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Say hello to crisp cool days and autumn enhancements! Have you kitted out your continuous provision with all things autumn or are you in need of some inspiration? Check out these 10 continuous provision ideas for EYFS and KS1! If you're short on time and too busy to create resources for your continuous provision, download your free 8-page autumn roll and cover activity here! English Activities for Autumn Continuous Provision Loose Part Letters Write your focus letters on A4 pieces of card. Grab as many autumn items as you can, such as conkers, pinecones, acorns, leaves and twigs. You can also include other red, yellow, orange and brown loose parts * , for example pom poms and feathers. Children cover the letter with the loose parts, talking about the sound which the letter makes and also the shape of it. Autumn Writing Your class will love these Autumn themed writing mats . They’re great for encouraging children to write simple phrases and sentences. Perfect for guided writing or continuous provision! Whether children are at the emergent writing stage or able to write simple phrases and sentences, these mats are sure to be a hit in your writing area! Just place them inside dry erase sleeve pockets * so that they can be used again and again! Tricky Word Shake and Read Here's a fun one for your phonics continuous provision. Divide the inside of a box up into a grid. Write a tricky word in each space. Shake a pinecone or conker inside the box, open the lid and read the word which it lands on! Children might want to have a go at writing the word too, so leave a whiteboard and pen out with the activity. If you want to reuse your shake and read box, just write your words on paper or card grids. That way, you can alternate which words are inside the box! Conker Sound Buttons This is an autumnal take on the phonics sound buttons activity. Instead of drawing a sound button, place a small conker underneath each sound in the word. Children should press the conkers, say the sounds and then blend them together to read the word! Maths Activities for Autumn Continuous Provision Autumn Addition and Subtraction These autumn-themed addition and subtraction games will be a huge hit with your class! Simply print them out, place inside dry-erase sleeve pockets, grab some playing pieces and go. Children could use conkers and five frames to help them with the calculations. Autumn Number Jigsaws From pumpkins to toadstools, umbrellas to squirrels - your class are bound to love these autumnal picture puzzles ! You'll love them too, as they're differentiated with number puzzles from 1-3 all the way up to 1-20! Even better, they come in black and white as well as colour. Leaf Count and Clip Another quick and simple set up for your maths continuous provision. Collect some autumn leaves and write a number on each one. Children clip the correct number of pegs to each leaf. Alternatively, they could place the correct amount of conkers on the leaves. Autumn Counting Cut and Stick You just need to print and go with this seasonal activity . Children cut and stick the numeral with the corresponding amount of cute autumn pictures. The perfect low-prep activity for your continuous provision! Fine Motor Activities for Autumn Continuous Provision Hedgehogs These cut little hedgehogs are easy to make. Mould some playdough into the shape of a hedgehog and add a button nose and googly eyes. Your class can add matchsticks for the spikes. They then remove the spikes using a peg or tweezers. How's that for an autumn fine-motor workout! Autumn Loose Parts Take your class out on an autumn walk. Talk about the sights and sounds whilst gathering autumn treasures. Add autumn-coloured ribbons, scarves, pom poms, lolly sticks and more. Children can then let their imaginations run wild as they create their own art, practise counting or tell stories using the loose parts . What Next? If you're short on time and too busy to create resources for your continuous provision, download your 8-page autumn roll and cover activity here ! Many of these autumn activities can be bought right here in my shop . From number games to phonics resources, loose parts to books - visit the No Worksheets Allowed Amazon page * now! *As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Do you keep hearing about loose parts play and wondering what on earth it is? Are you curious as to why people are giving their children baskets of 'junk'? Want to find out the method behind the madness? Learn more with this short inspiring read... The Benefits of Loose Parts Play Loose parts (or tinker trays) are ideal for developing children's creativity in the early years (EYFS). Essentially, they are just that - 'loose parts' - a collection of resources or materials with varied properties that can be used in many different ways. The idea of loose parts was introduced by Simon Nicholson in the 1970s. He presented his idea in an article, 'The Theory of Loose Parts, An important principle for design methodology.' Loose parts allow children's imaginations to run wild, with endless opportunities for open-ended play ! Instead of giving a child a toy doll or car, which can be used in a limited number of ways, loose parts are open ended. A cardboard box can be a shelter, a car, a boat and more! Ideally, the child will lead the activity whilst you are on hand to help them to develop their problem solving, counting, fine motor skills and more. Let them explore their own ideas at home, in your setting or outdoors. When children are left to explore, a collection of loose parts might become a face, a dinosaur or a tractor! Loose Parts Resources and Materials To begin with, look around your home or setting, outdoors, in charity shops, online market places, craft shops, home improvement stores and at scrap centres for items which you think might be useful for your collection. Small items can be used anywhere at any time! Large items are ideal resources for large scale tinkering. They may be better used outdoors, or you could set up a corner of your home or setting as a 'deconstructed role play area', where only open-ended loose parts are provided. Here's a useful list of resources which you can gather together. If you are an early years educator, you can ask parents to help you with this task! Feel free to add any more resources that you can think of in the comments section below. Small Items Leaves, twigs, pine cones, conkers, corks, peg dolls, wooden dolly pegs, feathers, shells, flowers, cardboard tubes, wooden curtain rings, cork tiles, natural loofah, buttons, bamboo products, brushes, wooden balls, keys, metal measuring cups, spoons, locks, napkin rings, bangles, paint sample cards, colourful gems, hair curlers, foam shapes, scarves, felt, ribbons, lolly pop sticks, make up brushes, sponges, empty picture frames, plastic tubs, empty jars, funnels, sieves, colanders, tweezers, chopsticks, golf tees, etc. Large Items Plastic guttering, tyres, buckets, pallets, planks, poles, tubing, plastic crates, logs, cardboard boxes, balls, bricks, etc. When you have gathered together your collection, you'll need something to store it in - a box or a lidded tray with compartments is ideal. This will help to keep the items at their best and protect them from the elements if outside. Now everything is ready for your little explorer! Next Steps with Loose Parts Play Over time, you should try to add to your loose parts set. You will start to notice treasures everywhere! Adding to your collection will help to stimulate and engage children in their play and hold their interest. You might want to create themed boxes, which can be rotated throughout the year: Seasonal Colour/Black and White Floating and Sinking Sound Celebrations Light Construction Art and Design Storytelling Small World Maths Playdough Remember to take care when introducing loose parts to little ones. Some smaller items are unsuitable for children under 36 months or older children who put things in their mouths). Adult supervision is always recommended.

