Get muddy with this fun activity where your class will create their very own mud creatures. Explain to your class that they will be creating a character using mud and other natural materials. You can either let them create whatever they like or get them to create a character from a book they’ve recently read. Once they’ve created their character they’ll either take a picture or draw it on the sheets and complete the blanks to describe their character. Extension: Get them to draw or tell a story involving the character they created. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Get muddy with this fun activity where your class will create their very own mud creatures to be used as inspiration for a character in a story. Explain to your class that they will be writing a story (you may want to give them a theme or let them have free rein) but first they are going to create one of the main characters using only mud and natural materials. This activity is best done after rain, but if not, just add a splash of water and your mud is ready to get creative. Teaching structure: Create the creatures. Complete the character description sheet. Plan and write the story with their new character. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This activity gets students walking around your outdoor space putting themselves in the shoes of a chosen animal. They’ll think about what that animal might be able to see, hear and feel. It’s a great introduction to diary writing that can be used as a stand alone activity or the lead up to a big write. It also links in nicely with your habitats topic. Teaching Structure: Explain to the students that they are going to go outside and find an animal. It could be anything from a tiny insect to a big bird. Tell them that they’re going to imagine they are their chosen animal and think about what that animal might see, hear, and feel. At this point it could be useful to choose one animal to go through together. Get them to go off and complete the differentiated sheets. After 15 - 20 minutes get them to come back and share what they’ve done with each other. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This is a fantastic activity to get your students exploring the smells of nature while thinking about adjectives. Give each student or pair a tub to take outside. Get them to collect and crush (using a stone or hands) flowers and leaves and put them in the tub to make their very own scent tubs. Once they’ve made their scent tubs, get them to complete the activity sheet where they’ll draw whats in their tub and write adjectives around the outside to describe what they can see and smell. This resource contains two activity sheets, one with a word bank and one without. ** Equipment needed:** Tubs Activity sheets Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This is a fun and creative activity for teaching the difference between verbs and adverbs where students will give instructions to act both a verb and adverb. In a large open space (ideally outdoors) give one student out of the group / class the activity sheet and get them to read out a verb followed by an adjective (they don’t have to be from the same row). The rest of the students must act out what has been said, for example, run slowly. Once they’ve played the game you can then give them a blank activity sheet for them to create their own game tables. This pack contains two levels of differentiation, one with a word bank and one without. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

For this activity your class are on a mission to save the weeds. They will adopt a weed and spend some time studying it carefully and thinking about all the good things about their weed. They will then write a letter to the caretaker or gardener persuading them to spare their weed from being poisoned or removed. This activity is great if you’re looking at persuasive writing, however it also has good links to plants and habitats as your class will research the benefits that their chosen plant has on local wildlife. Teaching structure: Instructions: Share the instructions with your class. Weed ID: Get your class to find a weed to adopt and complete an ID sheet for it. Research: Students will research their weed (internet, books, and observation), finding out how it can benefit the local wildlife. Persuasive writing plan: Students will begin to plan their letter. Letter template: Students can use a template to help them structure their letter if needed. Resources needed: Activity pack Internet access / books Magnifying glasses Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Get outside everyday for a month with this fun outdoor activity calendar. This resource contains 30 different easy activity ideas to do outside. It’s a fantastic way to encourage outdoor learning that both you and your children are sure to love. It contains activities covering many different topics from science to art. Enjoy your month outdoors! Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Get creative by creating characters using only natural materials that can be found in your outdoor space. For this activity students will create characters using leaves, sticks, stones and anything else they can find in your outdoor space. The story ‘Stick Man’ fits in really nicely with this activity and can be good to read before letting the students create their own characters. Once you’ve given students time to create their own characters it can be nice to go around and share their creations, getting them to explain a bit about their creations. You can take this activity even further by taking a photo of their character and sticking it on the sheet (quarter page) or getting them to stick their character directly onto the sheet (doesn’t work so well if sticks and stones are used!) and then getting them to write some adjectives or sentences to describe their character around the outside. This activity can make a great display! More ideas… Once they’ve created their characters you can also get a learning assistant to interview them about their characters. Where do they live? What do they like doing? What are they scared of? Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

4 differentiated templates for that all important Christmas letter to Santa! I don’t think there’s anything that’ll get your class more excited about writing than writing their Christmas wishes to Santa. Happy Christmas! Check out our outdoor Christmas Literacy Challenge here. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

