FREE Printable: Football Reading Log

Help to motivate your kids to read with this handy football reading log. Just colour in a cute little football for every book they read, or for every 20 minutes they read for and reward them with a little treat for completing the sheet!

If you’re the parent of a primary school aged child you will probably be tasked with listening to them read each night. I love listening to my son read and I love reading to him too. I think of it as a special quiet time where we sit together and get transported to another world.

FREE Printable: Football Reading Log

It’s not all sitting on a magic carpet happily listening to a child read. Sometimes it’s a bit harder to get him to read, especially if he’s not interested in the books he’s been sent home with. In those situations I usually promise him that I will read a favourite book once the less exciting school reading has been finished. That way we get the best of both worlds.

My son is very motivated by rewards, it doesn’t have to be big; a sticker or 20p for his jar is very well received. If he reads for 20 minutes he gets to colour a football in. Or if he finishes a book within those 20 minutes he colours one in too.FREE Printable: Football Reading Log

Once he’s completed a sheet he gets a treat. Again it’s nothing huge, he might get to choose a Netflix film for us to watch with some popcorn; or he might get a trip out to his favourite local museum.

Download this Football Reading Log for FREE here

I’ve found that this reading log really does help to motivate and encourage him to read. I hope it helps you too.

If you enjoyed this, you might also like this simple children’s book review template, this FREE Pokemon Reading Log, this Dinosaur Reading Log or this Rainbow Reading Log.

FREE Printable: Football Reading Log

 

FREE Printable: Happy New Year Colouring Sheet

That’s it. Christmas is pretty much done and dusted and the next big date in our diary is New Year. After all the fun and frivolity of Christmas, who really has the time and energy to get out a load of glitter and glue and get crafting with the kids? Not me, that’s for sure. I’ve created a cute little printable wishing you all a Happy New Year which I’ve made available for you to download and use for free.

New Year is usually a time for parties. We often get together with friends and their families over the New Year period, the kids love to sit and colour for hours. Here’s a sweet Happy New Year printable which they can colour in to welcome in the New Year!

FREE Printable: Happy New Year Colouring Sheet

Download this FREE printable here

It’s pretty cute isn’t it? It’s A4 sized, so just print off however many you need. Give the kids a million coloured pencils or felt tips and let them go wild with them. Adults who enjoy colouring in might also like to get in on the action too.

Our New Year celebrations are usually fairly low key. We might have an early dinner out with friends somewhere and then off home for snacks and family snuggles in front of the TV before the boy goes off to bed. Sometimes I might do some work while it’s quiet.

The fireworks at midnight usually wake my son up, so he will usually get up and watch them out of the window with us for ten minutes before he goes back to bed.

New Years Day usually involves us all going on a long walk somewhere with the dog and a roast dinner at home. We have a small extended family and our friends are usually busy, so we tend to do our own thing. What are your family traditions at New Year?

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FREE Printable: Happy New Year Colouring Sheet

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Ox

This year Chinese New Year falls on Friday 12th February. Chinese New Year is a glorious, colourful celebration of the New Year, just when I feel the year is at its darkest and gloomiest. This year is the Chinese Year of the Ox.

In Manchester the Chinese New Year celebrations are legendary. There is usually a big parade, Chinese crafts exhibition, a big celebration in Albert Square and a fantastic street food market.

2021 is the Chinese Year of the Ox. The Ox is the first of the 12-year cycle of animals which make up the Chinese zodiac in the Chinese calendar. People born in the Years of the Ox including 1925; 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 and 2009 will celebrate their Zodiac Year.

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Ox

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Ox, I’ve created this colouring sheet for children, or indeed adults. It’s a simple sheet which you can print out on A4 paper. All you need are some felt tips or colouring pencils and it should keep the kids entertained for a little while. If you want to extend the fun, you could also try making a Chinese drum, or some traditional red envelopes for Chinese New Year.

Download your free printable colouring sheet here.

It’s pretty cute isn’t it? It’s A4 sized, so just print off however many you need. Give the kids a million coloured pencils or felt tips and let them go wild with them. Adults who enjoy colouring in might also like to get in on the action too.

I’d love to know what you’ll be doing to celebrate Chinese New Year. Let me know in the comment box below. Gong hei fat choy!

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FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Ox

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

Every Christmas Eve we leave a plate out for Father Christmas. There’s a mince pie and a little tot of brandy and a carrot for Rudolph. But what about the other reindeer? Well, we sprinkle some magic reindeer food outside for them too.

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

In previous years we’ve sprinkled a mixture of oats and glitter, or bought packets of ready-made magic reindeer food in a plastic wrapper. But these days we are a bit more aware of single use plastics and that glitter gets everywhere and isn’t that great for the environment either. With that in mind, this year we’ve made our own wildlife friendly mix of magic reindeer food and we’ve got a cute recyclable envelope you can print out and share with friends and neighbours.

To make the envelopes, just download the free printable. Cut along the lines on the outside, fold the two side flaps into the centre and glue them together. Fold the bottom flap up and glue that into place. Put your envelope under a book or something which will keep it flat while the glue dries.

Download your free envelope template here.