With the end of the school year fast approaching, it's a good excuse to break away from the usual routine and to shake things up a bit. After the past year though, no doubt your teacher brain is completely frazzled and you're probably struggling for inspiration. If you're looking for some low-prep ideas, here's a list of 10 fun end-of-school-year activities for you to choose from... 1. End of Year Countdown Blow up balloons and write a number 0-5/10 on each one. Hang the balloons from the board or on a piece of string in your classroom. At the end of each day, choose someone who has behaved amazingly well to pop a balloon! You could even add a slip of paper detailing a surprise for the following day inside each balloon - just roll the paper up and slide it into the balloon before blowing it up. 2. Classroom Camp Out First of all, you need to set up your camp by making tents with the tables, blankets and sheets. If you have any of the small kids pop up tents, they'll be perfect too! You might want to display a campsite scene on your whiteboard. Dim the lights and read books by torchlight. The children could play games or work in their tents. Perhaps you'd like to create a class campfire using sticks and orange/yellow tissue paper, ask everyone to sit around it and then sing songs or learn poems. At the end of the day, the children can pretend to roast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate as a delicious treat! 3. Forest Schools Day Keep your class busy and tire them out with a day in the great outdoors! They could identify wildlife and flowers in the school grounds, do den building, play cooperative games, paint outdoors, build a bug hotel, make flower crowns and much, much more. Go to the Wildlife Trust for additional amazing wild activities ! 4. Film Day Ahh, an old favourite! This one gives you the chance to tackle that store cupboard, label some drawers and back those display boards ready for next year! First of all, ask the children to create a ticket for their trip to the movies. They'll also need to design and make a paper popcorn cone for that all important snack! Next, arrange the chairs in front of your whiteboard and let the film commence! Follow up activities could include creating a poster, doing a character description, writing a new ending or drawing a comic strip of the plot. 5. Book Party Gather together books from different genres and lay them out on the tables at the beginning of the day. Alternatively, ask each child to bring their favourite book to school. Throughout the day, encourage your class to read the books - they might want to use finger torches, read to a teddy or sit under a tree outside to make this extra exciting! The children can also complete various activities to keep them on task. These might include a book review, using a magnifying glass to search through the books for high frequency words, painting a favourite setting, using a dictionary to find the meaning of unknown words, making masks or puppets or designing a bookmark. Here are some great ways to encourage reluctant readers. 6. Memory Books A memory book is a lovely way to look back at the past year, plus it makes a great keepsake. Children fill in details about their favourite lessons, school trips, plans for the summer and more. You could create your own or grab a ready to go memory book for just £1 by clicking on the image below! 7. Talent Show Hold a class talent show! Ask each child to prepare by practising their talent at home (sending a quick note home would be useful here) - ideas include singing, dancing, telling jokes, sharing artwork, showing some karate moves or creating a gymnastics routine. Some children may prefer to work with a partner rather than on their own. Before the show, you could do some opinion writing. Children should describe their special talent and explain why they think that they are good at it. If you're inviting guests, ask the class to make invites, a program and posters ready for the big day. Finally, on the day of the talent show, create a stage area, put out seating for the audience, have microphones at the ready and provide some refreshments! 8. Mini Topic Day Set aside a day where children can research and share information about their hobby or interest. You may need access to the library and learning pads/laptops so that they can do some additional research. Your class could choose how they share the information - they may want to create a leaflet, a book, a presentation or a short film about their hobby. Allow time at the end of the day for children to move around the classroom and look at each other's work. 9. Thank You Notes A nice calming activity next for when the end of school excitement is reaching fever pitch! Think about all of the people that have helped during the school year: crossing lady/man, kitchen staff, teaching assistants, parent helpers, site supervisor, head teacher and many more. Ask each child to choose somebody to write a thank you note or card to. They could draw a picture or make a craft to give them too. 10. Award Ceremony Host an awards ceremony for your class! Ask them to come to school in their party clothes, lay out some red fabric for your red carpet and give out certificates (and trophies) to each child. This is a lovely way to make your pupils feel special and valued. Awards could focus on character traits such as ambition, kindness, courage, creativity, patience, enthusiasm, imagination and perseverance. You could also hand out academic awards such as super speller, marvellous musician, good reader, super scientist, etc. If you are in need of more inspiration, click now for some quick and free activities that don't require much preparation! Don't forget to add your own ideas in the comments section below! Images from Pixabay

