Your child's new Read Write Count activity bag is packed with fun items for you to play with together. It’s a great way to make their homework more enjoyable and to help you get involved. It’s free for all kids in primary 3 and they’ll get theirs during the autumn term.
What’s in the bag?
- A notebook and pencil
- Beastie Battle card game with routine and story activity cards on the reverse
- A parent/carer guide
- A measuring tape
Two books:
- The Story Thief by Graham Carter
- Jeremy Worried About the Wind by Pamela Butchart and Kate Hindle
The Story Thief by Graham Carter
Olive prefers reading about adventures to having them. But when someone starts stealing all the books in town, it’s time for Olive to become the hero and solve the crime!
You can watch a video of The Story Thief being read aloud here.
The Story Thief cover
Game #1: Stories within a story
Game #1: Stories within a story
Look at the page where Olive is reading a book to the creature. There are lots of stories flying out of the book in bubbles – can you and your child use the pictures to tell each other the stories?
Game #2: I spy
Game #2: I spy
There are lots of little details in the pictures in the book. Why not play I spy together and see what you can spot?
Game #3: Ready for adventure
Game #3: Ready for adventure
When Olive goes to look for the Story Thief, she packs a bag ready for her adventure. What would your child pack if they were going on an adventure? Where would they go? You could ask them to draw pictures of the different things they’d need.
Game #4: Octo-facts
Game #4: Octo-facts
How much do you and your child know about octopuses? Have a look online and see what you can find out together (this page from National Geographic Kids is a good place to start). Maybe your child could write down some facts with their pencil or draw some octo-pics.
Jeremy Worried About the Wind by Pamela Butchart and Kate Hindley
Jeremy worries about lots of things. But most of all he worries about the wind. But hey – what’s the worst that can happen?
You can watch a video of Jeremy Worried About the Wind being read aloud here.
Jeremy Worried About the Wind cover
Game #1: Measuring the wind
Game #1: Measuring the wind
Jeremy has made his very own wind dial to measure the wind. Ask your child to design their own measuring device, using items they can find around the home. What could they measure? Maybe they could make a set of scales to weigh their toys? Or a device for collecting rain to see how much has fallen? Let their imagination run wild!
Game #2: Fill in the blanks
Game #2: Fill in the blanks
When Jeremy has his adventure, the story is told in pictures, with no words. Ask your child if they can tell the story in words, and maybe come up with names for the different characters Jeremy encounters.
Game #3: Name that creature
Game #3: Name that creature
There are lots of different animals in the book, especially when Jeremy goes on his flying adventure. Together, can you name them all? You could try looking them up online to find out more about them. You can find lots of fun facts on the World Wildlife Fund website.
Game #4: Happy list
Game #4: Happy list
Jeremy has a list of worries. Can you and your child make an alternative list of things that make you happy? You could look at this list when you’re worried, to cheer yourselves up!
In our page about helping your child build confidence we talk about making a 'box of awesomeness' – how about giving that a go?
Beastie Battle game with story and routine cards on the reverse
Game #1: Get playing
Game #1: Get playing
Deal all the green Beastie Battle cards with each player holding their cards so they can only see the top card. The first player starts by reading out a category. Then the player with the highest number on their top card wins and that player collects all the cards in play. Then their turn again to choose one of the four categories from the next card. The player with the most cards at the end wins!
Game #2: Story cards
Game #2: Story cards
These cards can be used to create new stories together. The cards include three themes to give you some ideas for the story: characters, settings and items. Select one of each at random and then let your imaginations run wild! You could take it in turns with your child to build the story sentence by sentence.
Game #3: Favourite animals
Game #3: Favourite animals
Ask your child to choose a favourite animal from the Beastie Battle game and see if they can draw a picture of it. Where does it live? What does it eat? They could draw this too, and maybe even collect leaves and sticks when they’re outdoors to add to the picture.
Game #4: Anything missing?
Game #4: Anything missing?
Included in the pack are some blank cards so your child can add their own animals to the game. What will they choose? You could help them research some facts about the animal to add to the card.
These videos on the Scottish Book Trust website have more ideas for playing games with the cards.
Measuring tape
Game #1: Shoe size
Game #1: Shoe size
Image of a 'Read Write Count' measuring tape.
Your child might know their shoe size, but do they know how long their feet actually are? Why not measure them and find out? Maybe one is bigger than the other!
Game #2: Toy sizes
Game #2: Toy sizes
What an opportunity to find out what their tallest toy is! Ask them which one they think it is and then they can go and find out.
Game #3: Room measurements
Game #3: Room measurements
See if your child can use the tape measure to measure the length of a room in the house. See if they can keep track of where they are with a piece of scrap paper on the floor.
Game #4: Tricky shapes
Game #4: Tricky shapes
Some things are easier to measure than others. A clever way to measure a tricky shape is to put a bit of string around it and then measure how much string you’ve use. See if your child can do this themselves with a funny shaped toy.
