As children colour in this star, in their own way, they’ll focus in on the concept of space, also absorbing and perhaps colouring in the other features in the picture. They’ll develop design technique, creativity, colour differentiation and fine motor control, and enjoy discussing the picture too, so this simple resource offers multiple learning and development potential. **SEE ALSO: ROCKET colouring sheet ** - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/rocket-colouring-sheet-11975239 + MY STAR IS - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/my-star-is-3-graded-versions-of-a-star-picture-poem-frame-early-yrs-yr-1-yr-2-11886766 .

Young children will enjoy thinking up a word to complete the phrase - This butterfly is…, sounding out their word and having a go at writing it. Colouring the picture could be a reward for their writing effort. Perhaps prompt for words like - pretty, colourful, red, blue, gentle, peaceful, soft, floaty, little, dancing, flappy, happy, beautiful. Let them attempt long words as they wish, building confidence in independent, expressive writing.

Your emergent writers will love choosing an item or more from this lively picture and writing the word in the space provided to complete the phrase - I can see… More words can be added, on the line or below. Where prompts are needed, point to familiar items in the picture, e.g. dog, boy, bus or bird, and help to sound out the word. Colouring in the picture can be a reward for the writing effort. This resource promotes literacy (vocabulary, phonics, independent expression and handwriting), fine motor skills, colour awareness, shading control, and awareness of the world outside. The picture also provides a focus for discussion.

Young children will enjoy thinking up a word or more to complete the phrase - I can see…, after studying this multi-featured picture. They might choose ducks, a frog, a pond, a bird, flowers, a bee or a ladybird, for instance. They can then sound out the phonics and have a go at writing out the word(s), before colouring in the picture. This resource promotes literacy, creativity, fine motor control, a love of nature and animals, an understanding of the natural environment, and more. See my two higher-graded versions too.

Young children will enjoy colouring in this busy picture of a pond and its surroundings, including ducks, a frog, creepy-crawlies, grasses, flowers, tree, bird, sun and cloud-strewn sky. The resource offers learning through fun in multiple aspects - fine motor control, colour differentiation, creative expression, understanding and appreciation of nature and wildlife, and the buzzing activities of spring. The picture also offers a discussion focus.

This resource comprises a picture-poem frame and a one-page guide for the teacher’s use. Both are in PDF format. The picture-poem frame features a huge ladybird (hand-drawn). Above it is an opening phrase: ‘This ladybird is’, inviting describing words on the short, thick lines in and around the insect. Below it, there is a line for a simile, with the starting phrase ‘He is as red as’. The sheet is designed for emergent writers and newly independent ones, also providing colouring opportunities. The guidance notes offer tips for preparing children for the activity, followed by lists of words and simile ideas to prompt for. Some thoughts about the colouring aspect are also included. Although principally a Literacy activity, this resource supports other areas of the EYFS curriculum too, such as Understanding the World and Expressive Art & Design. It has been been successfully tried and tested in classrooms.

Young children love colouring, and these ready-started sheets inspire critical and creative thinking as they work. The light dabs of colour provide spurs and guidance, drawing attention to detail, shape, pattern and colour-scope, as well as the interesting picture itself. The 3 sheets represent natural summer themes: a blooming, buzzing meadow, a beautiful butterfly, and a sailing boat on a wavy, fishy sea. Recommended for ages 4-7.

These rhythmic rhymes focus on colour, one specifically on red, the other, various colours, each representing a dragon. Guidance notes are included with each, with suggestions for extra verses and setting to music/acting out. Their titles are: ‘Red is for Strawberries’ and ‘Colourful Dragons’. Some young children have difficulty identifying colours by their names, so these rhymes will help, with their catchy rhythms, graphic images and invitations for further ideas. These activities support the curricular learning areas of Literacy, Expressive Arts & Design, Communication & Language, and Physical Development.

These 3 simple rhymes bring the mini-beast world alive for young children. Each offers rhyme, rhythm, descriptive words and scope for multiple activities: clapping, enacting, language-building, physical movement, performance, and preparation for any follow-on writing. The rhymes could also be set to music or percussion, or sung to a made-up tune. I made up the rhymes and have found them effective in my poetry workshops for Early Years and KS1. (Illustrations also mine.)