The prospect of starting Reception can feel like a big step for children. Some may be leaving their parents for the first time; others may not know any other children in their class and some may only just have turned four. Schools can ensure that they make this experience positive by arranging a new intake visit or visits during the summer term before children start Reception. Keep reading for new Reception transition day ideas! If you need a profile form for parents to complete about their little one, download your free 'All About My Child' sheet now. What is a Reception Transition Day? A Reception transition day is when your new intake visits you at school. You may want to do this in small groups if you have a large intake, to ensure that you can give each child some 1:1 time and to ensure that children aren't overwhelmed by all of the new faces. Usually, a couple of hours, or no more than a morning, is long enough for each visit. If possible, make sure that the children aren't arriving and leaving at the same time as the rest of the school. Don't forget that you will need to consider where your current Reception class are going to go and who will be looking after them! The best thing you can do on transition day is to allow the children to get a feel for their classroom and to help them to get to know the adults and children who they will be with each day. How Do Transition Days Help? Transition days help children to feel less anxious about starting school. They are an opportunity for your new pupils to learn some of the basic routines of Reception class and for you to find out about each child and their interests . This will help you to hit the ground running in September. How Can I Prepare for Transition Day(s)? Consider where the children will come into school and where they will leave. Think about whether you will invite parents to stay and settle their child at the beginning of each session, or whether they will leave their child at the door. Set out an area for children to put their coats and bags. Have a tray ready to collect any forms which might be returned. Prepare a name sticker for each child, to help you to remember names! Set up your classroom with lots of inviting activities! What Shall I Do on Transition Day(s)? Begin the session with a quick carpet time: take a register, introduce the adults who will be working in the classroom, explain where the toilets are and tell the children how you will attract their attention when it is time to stop playing (e.g. "When I shake this tambourine, it means stop and look at me.") You will probably just want to stay in the classroom and Reception outdoor area to begin with, as this will be where your new pupils will spend most of their time when they start school. The most important thing to remember is to keep things simple and relaxed! Give the children plenty of time to play and get used to their new surroundings. Set out resources in the main areas of your continuous provision; for example, sand/water, construction, role play, creative, fine-motor , outdoor, writing, maths, reading, etc. It is usually best to pare back the provision you have out for your current Reception children until your new intake knows where everything belongs! Ensure that you and your team are dotted around the classroom, to offer reassurance to anyone who needs it. Make sure that each adult has a notepad to quickly jot down any observations. You may want to provide some specific activities for transition day(s). You could ask each child to draw or paint a self-portrait, which can then be displayed ready for September. The children could write their names at the transition visit and then again at the end of their Reception year. You could ask children to cut pictures of their favourite toys from a catalogue - this will allow you to assess their cutting skills and help you to find out about their interests! Parachute games are another great way to get to know your new intake. They encourage collaboration and teamwork too. An example of a game to play is 'All Change' - children swap places if they have brown hair/a brother/a pet/go swimming, etc! Have a snack time together or perhaps in smaller groups to allow children the chance to chat and get to know each other. If the children are staying for lunch, consider having a Teddy Bear's Picnic. Allow them to bring their own teddies and eat on picnic blankets outside if the weather is fine. Take photos (with permission) of the children during their transition days. You can display these or share them with parents. If your transition days are before your new intake parents meeting, you can create a slideshow to play to the parents. They will love seeing their child playing happily at school! A nice way to end your transition day is with a story or singing time. Don't forget to hand out a sticker to each child too, to say well done. What Next? If you need a profile form for parents to complete about their little one, download your free 'All About My Child' sheet now. At the end of transition day, you can hand out a transition booklet for parents to complete and return to you. If you haven't already, arrange a meeting for the parents of your new intake. This is an opportunity for them to meet the staff and discover more about the school and the early years (EYFS) curriculum. Visit the preschools to learn more about each child and collect any transition documents. Some schools offer a home visit for each child. These visits are a nice opportunity for the child to show you their favourite things and to feel relaxed in their own environment. You might want to bring a school bag containing examples of uniform, PE kit, the school reading scheme, photographs of the classroom, etc. Send a postcard to your new starters over the summer holidays, telling them how excited you are about them joining your class! Find a great selection of classroom resources here. * This ENGAGING preschool activity book is ideal for helping preschool children prepare for starting school! They will learn how to count, rhyme, hear initial sounds, name shapes, cut and stick and more with these FUN activities. Clipart by Prawny at Pixabay *As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Subitising in Maths Explained Subitising is recognising small numbers of things without actually having to count them. For example, when you roll a dice you recognise that there are four dots without counting them. Subitising can help children understand what numbers are and help them to partition and develop number sense. In the early years (preschool and Reception), children look at small groups of objects, how many fingers are being held up or the dots on dice to help them develop this skill. Our brains can only easily subitise numbers up to five and children are expected to learn to do this by the end of their Reception year at school. If your child is starting school soon, you might find this Guide to Starting School useful. Subitising Activities for Early Years (EYFS) Board Games Board games with dice are an ideal way to introduce subitising. The more that your child plays them, the more used to automatically recognising each amount on the dice they will be! Board games are also fun and help children to learn that all-important skill of turn-taking! Objects/Manipulatives In your maths subitising lessons, use a range of objects (or manipulatives), such as counters, blocks or beads. Lay them out in