Free-flow ideas for sci-fi fun! Your class will love thinking up feature ideas for an alien, and independent writers will be keen to fill up the lines of this sheet with their descriptions. Are the alien’s eyes rolling, red, twinkly as stars, or different again? Could its skin be soggy, spiky, scorching as desert sand or covered in green hair, perhaps? Discuss possibilities with the class to unlock minds, and let each read out a line afterwards. See my other free alien writing sheet too, for a format variation - also my other space writing sheets, featuring planets, stars, and space rhymes.

‘My leaf’ is the title of this colouring sheet, but there are several extra leaves, of different shapes, floating and falling around the main one, reflecting the variety of leaf types to be found in our woods and parks. Some of the leaves are curling, perhaps representing autumn or just their natural tendency to curl and twist. **SEE ALSO - ** **Mini-beasts colouring sheet - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/minibeasts-colouring-sheet-12049563 + ** Butterfly colouring sheet - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/butterfly-colouring-sheet-12043732 + 3 colouring sheets with tints + hints (nature-themed) - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/colouring-sheets-with-tints-hints-3-11929704

This FREE resource is a fun and simple rhyme to chant, clap and enact with your young class. Its words will inform, thrill, amuse and inspire, also spurring creative responses through physical actions and sounds. The punchy verses evoke the vastness of the jungle, its varied flora and fauna, its vibrancy, mystery danger, with warnings of tails, wings, bites, stings, a swinging monkey and a springing tiger. Tips for use and development are provided below the four rhyming couplets. See my other jungle resources too, sprinkled through my catalogue.

Snow is … This simple, one-line picture poem will tempt any emergent writer to have a go at a word or more to describe snow, especially if they’ve just been out in some! Encourage with simple suggestions, such as soft, cold, fluffy, fun… For more adventurous writers, encourage interesting words like - smooth, gentle, swirly, floating, peaceful, pure white, white as icing sugar, calm, exciting, magical, twinkly, crunchy. See also my harder version: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/snow-writing-ys-1-3-12466490

This attractive ocean picture and simple phrase-starter will inspire young children to get writing and colouring. The Ideas Sheet offers suggestions for warm-up, word-prompting, similes and further development from this simple resource. See also my Phonics in the Sea - 10 big, bright words to read on a seaside photo: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonics-in-the-sea-10-words-to-read-12112315

**FREE! Autumn leaf picture to write inside and below, with colouring fun too. ** ’ Autumn leaves can be - ’ Describing words can be written inside the page-size leaf-drawing. Encourage words such as - crispy, floaty, gentle, calm, red, gold (+ other colours), crunchy, delicate, twirly, crinkly, dry, wet, soggy, spotty, beautiful, colourful, torn, ripped, patched. Text below picture - 'They are as colourful as __ ’ perhaps jewels, flowers, petals, treasure, fire, candles, fruit, strawberries or butterflies. Supports creativity, vocabulary, seasonal work, colour work, art and design, and PSHE (calming and uplifting). See my other leaf writing activities for all primary stages.

Young children will enjoy picking an item or more from this exciting jungle scene to complete the given phrase below - I can see…, sounding out the word and having a go at writing it. If help is needed in getting started, help children identify and select an item from the picture (e.g. tiger, flower, spider), and clarify the first sound and letter. Able writers could add a describing word or extra items. Colouring could be presented as a reward for the writing effort. This resource promotes an understanding of the natural world, including plants, animals and mini-beasts, and the concept of jungle or rain forest, supporting related studies. It also promotes literacy, fine motor control, colour sense, shape and pattern appreciation, and more. See my other wildlife writing + colouring sheets for a variety.

Attractively illustrated phonics writing sheet, with pale colours (assorted) for writing over. Text - 3 lines: hello hens hello bat hello big dog There is also a ‘hello’ heading to colour in. These simple words make meaningful sentences - cheerful greetings, engaging children and helping them to start reading. I have many other phonics sheets in this catalogue.

Fun in the Snow - this is a simple, 40-word story, lightly illustrated, about a boy enjoying the snow and making a snowman. There is an extra page highlighting a few words from the text - in different colours for extra fun. Engages young children, encouraging sounding-out and ‘have-a-go’ reading. See my other stories and also Phonics sheets, for more simple, fun reading.

Sh words to read and write, illustrated: fish, ship, shark, shell . Text in soft colours for over-writing. Lines below for re-writing, independently. ‘sh’ can also be over-written, at top and bottom of this full, A4 page. Simple, attractive, motivating activity. See my other Phonics sheets for more sound-writing.

