World Book Day is fast approaching. This is often a day not dissimilar to Halloween in schools, with everyone dressing up as their favourite book or character in schools. This can cause stress for teachers, schools and families. But this was not why World Book Day was established. World Book Day was established to encourage a love of reading for pleasure.
Reading for pleasure impacts achievement across all curricular areas. We love books here, but we want to remember the magic of reading for pleasure. Therefore, we are sharing 5 free activities you can enjoy for World Book Day this year.
Reading Outdoors
Reading is at the core of World Book Day. With so many children experiencing distant learning at the moment, why not combine these to see the most unusual place to read a book. It might be under an old oak tree, in amongst Spring flowers, hidden in a den or curled on a picnic bench. Where can you read a book this World Book Day? If you would like a story, why not download our Green Man story? It is a wonderful story about caring, sustainability and looking after others.
Discover a Home
Books like Wolf Brother, Harry Potter, The Stickman’s have rich descriptions detailing where the characters live. Can you imagine a stone age camp like in Wolf Brother? Hagrid’s home or Aragog’s Web? What about the Stickman’s home? Could you recreate these outdoors using natural materials?
Learn
Why not take a walk and see what animals you can spot? When you get home or back to school, can you research these animals and write down some facts about them? We often think of stories and poems when reading for pleasure, but let’s not forget that reading for pleasure can also help us discover new and exciting things.
Scavenger Hunt
We love a good scavenger hunt, and it is even better when inspired by a book. Could you head out and find all the different textures used to describe the Gruffalo, from prickles to knobbles? What about looking for different types of trees for magic in herbology class at Hogwarts? Can you find different types of houses for the 3 Little Pigs?
Arts and crafts
Can you make a life size whale from Snail and the Whale? What about a huge Gruffalo, which links into the description, with prickles on his back and knobbles on his knees? Or what about using rope to make a huge web for the spider in Charlotte’s web? Or maybe simply use chalks to draw your favourite book as part of a book trail that encourages others to read? There are so many ways books can inspire us creatively.
Love Outdoor Learning offers a range of support for curriculum-based outdoor learning within the school, both primary and secondary. Our membership resource offers training and lesson ideas throughout the curriculum, and we regularly share blogs with new activity ideas and thoughts on outdoor learning. We can also offer on-site training and support.
We aim to help support as many educators as possible. We offer free support calls to help schools understand how we can support them in their learning journey. If you wish to book one, jump over to our diary.