different arrangements so that children are aware that 4 blocks are always 4 blocks, even when they are arranged differently. Show children that the same amount might be represented in a line, a tower, a circle or a random arrangement. Flashcards Hold up a flashcard and ask your child how many objects they can see without counting . You might want to provide the corresponding number on the back so your child can turn the card over to check their answer. You could also play a snap or pairs game using cards showing up to five pictures. You can get a free copy of these dinosaur flashcards here! Fingers Fingers are a free and 'to hand' resource for teaching subitising! They also come in useful for adding and subtracting and learning number bonds to ten! Using fingers in maths, particularly in the early years, should always be encouraged! Children could work in pairs to practise their subitising. They can take turns to hold up a certain number of fingers for their partner to subitise! Spinners Spinners with dots or pictures provide an alternative to dice - good for mixing things up a bit! Children could spin them and then make that many jumps along a track, clap or hop that many times. Give each child or pair of children a spinner so that they don't have to wait their turn for too long! Dominoes Teach your child how to play the game of dominoes, whilst also teaching them to subitise! You could use these large floor dominoes to use indoors or outdoors. This will encourage movement and develop those gross motor skills too. Five/Ten Frames Five frames and ten frames are an easy way to represent numbers. They are also a good introduction to subitising, as they provide a simple way to visualise a small number, compared to a random arrangement of objects. You might want to draw a five-frame using chalk outside and place natural objects on it. Clip Cards Clip cards are a great way to work on subitising – whilst also working on fine motor strength ! Children should say the amount shown on the card and then clip the peg to the correct numeral. This is a great way for them to learn what each numeral looks like. Also, children absolutely love any activity involving pegs! To sum it up, subitising is a great skill that helps children to become maths superstars! By getting good at subitising, they'll be building a strong foundation for understanding numbers and becoming confident mathematicians! This preschool activity book contains some fantastic subitising activities and is perfect for children who are about to start school! Check out Evergreen Ideas for Counting and Number Recognition Selected images from Pixabay

Phase 3 phonics is usually taught in Reception class and takes children about 12 weeks to cover. It introduces children to the remaining, more difficult and/or less commonly used phonemes. Here's an overview of what phonics is, what’s taught at phase 3 and some tried and tested blending and segmenting activities… What is phonics? Words are made up of sounds called phonemes . A phoneme can be represented by between one to four letters (graphemes), such as 'igh' in l igh t, or 'a' in m a n. Phonics teaches children each of these sounds and how to use them to read and spell. Blending is when children say the sounds that make up a word and then merge them together until they can hear the word, e.g. c-a-t = cat. Blending plays a vital role in the journey to becoming a fluent reader. If you still have children in your class struggling to make progress with blending, download your free blending checklist now. Segmenting teaches children to recognise the segments that form a word. It is when children ‘stretch’ out a word and then break it up into sounds, e.g. dog = d-o-g. This enables them to spell words. Segmenting is the opposite of blending in phonics. Phase 3 phonics The purpose of phase 3 phonics is to teach another 25 graphemes, most of them made up of two letters (e.g. sh, oa). The new graphemes are: j, v, w, x, y, z, zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er. Children also continue to practise blending and segmenting, applying their phonics knowledge to reading and spelling simple two-syllable words and captions. During phase 3 phonics, they will learn the letter names by singing the alphabet song, plus some more tricky words! The tricky words are: he, she, we, me, be, was, you, they, all, are, my, her. Phase 3 phonics blending activities Pull & Go Phonics •Make a word using magnetic letters, spacing the sounds out. •Send a pull-and-go toy underneath the word, saying the sounds as it passes by! •Blend to read the word. Bouncy Blending •Write a word on the ground using chalk. •Bounce the ball on each sound, saying it out loud. •Blend to read the word. •Alternatively, you could use bean bags and toss one onto each sound. Phase 3 phonics segmenting activities Playdough Phonics •Roll the playdough into balls. •Give each child 3 or 4 balls, depending on how many phonemes the words you are working on contain. •Say a word to the children, e.g. goat. •The children squash their playdough balls as they segment the word, g-oa-t. •Segment to spell: place magnetic letters underneath to spell the word. Soar with Segmenting •Say a word to the children, e.g. 'moon'. •Ask the children to make their toy plane/rocket take off. Say the sounds in the word as it goes, m-oo-n. •Repeat with different words. •Segment to spell: write the words on a large piece of paper. Phase 3 phonics tricky word tips •Tricky words are also known as common exception or irregular words. • Tricky words contain letter-sound correspondences that the children have yet to learn, for example, ‘was’. The ‘a’ corresponds to the phoneme /o/ which is unusual for children who are working at phase three phonics. •With tricky words, focus on the sounds that children know first and then look carefully at the tricky part. •Highlight the tricky part of the word using a different coloured pen or a highlighter. Alternatively, you could underline the tricky part. •You could encourage the child to draw a picture in the tricky part of the word, to make it easier to remember. Download a range of engaging phase 3 phonics games and activities here! These activity ideas and many more can be found in my phonics books on Amazon. ‘Blast-Off with Blending’ and 'Soar with Segmenting are both available in paperback and eBook versions - just click on the images to take you there! * As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What next? Check out 10 Fun Spelling Activities for Key Stage One Download your free phonics blending checklist to share with members of your team or parents.