Phonic short ‘a’, shown here in ‘cat’, with some extra little a’s to write over, too. Your emergent writers will enjoy writing over the pale orange letters to make the word ‘cat’ twice over, and on the three extra 'a’s in their attractive red loops. They’ll love colouring in the charming, black/white cat picture, too. For more, similar phonics activities, see my Phonic ‘o’ reading/writing sheets and my many other resources for sound/letter recognition and writing practice.

1 pig, 2 pigs, 3 pigs - this illustrated reading + writing sheet teaches the letter and sound ‘i’ with fun and meaning. Also teaches numbers and counting. The words are presented in three soft colours, for children to write over. See also my phonic sheets for o and a : https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonic-a-in-cat-12249906 (free) https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonic-a-cat-in-a-hat-12251051 https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/phonic-o-on-off-12248311 and more. (Click preference “newest”).

This writing sheet features the letter and phonic ‘e’ in ‘hen’ and ‘red hens’, with attractive pictures to illustrate and enhance understanding. Children can colour in the white hen, and also count the 3, adding the ‘1’ and ‘2’ given. Supports phonics, handwriting, reading, spelling, numbers, adding, and also nature and animal studies. The colour red is also highlighted, supporting colour work, and fine motor skills are developed in the colouring. If you like this sheet, see my others for different vowels, in my catalogue/shop. Click ‘newest’.

p, f and d are shown next to familiar pictures starting with their letters: pig, fish, dog. The words are not written out, but just brought to mind, with meaningful association. Extra copies of the letters follow the pictures, reinforcing the link. Children can write over all the pale letters. Help them sound them out as they go. See my other phonics sheets for young children, all attractively illustrated, some free.

Bring fun and laughter into your space studies with this two-page, quick-fire roll of crazy, snappy rhymes about aliens, rockets, stars and more! Most are couplets, with a few 4-line verses too, and all are bonkers! They’ll inspire variations and brand new rhymes from your class, boosting their literacy skills. The rhymes are my own, and I’ve used some in my space poetry sessions. TIPS for class rhymes - I recommend starting with “space”, eliciting a list of single words that rhyme with it to write below. Then fill up the line leading up to “space”, e.g. I saw an alien up in space, and finally think up a line to end with your rhyming word, e.g. She was doing up her lace. Have fun! **SEE ALSO ** - PLANET poetry frame (Yrs 2-4) - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/planet-poetry-frame-ys-2-4-12018025 + Planet picture-poem frame (KS2) - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/planet-picture-poem-frame-ks2-guidance-sheet-11886984

This simple, punchy poem clarifies and celebrates the main colours - blue, red, green, yellow, orange, silver and gold, black and white, grey and brown. Pink can be added as a class contribution, following the poem’s pattern. It can be clapped, chanted, and presented with a display of colours, to help young children learn them. Here’s a fun colour riddle for your class to watch and hear (also by me): ‘What Colour am I?’ https://youtu.be/JGKvOUDyXmk

This large and varied list of rhyming words will provide the backing you need for class dragon poems. See video for extra ideas + song! Select your favourite words, or those best suited to your group, and read out some of the example verses on the next page, to build your class poem, or help children concoct their own, in pairs or individually. These words and examples offer funny, exciting, mysterious and crazy possibilities, opening up the potential for inspired creativity. Your pupils will love this activity. Watch your reluctant writers and hesitant speakers come alive as the activity takes off! With young children, make up your own, leaving a word gap for contributions, or concoct a simple couplet together. Clap the beat to ensure a punchy rhythm. Now, how about some illustrations?

Lead your class into the wonderful, wild woods with this rich and varied array of descriptive words, similes and creature references. Draw from it for your own use and to prompt more suggestions from your students. This comprehensive list provides for every sort of wood, from damp and soggy to misty and mysterious, sparkling and scented, and twitching with animal life. The last column lists hints of creature and plant activity - squawks, squeaks, prickles and stings… Let your young writers roam this absorbing concept-bank to build their own ideas for creative writing, drama, art, music or speaking.

Creative writing flows with a fun picture-poem frame, so your 5-7 year-old will be keen to think up words and similes to fill this fluffy cloud and the lines below. Prompt suggestions are provided on the Guide sheet, and your warm-up activities and real-life observations will inspire them further. See my Sun + Cloud resource for simpler writing and sunshine focus; also my Rain Rhymes resource. YouTube recording of my poem ‘What is a Cloud?’ https://youtu.be/EOKVIktMh10

8 outdoor-classroom literacy ideas. Outdoor learning addresses obesity, fitness, mental wellbeing, brainpower, and pupil attitude, inspiring and stimulating through fun, fresh air and free movement. The change of setting from the classroom, and the sensual stimuli of outside influences brings learning alive for children. This ideas list for Literacy lessons will help you maximize use of your school grounds and environment for reading, writing, creativity and performance skills, motivating and stretching students of all abilities and ages.