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable EnvelopeOnce the glue has dried, you can start filling each one with the wildlife friendly magic reindeer food mix. For each envelope you will need…

Wildlife friendly magic reindeer food mix

2 teaspoons of oats
2 teaspoons of wild bird seed
1 teaspoon of dried cranberries

We had a little bowl filled with each of the ingredients and using a teaspoon, we put the right amount of reindeer food in each one. To close the envelope, we used a dab of the glue, if you want to stick it down quickly, you could use a small sticker. We chose to use dried cranberries, partly because they are pretty and jewel like, and partly because we have a dog. Grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants can be poisonous for dogs.

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

The really great thing about these envelopes is, once you’ve used them, they can just be put in the recycling. There’s no waste, the reindeer food will be gratefully snaffled up by the local wildlife; and there’s no pesky single use plastic to worry about either. It’s an all-round winner!

If you enjoyed this, you might also like this Free Nice List Printable.

Make your own Wildlife Friendly Magic Reindeer Food with FREE Printable Envelope

Free Printable: Nice List Certificate Template

Download your free Nice List Certificate printable here today!

Now November is upon us, my thoughts are turning to Christmas. As I write this, we are in the middle of a pandemic and we are locked down and unable to go out, winter is settling in for the season and there doesn’t feel like there’s too much to cheer about. This is why this year I’ve decided to go all out for Christmas.

It may be smaller than we’d like, we might not be able to go to church or meet up for celebrations with friends and family, but I will be decking the halls brighter than ever before. I want to bring some extra twinkle, sparkle and love into my home and one of the ways of doing that will be really pushing the boat out for my son.

The Twelve Days of Christmas at Tatton Park 2017

That doesn’t mean I’ll be spending thousands of pounds of the latest gadgets, games and gizmos; it means I’ll be sprinkling some extra Christmas magic about the place. Part of what I do every year is a Christmas Eve Box and it always, always brings good cheer. I never really spend very much on it, it’s just full of fun things to do on Christmas Eve and it’s as much a part of our Christmas as turkey and Christmas stockings!

One thing I’m adding this year is a Nice List Certificate. It’s a simple thing and a nice little addition to the box. It’s also free, which is also quite important this year when many people are tightening their purse-strings.

Download the Father Christmas version hereFree Printable: Nice List Certificate Template father christmas

As I was making one for our use; I thought I would make two versions and make it available for you to download for free too. I made two versions because some people call the big bearded man Father Christmas and some call him Santa Claus. So I’ve made one of each and you can take your pick!

Download the Santa Claus version here

Free Printable: Nice List Certificate Template Santa

All you need to do is print it out and fill in the name of the child on the nice list. I’m hoping it will serve as motivation for an early night and no early morning Christmas stocking opening! Merry Christmas!

Free Printable: Nice List Certificate Template

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FREE Printables: Learning about Bees

As spring turns into summer my garden is buzzing with insects. Like many people we are particularly keen to give our local bees a helping hand and a bit of love. Gone are the days where we pull up dandelions with abandon. Now we’ve got a scruffy, weedy, wild flower patch at the bottom of the garden; complete with a bug hotel, bird box and hedgehog home. It might take a year or two for them to be populated, but we are doing our bit.

How to create a wildlife garden with your kids

We are always on the look out for bees buzzing about the place and we have been learning a little bit about them too. Did you know that there are over 20,000 species of bee in the world and around 270 species of bee in the UK; but only one of these is a honeybee. People can be frightened of bees because they sting, but usually only if they’re being attacked or feel threatened. The are 600 species of stingless bees in the world. They’re all worth looking after and encouraging, so what can you do to encourage bees into your garden?

  • Grow plants with nectar and pollen
  • Create bee hotels and bee friendly habitats
  • Don’t been too keen to weed
  • Grow some wildflowers
  • Leave a patch of your garden unattended and let it run wild
  • Stop using pesticides and weed killers

You don’t have to have a big garden to make the world a bit more bee friendly, a window box or a couple of pots of flowering plants by your front door can all help. If we all learn a bit more about our bee friends, together we can help to support them and create an environment where they can thrive.

learning about bees

The free to download sheets include pictures to colour in and a few facts about –
  • Bees
  • Beehives
  • Honey

It’s enough to keep the kids occupied for a while and a good place to start if you’re going to start learning about bees with them.

Download your FREE learning about bees worksheets here

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FREE Printables: Learning about Bees

FREE Printable: Rainbow Reading Log

Help to motivate your kids to read with this handy rainbow reading log. Just colour in a cute little rainbow for every book they read, or for every 20 minutes they read for and reward them with a little treat for completing the sheet!

If you’re the parent of a primary school aged child you will probably be tasked with listening to them read each night. I love listening to my son read and I love reading to him too. I think of it as a special quiet time where we sit together and get transported to another world.

FREE Printable: Rainbow Reading Log
It’s not all sitting on a magic carpet happily listening to a child read. Sometimes it’s a bit harder to get him to read, especially if he’s not interested in the books he’s been sent home with. In those situations I usually promise him that I will read a favourite book once the less exciting school reading has been finished. That way we get the best of both worlds.