Imagine if you didn't have to spend hours creating activities for your phonics continuous provision. Imagine if there were quick and easy phonics setups, using resources which you already had to hand! Guess what? There are! Here are 10 phonics activities to save your weekend! If you're not short of activities but need some new hands-on resources, download your free list of top 10 resources for teaching phonics! 1. Roll, Read, Cover Sounds Choose how many sounds you would like to focus on and use either a 6, 10 or 12-sided dice. Make a grid on a piece of paper and write a grapheme in each section of the grid. Children should roll the dice, say the sound and cover it up. I've gone with an autumnal theme here and used conkers! Reusable dry-erase pockets are perfect for protecting your phonics sheets and activities. A great selection of phonics resources can be found here.* 2. Drive and Decode Words Children drive a toy car past the sounds, they say them out loud and then blend to read the word. If they are struggling to blend, ask them to drive and say the sounds a little faster. You can either make your own... or save time and buy my phonics drive and decode mats! There are also train versions in the phonics section of the shop, so look out for those too! 3. Phonics Planes These phonics planes are sure to be a big hit with your class! Choose which high frequency words you'd like them to learn and write them on the wings of paper planes. Children then throw the planes to each other and read the words! This is a fun one for outdoors! 4. Read and Write Phonics Mats Write a word that you are practising on A4 paper, with space below for the child to write it too. Place the sheet inside a reusable wipe-clean pocket and leave out in your phonics continuous provision for your class to have a go! 5. Reading Ramps Another super easy, yet fun and engaging set-up! Write your phonics focus sounds or words at different intervals on a piece of card. Children send a car down a ramp. They read the sound/word that their car stops on. 6. Phonics Carpark Mats Another activity for car fans! Children drive a toy car around the car park. When they've chosen a space, they read the sound or word! 7. Bingo Dabber Words Write out your phonics high-frequency words in bubble writing. Draw little circles inside the letters. Children use a bingo dabber to dot the letters! There are bingo dabber phonics activities available in my digital downloads shop. 8. Swat That Fly! Swat those pesky flies with this fun phonics activity! Your class will use a fly swatter to swat their sounds and words. If you don't have a fly swatter, make one out of thick card! Simply call out a sound or word and children search for and swat the correct fly! 9. Spin, Read, Write Tricky Words Write your tricky words out around a piece of card. Place a fidget spinner (add a little card point to act as an arrow) in the middle of the card. Children spin the spinner, read the tricky word and then write the tricky word! They can write on whiteboards, chalkboards or paper. Alternatively, make the words using magnetic or wooden letters. 10. Drive and Write Letters Help your class to learn to form their letters correctly with these useful letter mats. Drive a toy car around the letter, starting at the go sign and finishing at the stop sign. If they prefer, children can use a dry wipe pen to write over the laminated letters instead! Phonics Continuous Provision - What Next? Need some new hands-on phonics resources but don't know where to start? Download your free list of top 10 resources for teaching phonics! 2. If you need more information about phonics, then check out these blog posts: What the Best Teachers Know About Letters and Sounds Fun with Phase 2 Phonics The Lazy Teacher's Guide to Phase 3 Phonics Phonics Segmenting: The Essential Guide 5 Fun Activities for Phase 5 Phonics 3. Shop phonics downloads and more: 4. The following phonics books are available to purchase from Amazon. Simply click on each image for more details: *As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

While there are many resources available to teach phonics, hands-on resources can be particularly effective. One major advantage is that they engage multiple senses, making learning to blend and segment much more fun and memorable. When children can see, touch, and hear the sounds they are learning, they are more likely to remember them. Additionally, hands-on phonics resources can be used to differentiate instruction, allowing teachers to meet the needs of all learners. So, what are some examples of hands-on phonics resources? Here are a few ideas: 1. Colour-coded phonics magnetic letters These magnetic letters can be used to create words, allowing children to see and manipulate the sounds and letters in a tactile way. The fact the resource is colour-coded, helps children to identify the different graphemes (letters or groups of letters which represent a sound) in a word. 2. Lowercase lacing alphabet By segmenting and spelling words with this alphabet lacing activity, children also get the opportunity to improve their fine motor skills while practising phonics. The resource is useful for reluctant writers or hands-on learners, as they can actually feel the shape of each letter. This particular set is great, as the letters are all lowercarse, whereas some sets only inlcude upper case letters. 3. Sight word bingo This phonics game supports sight words from phases two and three of the Letters & Sounds framework, making it ideal for children in Reception. Tricky words are highlighted to remind them that they can’t sound out these words phonetically. There are two levels of play - one helps children recognise sight words and the other helps to identify sight words in a caption. 4. Word building blocks These twisty letter blocks can be used to create words, again allowing children to see and manipulate sounds and letters in a hands-on way. New readers will learn how to read and rhyme with these CVC word builder blocks. This phonics resource is perfect for children in their reception class at school, who are just learning to blend and segment. There are differentiated flashcards included with the product too, with just a picture on one side, and a picture and word on the other side. 5. Phonics word building rods A great phonics resource that helps children build advanced word segmenting and blending skills. Pupils use the colour-coded blocks featuring upper and lowercase consonants, vowels, digraphs and affixes to build words as they practise their phonics skills. This resource would be suited to children in year one or two, or older children who need some extra phonics practice. 