These punchy, fun rhymes each celebrate a colour, listing and describing different items of that colour in ways that bring it to life for children. The ‘green’ one is an action rhyme; the others are best read aloud. Invite further item suggestions for extra verses - they don’t need to rhyme, provided you can sustain the rhythm. Pick one of these to start a phonics, poetry or descriptive writing lesson. Children from Early Years to upper KS2 will find them thought-provoking and stimulating.

Orange, yellow, purple and black/white/grey are the focus of these catchy, meaningful rhymes. I have written them to help young children identify colours and associate them with familiar items, also triggering ideas and inviting discussion. The rhythms and rhymes serve as introductions to poetry, too. Some of these are best for reading and listening, others for chanting, clapping and acting out.

These inspiring and attractive writing sheets of birds in flight (3 graded versions) will enthuse your independent and emergent writers. After a stimulating input - watching birds, flying like birds yourselves and building a word-bank of action and describing words for them, they’ll love choosing their favourites to write on the flowing, wavy lines. There’s plenty of colouring to do, too. The Guide sheet offers handy ideas to bring in. Supports bird migration, autumn and journeys themes.

This 5-sheet resource comprises a castle picture-poem, easier/harder, and a castle-characters picture-poem in 3 graded versions. These are attractive sheets with lively, hand-drawn illustrations of old, cobwebby, crumbling castles, the graded ones featuring characters such as a ghost, king and queen. Children have the fun of writing directly onto the castles - a particularly vivid experience in the ‘My castle is’ activity. Describing words are invited on each sheet. These writing frames are self-explanatory, having starter phrases followed by thick lines for writing, with increasing opportunities for imaginative, expressive input on the graded character sheets. For ‘My castle is’, prompt for describing words such as: old, crumbly, tall, spooky, dark, haunted, spidery, cold, windy, grand, royal, huge, hard, rat-infested, ghostly, scary, massive, golden, fine, splendid, stone, rich, ancient, mysterious, creepy, abandoned, damp, shadowy, candle-lit, and ruined. On the Castle Characters graded sheets, encourage a range of personality attributions for the ghost, king and queen, such as kind, mean, cruel, crazy, gentle, friendly, and various colours. The ghost might be see-through, floaty, spooky or dancing. This is principally a Literacy resource, though it also offers scope for expressive art through colouring, and an intriguing window onto the past.

These 5 simple, rhythmic rhymes focus on everyday concepts. Their titles are: Busy Street, In the Park, Windy Day, Taller and Smaller, and School is for Me. Each rhyme sheet includes guidance notes. Suitable for clapping, enacting, word-swapping and performing with embellishments (such as percussion, a tune, or extra actions). They support the learning areas Understanding the World, Expressive Arts & Design, Literacy, Communication & Language, and Physical Development. The rhymes (and illustrations) are my own.

These larger-than-life spider pictures are fun to write on, and the Guide offers word prompt ideas for each section. Both writing sheets invite describing words and action words for spiders, though the pictures are different. On the ‘Spider’ sheet, words can be written on the eight legs; on the ‘Speeding Spider’ sheet, they can be written along the zigzag line of its route over the… floor/grass/path/step? That’s for the child to decide. The first offers colouring opportunities; the second, space for imaginative drawing or shading. Both sheets are hand-drawn and home-produced, and have been successfully tried out in my workshops.

Sunshine and clouds are the focus of this 4-sheet pack. The illustrated writing sheets - or picture poems - provide attractive and accessible means for children to develop their writing and phonics skills, also spurring creativity and stretching active vocabulary. There are colouring opportunities too. The accompanying rhymes can be chanted, clapped, swayed to or enacted, and are recommended (on the Guidance Sheet) as warm-up activities. The Guidance Sheet offers lists of prompt ideas for each writing sheet, with development suggestions for the cloud one. Suggested preparatory activities are also included. The sheets are hand-illustrated and home-produced, rather than machine-perfect. All sheets are black-and-white, PDF. YouTube recording of my poem: ‘What is a Cloud?’ - https://youtu.be/EOKVIktMh10