, and additional notes to help you have great lessons. The lessons include: list writing, counting and addition, drawing and painting, designing and making, music and drama, sorting and classifying. Differentiation at three levels in built in to the plans, and there is ample opportunity for extension or ideas to develop into bigger projects. Worksheets are included were applicable, but these are here to give you an idea of what could be added to workbooks or to inspire your own alternatives. ****NEW! Revised and new lesson plans now included and extra resources added, including Learning Objectives on the sheets ready to use or edit. **** PDF versions also included to prevent any problems with format when downloaded (hopefully). Please see https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/pirates-galore-6013941 for my FREE pirate resources I’d love to hear how you get on, so leave a message in the review section or contact me via twitter @EmmisStories

A lesson plan and worksheets (or ideas for display activities) for the ingredients. Great inspiration for World Book Day or Book Week activities, or inspiring young readers and writers to talk about their favourite books, this will get them thinking and putting ideas on paper or provide a focus for a class discussion. Suitable for EYFS and KS1, I have done this activity as individual, group and class discussion work, and each time it has been different and the same! It's always fun, interactive, spirited, but full of ideas that come out of nowhere. Be prepared to be amazed. Please let me know how you get on, via the review box or twitter @EmmisStories

An introduction to story writing for children, as it goes through the basics of identifying what makes a character interesting and then how to create characters, step by step. There are tips for teachers on how to deliver the lesson, aims, success criteria, and a list of easy-to-find resources. Used in conjunction with my What Makes a Good Story? lesson (find it here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/what-makes-a-good-story-11809440), they make a good sequence of lessons. This is a lesson that has been tried and tested in the classroom and really works! Adaptable across the primary age range, this lesson works best with Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2.

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.