6. Slinky A slinky is a fun and affordable phonics resource! It's ideal for helping children to learn to segment to spell words. As they stretch the slinky, they should also stretch the word that they want to spell, saying each of the sounds out loud. A slinky is a useful resource to use with a small intervention group, to help those children struggling to isolate sounds in words. 7. Spy pens What better way to practise spelling regular or irregular phonics words, than with a spy pen! Far more engaging than writing words with a pencil! Children write the word with invisible ink and then they or a friend can check it with the magic UV light. If you don't have any money left in your phonics budget for spy pens, use a white crayon and some watercolour paints instead! 8. Phonics flip charts This phonics flip chart resource is useful as you can differentiate your teaching accordingly. One side has short vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u) and the other has long vowel sounds, plus consonant digraphs (two letters to make one sound). You could use a 3-ring binder and some card to make your own flip chart! 9. Fly swatters You can use fly swatters to create games to include phonics concepts, making learning fun for children. How about Splat the Sound or Swat the Tricky Word? All you need are some flashcards and a set of fly swatters! Call out a sound or a word and children race to be first to spot and splat! You might even decide to make your own fly-shaped phonics flashcards! 10. LCD writing tablet Using a writing tablet is another engaging way to practise writing graphemes, words and sentences during phonics lessons or at home. It saves on paper and children can quickly delete any mistakes. If you don't have a writing tablet, children can type on an old keyboard or write on a whiteboard or chalk board instead. As you can see, incorporating hands-on phonics resources into your lessons or learning at home doesn't have to be complicated. With a little creativity, you can create engaging and effective learning experiences for children. By making phonics interactive and fun, you'll be helping to build a strong foundation for reading and writing success! *As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. What next? Take a look at the following blog posts: Help, my child can't blend sounds! Tricky words, simple activities Phonics continuous provision: 10 activities Check out the following books: Soar with Segmenting and Early Spelling: Fun Activity Ideas for 3-8 Year Olds Blast Off with Blending: Awesome Activities for Teaching Children to Blend T-Rex for Kids: An Early Reader Book for 4-6 Year Olds Football for Kids: An Early Reader Book for 4-6 Year Olds Find engaging phonics downloads in my shop: Phase 2 phonics downloads Phase 3 phonics downloads Phase 4 phonics downloads Phase 5 phonics downloads

Here we take a look at early phonics skills, the meaning of segmenting and some fun and easy-to-set-up ideas and activities. Phonics games and activities to download and use straight away can be found here! What is Segmenting? Segmenting teaches children to recognise the segments that form a word. It is when children ‘stretch’ out a word and then break it up into sounds, e.g. dog = d-o-g. This enables them to spell words. Segmenting is the opposite of blending. Oral Segmenting Tips •A child should begin with oral segmenting, i.e. saying the sounds in a word out loud. They don’t even need to know what the written letters and sounds (graphemes) look like at this stage. •Begin by segmenting words made up of two phonemes, such as in (i-n), then three phonemes, such as cat (c-a-t) or shop (sh-o-p), before moving on to longer words. Teach children to listen for the sounds in words by asking them to stretch or chop up the word. They can use their fingers to count the number of sounds which they can hear. •You should frequently model how to segment a word and encourage children to look carefully at your mouth. This will help them to see the sounds being articulated clearly. •To orally segment, children need to: say the word several times > stretch the word out > say the sounds > put the word back together (blend) to check that they have used the right sounds. Segmenting to Spell Tips •Once a child can confidently ‘sound out’ (orally segment), they can begin to represent the sounds with letters (graphemes). •The simplest way for children to see the written word is by using magnetic letters. Initially, you can just give them the letters they need to make the word. •Check your school’s phonics programme to see which order they teach the sounds in, as this can vary from school to school. You should only focus on the sounds your child has been taught so they aren’t overwhelmed. For example, if they have been taught s,a,t,p,i,n, they can build words such as in, it, is, sit, etc. •Once a child is getting to grips with handwriting they can begin to write the words. •Make learning hands-on and engaging! •To segment to spell, children need to: say the word several times > stretch the word out > say the sounds > write the sounds down (graphemes) > put the word back together (blend) to check that they have used the right sounds. For a handy reminder to share with your team or parents, download your free phonics segmenting checklist now! Phonics Segmenting Ideas STRETCHY SEGMENTING •Cut a rubber band so that you have one long piece. •Cut squares of card and write a grapheme on each to make a word. •Tape the squares of card onto your rubber band. •Stretch the word to see which sounds it is made from. PEG A WORD •The child says the word in the picture, e.g. sheep. •Say the word again but stretch it out. •Clip a peg for each sound onto the picture, e.g. sh-ee-p. •Segment to spell: make the word using magnetic letters. SLINKY SEGMENTING •Show the children an object or picture, e.g. a block. •Use the slinky toy to stretch the word out slowly so that you can hear all of the sounds, b-l-o-ck. •Repeat with different words. •Segment to spell: write the words in damp sand. HAMMERING WORDS •Make 3 or 4 holes in the cardboard box, with small slits so that a polystyrene ball can be pushed through. •Say a word to the children, e.g. hat. •Hammer and say each sound in the word, h-a-t. •Segment to spell: write graphemes on each ball. Can the children select and hammer the correct balls to spell the word? Tricky Word Spelling Tips •TRICKY WORDS are also known as common exception or irregular words. Check out 'Tricky Words, Simple Activities'. •They are used often in reading and writing. • Tricky words contain letter-sound correspondences that the children have yet to learn, for example, ‘was’. The ‘a’ corresponds to the phoneme /o/ which is