My son is very motivated by rewards, it doesn’t have to be big; a sticker or 20p for his jar is very well received. If he reads for 20 minutes he gets to colour a cartoon rainbow in. Or if he finishes a book within those 20 minutes he colours one in too.FREE Printable: Rainbow Reading LogOnce he’s completed a sheet he gets a treat. Again it’s nothing huge, he might get to choose a Netflix film for us to watch with some popcorn; or he might get a trip out to his favourite local museum.

Download this Rainbow Reading Log for FREE here

I’ve found that this reading log really does help to motivate and encourage him to read. I hope it helps you too.

If you enjoyed this, you might also like this simple children’s book review template or this FREE Pokemon Reading Log or this Dinosaur Reading Log.

FREE Printable: Rainbow Reading Log

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Rat

This year Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 25th January. Chinese New Year is a glorious, colourful celebration of the New Year, just when I feel the year is at its darkest and gloomiest. This year is the Chinese Year of the Rat.

In Manchester the Chinese New Year celebrations are legendary, with a parade, Chinese crafts exhibition, a big celebration in Albert Square and a fantastic street food market.

2020 is the Chinese Year of the Rat. The Rat is the first of the 12-year cycle of animals which make up the Chinese zodiac in the Chinese calendar. People born in the Years of the Rat including 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, and 2008 will celebrate their Zodiac Year.

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rat I’ve created this colouring sheet for children, or indeed adults. It’s a simple sheet which you can print out on A4 paper. All you need are some felt tips or colouring pencils and it should keep the kids entertained for a little while. If you want to extend the fun, you could also try making a Chinese drum, or some traditional red envelopes for Chinese New Year.

FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Rat

Click here to download your FREE Chinese New Year printable!

It’s pretty cute isn’t it? It’s A4 sized, so just print off however many you need. Give the kids a million coloured pencils or felt tips and let them go wild with them. Adults who enjoy colouring in might also like to get in on the action too.

I’d love to know what you’ll be doing to celebrate Chinese New Year, let me know in the comment box below. Gong hei fat choy!

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FREE Printable: Chinese New Year – Year of the Rat

FREE Printable: Dinosaur Reading Log

Help to motivate your little dinosaur fans to read with this handy reading log. Just colour in a cute little dinosaur for every book they read, or for every 20 minutes they read for and reward them with a little treat for completing the sheet!

If you’re the parent of a primary school aged child you will probably be tasked with listening to them read each night. We love listening to our son read and we love reading to him too. We regard it as a special quiet time where we sit together and get transported to another world.

It’s not all sitting on a magic carpet happily listening to a child read. Sometimes it’s a bit harder to get him to read, especially if he’s not interested in the books he’s been sent home with. In those situations we usually promise the reading of a favourite book once the less exciting school reading has been finished. That way we get the best of both worlds.

FREE Printable: Dinosaur Reading LogDownload your FREE Dinosaur Reading Log HERE!

Our son is very motivated by rewards, it doesn’t have to be big; a sticker or 20p for his jar is very well received. He loves dinosaurs so I devised this dinosaur reading log for him. If he reads for 20 minutes he gets to colour a cartoon dinosaur in. Or if he finishes a book within those 20 minutes he colours one in too.

Once he’s completed a sheet he gets a treat. Again it’s nothing huge; he might get to choose a Netflix film for us to watch with some popcorn, or he might get a trip out to his favourite local museum.

We’ve found that this dinosaur reading log really does help to motivate and encourage him to read. He’s obsessed with anything with dinosaur on, so this reading log is a real winner!

If you enjoyed this, you might also like this simple children’s book review template or this FREE Pokemon Reading Log.

FREE Printable: Dinosaur Reading Log

Spring Scavenger Hunt Activity + FREE Printable

Spring has sprung and there’s nothing nicer than getting out and about with the kids. This week the boy is off school for Easter and we’ve been making the most of the fresh air and sunshine by visiting the local parks and nature reserves. Yesterday we met a couple of his friends for a Spring scavenger hunt in a local park, it was just the thing to keep them engaged and occupied for an hour and they all did really well.

We live by the river and walk the dog down there most days. By the river is a nature reserve and we often see lots of different birds, insects and plants. I’ve tried to keep the Spring Scavenger Hunt quite generic, so you should be able to find most of the bugs, birds and plants in your local park.

Download your free Spring Scavenger Hunt printable here!

Spring Scavenger Hunt Activity + FREE Printable

I have left room on the printable for children to make notes too. If they spot anything different or noteworthy, they can write all about what they’ve seen in the notes section.

While we were out on our walk we spotted a few things which weren’t on the list. We spotted a couple of bees, some different spring flowers, an assortment of birds and (as this was an urban park) dog poo with sweetcorn in it. I was both grossed out and secretly pleased by their observational skills. We also learned an important lesson about looking where we were putting our feet if we are walking in long grass.

Whatever you do over Easter, whether you’re walking in the park; pond dipping in a nature reserve or walking the dog on the beach; make sure you stay safe. Keep your eyes peeled for all the wonders of nature and watch where you put your feet!

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