End the year with this fun Christmas literacy challenge! This pack contains 10 cards that you can hide around your outside space each with a fun Christmas themed challenge covering a wide range of topics for the students to complete on the answer sheet provided. This activity is a great fun and practical lesson to do at the end of the year. **Topics covered: ** Acting Descriptions Adjectives Instructions Metaphors Rhyming Similes Spelling This resource requires minimal preparation, however a couple of the cards require some resources to go with them. Card 4 - This needs to be somewhere where children can write using chalk. Card 8 - Optional: Write the letters on this card on small stones so that children can physically move them around. Equipment needed: Task cards + Answer Sheet Chalk - Lettered stones (optional) Blindfold Check out our outdoor Advent Calendar here. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This is a fun Christmas themed Literacy activity where your students will write treasure map instructions for their partner to find the Christmas present. This activity works great at the end of term where you can give a little gift to each child to put in the present they hide and write instructions for. Teaching Structure: Give each child (or get them to make) a small box for them to decorate and put either a small note with a Christmas message or a gift you’ve provided inside. Explain that they’re going to hide the present outside and then write a set of instructions for their partner to follow, find, and unwrap. At this point it’s good to give an example of some instructions giving simple directions, demonstrating how clear and detailed they need to be. E.g. Walk forwards 10 steps. Turn right and walk to the big tree. Get the students to hide their present then come back to a designated starting point and begin to write their instructions. Once all of the instructions are finished, they can swap with their partner and try to find the gift. Extension: Get the student to draw a map to go along with their instructions. **Equipment needed: ** Activity pack Small box (or card for the students to make their own). Clipboards Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This activity gets students to use their imagination to change things they can find outside into weird and wonderful creations. It can be used really effectively when designing and describing characters before writing a story. Each student will choose a small natural item and place it in the first column of the table. Encourage them to spend some time looking at all the small details - it is great if they can use a magnifying glass when doing this. Next, they will re-create their item in the middle column. This could be done through a variety of ways (pencil drawing, coloring, chalk, etc.). After that they will use their imaginations to bring their item to life by drawing their new character in the next column. Finally they will describe their character by thinking of adjectives, a descriptive sentence, or similes and metaphors to describe their creation. It can be good to encourage the use of similes and metaphors here. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This activity gets students to use their imagination to change things they can find outside into weird and wonderful characters. It can be used really effectively when designing characters before writing a story, encouraging them to think about adjectives and character descriptions. Each student will choose a small natural item and place it in the first column of the table. Encourage them to spend some time looking at all the small details - it’s great if they can use a magnifying glass when doing this. Next, they will re-create their item in the middle column. This could be done through a variety of ways (pencil drawing, coloring, chalk, etc.). Finally they’ll use their imaginations to bring their item to life. Drawing their new character in the right hand column. There is a challenge sheet included with space to think of some adjectives to describe their character. Please don’t forget to rate resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This months of the year visual word search is a great way to reinforce or introduce your key vocabulary and help students learn the months. It’s great for morning work, filling activities, or just as some fun! Your class will learn the months in no time with the help of our fun visuals and word search. Key Vocabulary: January February March April May June July August September October November December Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This outdoor poetry activity gets students writing a simple poem about your outdoor space using their senses. Teaching Structure: Take the students into an outdoor space. Get them to sit quietly and think about what thy can see, hear, smell, touch, and feel. Once they’ve had time to think get them to write a poem by completing the differentiated poem templates. Along with the differentiated sheets, encourage students to use language in their poems appropriate to their ability. Once they’ve written their poems it is nice to share them together as a class. They can also make a great display! Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This is a fun and active way to get students thinking carefully about the difference between facts and opinions as part of your non-fiction texts topic. This resource contains animal and space themed task cards which the students need to sort into facts and opinions. There are two activities we enjoy using the cards for. Activity 1: Put students into teams of 4 or 5. In an open space, designate an area for facts and an area for opinions. Give each team a pack of cards and make them stand a good distance away from the designated fact / opinion areas (15 meters works nicely). Each team must take the top card and decide whether it’s a fact or opinion. Then one player must run and place the card in the correct zone before running back to their team. Once they’re back at their team they can discuss the next card and the next player can run to put it in the correct zone. Do this until all of the cards are in the correct zones. Activity 2: Designate an area for facts and an area for opinions (two sides of a playground work well). As you read out the task cards the students must decide whether it’s a fact or opinion and run to the correct area. If you want to turn this into a game, the last student to the correct zone is out. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This outdoor ‘facts and opinions’ activity is great as a starter or main activity for your non-fiction texts lesson. It will encourage them to think carefully about the differences between facts and opinions as they produce their own statements with about your outdoor area. Students will go to your outdoor area (this can also be done inside) and complete the table by writing facts in the left column and opinions in the right column about the area you are using. This activity is great when done both in pairs and individually. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Imagine if insects had a social media platform… well now they do! Your class will think like an insect and create a ‘bugbook’ page for their chosen insect. This is a great cross-curricular activity that will firstly get students looking at the features, habitats, and characteristics of insects in their outdoor space as well as practicing their non-fiction writing and research skills. It’s great when looking at description writing and non-fiction texts. You can also use this as a base to talk about internet safety using the question prompts provided. PSHE, science, and literacy all in one! Teaching Structure: Explain to your students that insects are getting social and love the new bugbook social media site. It’s their job to observe and research a chosen insect and make a bugbook profile for it. Share the example with them as a starting point to showcase the kind of things they may include. Get students to head outside, choose an insect they’d like to create a profile for and spend some time observing it, filling in as much of the research sheet as possible. They can then compete the sheet using the internet to research. Once the research sheet is complete they can create the insect’s profile using the templates provided. **Internet Safety: **Once they’ve completed their profiles, you can use the 10 internet safety question prompts to have a discussion with your class about the importance of being safe online. This could be done in small groups where each station is a different point outdoors. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Exploring the outdoors and rhyming go together perfectly. Your class will learn about word structures and rhyming while talking part in this fun physical activity. This activity will work best if you can give an input or lesson before taking the class outside. Once outside, each student / pair will find an object and write it in the first column of their table, for example, a tree. They’ll then go around and see if they can find another one or two things that rhyme with their original object. They can the repeat this until they’ve had a chance to find a few rhymes. This activity can be made more competitive by assigning rhymes points. Extension: Once they’ve got a good amount of rhymes they can use them to create their own poems using our templates provided. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!