unusual for children who are just beginning to learn to spell. •With tricky words, focus on the sounds that children know first and then look carefully at the tricky part. •Highlight the tricky part of the word using a different coloured pen or a highlighter. Alternatively, you could underline the tricky part. •If there are other words with the same tricky pattern, then it makes sense to teach these at the same time, e.g. he, she, we, be or would, should, could. •You could encourage the child to draw a picture in the tricky part of the word, to make it easier to remember. •The tricky words and order in which they are taught will vary from school to school. Refer to the scheme used in your (child’s) school and then use the following activities to supplement your spelling work. Tricky Word Spelling Activities TRICKY WORD MAKING Use a tactile approach to build tricky words: •By rolling playdough to form the letters •By arranging small blocks to make each of the letters •By arranging loose parts such as shells, beads, buttons, etc. over each of the letters in the tricky word TRICKY WORD ART Make tricky word art by: •Doing rainbow writing – use felt pens or crayons to write over the word in lots of different colours •Writing the tricky word in white crayon and then using watercolour paints to reveal it •Writing the tricky word on a big piece of paper and decorating with feathers, felt and other collage materials TRICKY WORD WRITING Practice spelling tricky words on a variety of different writing surfaces, such as: •Using chalk on the ground •Using a feather, paintbrush or finger in sand/glitter/oats •Using a stick to write the words in mud TRICKY WORD ACTIVITIES Spy Spellings •Ask the children to write their tricky words using an invisible ink pen •Can they use the UV light in the pen to reveal the words? •Shine the light on the easy parts and then the tricky part The ideas outlined above are taken from 'Soar with Segmenting and Early Spelling', a collection of over 60 engaging, yet easy-to-set-up segmenting and early spelling activities. With a 4-star rating on Amazon, you're sure to love it! Learn to read and write phase 2 high-frequency words with this fun phonics activity book! Reception-aged children will enjoy cutting and sticking to complete the phonics activities, whilst also developing their fine motor skills at the same time! This phonics workbook is perfect for helping young children to learn phase 2 phonics high-frequency words. They will enjoy using a bingo dabber to complete the fun word recognition activities, whilst developing their fine motor skills at the same time! Perfect for 4 to 5-year-olds in their Reception year at school. For a handy reminder to share with your team or parents, download your free phonics segmenting checklist now!

What is Skip Counting? Skip counting is simply counting forwards or backwards by a number other than one. It is also known as counting in 2s, 5s, 10s, etc. If you're bored of the same old skip counting worksheets, why not shake things up and download your free counting in tens bingo dabber mazes now! Why Teach Skip Counting? Skip counting is a great strategy for counting larger groups of objects. It is a far more efficient way of counting how many sweets are in a bag for example. Skip counting helps children with calculation fluency and forms the basis of multiplication and division. How Do I Teach Skip Counting? Explain that when counting in groups of 2, 5, 10, etc. we keep adding the same number each time to the previous number. So far we have been used to adding just one each time when we count but now we are adding a greater amount. Practice skip counting using pairs of gloves, money, boxes of pencils or groups of children! It also comes in handy for telling the time, for example, counting 5 minute intervals on a clock. Which Activities Can I Use to Teach Counting in 2s, 5s and 10s? Flash cards are a good introduction to skip counting. Children can get used to the number sequences by placing the flash cards in the correct order. They can also be used as an eye-catching display! Picture puzzles are a lovely hands-on way for children to develop their skip counting skills. They also have the added benefit of allowing children to self-check their work and gain immediate feedback! Lacing activities are a fun opportunity for children to work on their fine motor skills as well as learning to skip count. Punch holes where shown and then ask pupils to thread a lace or ribbon through in the correct sequence. If printed on card and laminated, these discs can be used again and again! Clip cards are a really engaging way to work on counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. Children should look at the sequence, work out the missing number and then clip a peg onto the correct answer. If you are looking for some physical evidence to demonstrate that a child understands the concept of skip counting, then these cut and paste activities are perfect! They can also be used for assessment purposes. Get your class up and moving with this fun resource! Hang the missing number sequences around the classroom and give each child a differentiated recording sheet. They should then work their way around the classroom, writing down the missing numbers on their sheet. Alternatively, place the sequence cards on tables and rotate your groups every ten minutes until they have completed all of the activity. This activity is also a-maze-ing if you require 'physical' evidence to show that a child can skip count! They can use a bingo dabber (or a pen/crayon) and help the spider to find their web. A Google Slides™ version is also included with this resource. Use these mini maths books in your guided maths sessions. Print out a copy for each child and work your way through the questions in the teacher guide. A Google Slides™ version of this resource is also available in the No Worksheets Allowed Teachers Pay Teachers store. Not only will children be working on their skip counting skills with this activity but also their typing skills! Upload the resource for your class to complete during lessons or as homework. Another engaging activity for use with your Google Classroom™. This time, children click and drag the numbers at the bottom of the screen into the correct position. Easily differentiated - just select the relevant slides you wish to assign to each group! If you love the look of all of the activities shown and would like them all at a discounted price, then this is the resource for you! This huge bundle contains printable activities and activities for use with Google Slides™. Short on time and money, why not download your free counting in tens bingo dabber mazes now!

Are you looking for a new and exciting way to teach children their letters, numbers and shapes? Have you ever considered using bingo dabbers as an alternative to crayons, pens and paints? Whether you call them bingo dabbers, bingo daubers, dot markers or bingo stamps - children's eyes will light up when they see them! Younger (and older!) children love using bingo dabbers for hands-on activities. The sponge-tipped bottles allow children to get creative without the mess of traditional paint. Simply grab the bottles and go! If you're in a rush and just here for the freebies, here's a shape bingo dabber download! BENEFITS There are many benefits to using bingo dabbers. From an adult's perspective, they are far less messy than paint! There's no need to pour paints and find brushes and no need to clean up afterwards. Plus, they last a long time. Using bingo dabbers is fun and will also benefit children who have difficulty using traditional colouring tools. In addition, they will: Develop an understanding of one-to-one correspondence. Develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, as they direct the dabber to the dot and push down on the paper. Develop postural control, which is essential for good handwriting. Alphabet Workbook BINGO DABBER TIPS There are many different brands of bingo dabber. Here's a popular example from Amazon: There are a few rules that you will want to teach children before they use bingo dabbers for the first time: Only dab on the paper/workbook Press down quite firmly but not too hard! Don’t squeeze the bingo dabber Replace the lid after use It’s important that children dab and then bring the pen straight back up. If they push down for too long, the paper will become soggy and rip. It's a good idea to model how to use bingo dabbers correctly, just like you would if you were showing them felt pens, scissors, or glue for the first time. Number Workbook BINGO DABBER ACTIVITIES By clicking on the images/links above, you will find my bingo dabber alphabet and number workbooks. If you'd rather have a free resource, here's a shape bingo dabber download! The following workbooks are also available: In addition, a selection of bingo dabber printables are available to purchase from the No Worksheets Allowed shop. *As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. You may also enjoy the following blog posts: DIY fine motor activities for EYFS 5 teacher side hustles Phonics continuous provision: 10 activities

If you're new to Reception, have members of your team who are new to EYFS or want to direct parents to a definitive guide for phase 2 phonics, you've come to the right place! Here's an overview of what phonics is and some tried and tested tips for teaching early word reading. If you're in a rush and struggling to make progress with blending, save time and download your free blending checklist! What is phonics? Phonics is a key strategy in the teaching of reading and spelling. 'Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way, starting with the easiest sounds and progressing through to the most complex, it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read.' (Department for Education, 2013) Words are made up of sounds called phonemes. A phoneme can be represented by between one to four letters (graphemes), such as 'igh' in light, or 'a' in man. Phonics teaches children each of these sounds and how use them to read and spell. Blending is when children say the sounds that make up a word and then merge them together until they can hear what the word is, e.g. c-a-t = cat. Blending plays a very important role in the journey to becoming a fluent reader. Phonics blending tips When teaching children to blend make sure that the sounds are pronounced correctly. Some children (and adults!) add /uh/ onto the end of a sound (for example, /m/ becomes muh). Encourage children to look in a mirror whilst saying the sounds, so that they can focus on the shape which their mouth should be making. You should do lots of oral blending first, saying the sounds which make up the name of an object (e.g. c-u-p) or giving an instruction (e.g. Stand u-p). You should try to vary the phonics activities which you provide and ensure that learning is hands-on in order to keep children's attention. Ideally, phonics should be taught daily; little and often is key. Encouraging children to say the first sound in the word loudest is a helpful strategy. In addition, children should be told to say the sounds faster and faster each time, to make hearing the word possible. For a handy reference sheet for educators or parents, download your free blending checklist! Blending activities Here are some engaging activities that incorporate children's interests. Find out what the children in your class love and try to develop some activities around these passions. They won't even realise that they're learning! Farmyard Fun Draw sheep on a piece of paper and cut them out. Place magnetic letters inside the sheep to make a word. Drive a toy tractor past the sheep and say each sound aloud. Blend to read the word. Dinosaur Blending Draw dinosaur footprints on paper and cut them out. Write sounds on each of the footprints. Arrange the footprints to make a word. Move the dinosaur across the footprints, saying the sounds. Blend to read the word. Blending Ramp Write the sounds which you require on individual stickers. Stick the sounds on the ramp to make a word. Send the toy car down the ramp. Say each of the sounds as the car whizzes over them! Blend to read the word. Hop Along! Use mats or hoops and place a sound card on/in each one. Jump or hop along and say the sounds aloud. Blend to read the word. Blending Cars Draw a road on a piece of paper. Add magnetic letters to make a word. Drive a toy car along the road, saying the sounds aloud. Blend to read the word. These activities and many more can be found in my phonics book, which you can purchase from Amazon. ‘Blast-Off with Blending’ is available in paperback and eBook versions and has over 500 sales to date! Learn to read and write phase 2 high-frequency words with this fun phonics activity book! Reception-aged children will enjoy cutting and sticking to complete the phonics activities, whilst also developing their fine motor skills at the same time! Learn to read phase 2 words and captions with this fun phonics activity book! Reception-aged children should blend to read the word or caption and draw a picture of it. Engaging learning for early readers! This collection of over 60 engaging, yet easy-to-set-up activities will transform your phonics provision. It's available in paperback and eBook versions. Soar with Segmenting and Early Spelling makes learning fun! Click here for more information about segmenting. * As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.