KS1 TRADITIONAL TALES
Activities
NUMBER – NUMBER AND PLACE VALUE
 Use songs, games and objects to rehearse counting up to and across 100, both forwards and
backwards.
 Reinforce counting using the Number Line Topic Tool.
Yr1 & Yr2 Topic Tool: Number line Explore a 0 - 100 number line.
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Use magic beans to reinforce counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.
Draw a gingerbread man on a large sheet of paper. With the students, investigate how many buttons,
spools or blocks it takes to cover the man using their understanding of counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.
Ask students to place a specified number of buttons (between 1-100) onto the gingerbread man.
Read the story, ‘The Enormous Turnip’, identifying how many people were needed to pull out the
turnip. Then use counting people to introduce the concept of ‘one more’ and ‘one less’.
Yr1 Activity: Mrs Cow’s Milk Start at any two-digit number and count on in ones.
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Yr1 Activity: Deep Discoveries Count on or back in 10s up to 100.
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Yr1 Activity: Snow Hope Identify what number comes 'before' and 'after' the given number up to 20.
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Yr2 Activity: Bumper Cars Partition a number into a multiple of tens and ones.
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Yr2 Activity: Catch A Kuko Order 10 numbers in the range of 1-99.
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Yr2 Learn Screen: Reading Numbers Read numbers from zero to one hundred in numerals and words.
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NUMBER – ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
 Add and subtract numbers use a variety of objects (for example buttons, counting bears etc.) to
support students’ calculations.
 Write the number bonds onto gingerbread men and ask students to match the gingerbread with its
corresponding ‘number bond’ partner.
Yr1 Activity: Prince Charming Mathematical problems. Select numbers to make addition and subtraction
calculations from 1 to 10.
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KS1 TRADITIONAL TALES page 1
Activities
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Yr1 Activity: Water Raider Pairs of numbers that total: 3, 4, 5 and 10 .
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Pairs of numbers that total: 6, 7, 8 and 9.
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Addition and subtraction facts for numbers: 6, 7, 8 and 9.
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Identify pairs of numbers that total 20 and pairs of multiples of 10 that total 100.
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Addition facts for numbers: 15, 16, 17 and 18.
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Yr2 Activity: Temple Crusade Add & subtract a single digit to or from a two-digit number, crossing the tens
boundary.
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Yr2 Topic Tool: Number Bonds Number Bonds to 100.
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GEOMETRY – PROPERTIES OF SHAPES
 Draw the gingerbread house by tracing around different 2-D shapes.
 Make a castle using different 3-D shapes.
Yr1 Learn Screen Shape Spin Explore 2-D shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, octagon.
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Explore 2-D shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, pentagon.
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Yr1 Activity: Nine Lives Match familiar 2-D shapes.
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MEASUREMENT – MONEY
 Identify the value of each coin. Create a market, selling different items under £1 and ask students to
find the correct change to pay for the item.
 In the role play, create a shoe shop and encourage students to use the correct change to pay for
different shoes.
Yr1 Activity: Shelling Out Identify the coins by name and value.
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Identify and compare coins up to 20 pence.
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KS1 TRADITIONAL TALES page 2
Activities
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MATERIALS
 Look at a range of different materials (e.g. wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock) and ask
students to identify these.
- Look around the classroom and identify objects which are made from these materials.
 Use hoops to allow students to sort the materials to certain criteria (e.g. natural/manmade, hard/soft,
rough/smooth).
- Use these materials to create an interactive display, encouraging students to sort the materials.
 Devise and carry out simple investigations to identify the properties of material. For example, how to
test if the material is magnetic, transparent, waterproof or strong.
Yr1 Learn Screen: Bits and Bobs Looking at common objects and seeing what material they are typically made from.
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Yr1 Activity: Hardware Store Identify objects made out of: paper, wood, fabric, metal, clay, glass.
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Yr2 Activity: Hardware Store Identifying the materials that different objects are made of.
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Yr2 Activity: Junkyard Identify objects in terms of their properties e.g. flexible or rigid.
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Identify and compare the suitability of different materials by conducting investigations:
- Little Red Riding Hood has lost her cloak. Identify which materials would be best to use to make
her a new one.
- The Magic Mirror has been broken. Identify which materials would be best used to fix the mirror.
- The Wicked Witch is making a cage. Identify which materials would be best to stop children from
escaping.
- Cinderella is making a new mop. Which material should she use?
- Test a range of materials (e.g. lego, lollipop sticks) to decide which one would be best to build a
house for the three bears.
- Look at the building materials of castles. Investigate the advantages and disadvantages of each.
- Investigate which material would be best to use as a catapult missile?
Yr2 Activity: Granny’s House Select the material that’s the most suitable choice for each item based
on its properties.
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Look at some materials, for example, play-dough or plasticine, and predict which of these will change
shape when twisted, pulled, pushed etc. and give reasons for their prediction.
KS1 TRADITIONAL TALES page 3
Activities
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Speaking and Listening
 Create a role play from a traditional tale, for example, the cottage of the three bears or the elves and
the shoemaker’s factory. Encourage students to role play different characters and to engage in
imaginative play.
 Respond to different stories, discussing the characters, settings and plot.
 Retell stories, looking at strategies which will successfully engage an audience, for example, using
intonation, expression and actions.
Y1 Reading – Comprehension
Narrative
 Read examples of traditional tales with the students, for example, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks
and the Three Bears etc.
- Identify the features of a traditional tale, including the traditional language, ‘good’ and ‘evil’
characters etc.
- Look at the main characters and think of suitable adjectives which could be used to describe them.
- Use puppets or character cut outs to retell the story, encourage the use of traditional or repetitive
language.
- Use images from the book to sequence the story into the correct order.
YR1 Writing – Composition
Narrative
 Traditional Tales
- Write a character description, for example, a ‘missing’ poster for Little Red Riding Hood or a
‘wanted’ poster for the Big Bad Wolf.
- Write a list of items which Little Red Riding Hood has in her basket
- Write a letter of apology from Goldilocks to the Three Bears.
- Write a caption for each image of a story.
- Plan and write a retelling of a traditional tale, using traditional story language and repetitive
phrases.
Y2 Reading – Comprehension
Narrative
 Read a range of fables.
- Discuss the moral attached with each story and relate these to personal experiences.
- Compare and contrast the personality traits of different characters.
- Sequence The Ant and the Grasshopper using picture cards and written captions. Retell or act out
the story using masks and puppets.
Yr2 Activity: Hare And The Tortoise - Identify how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
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Read a range of fairy tales/traditional stories, for example, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Gingerbread
Man, The Elves and the Shoemaker.
- Recall the key events, characters and settings from the story and identify sentence openers,
connectives and traditional language.
- Model ‘hot-seating’ to the students and ask them to take turns in being a character from a book.
KS1 TRADITIONAL TALES page 4
Activities
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Draw story maps and use these to help retell the story.
Use props, masks and puppets to retell a story, encouraging students to use techniques in making
their retelling engaging to an audience.
Create a story scene in the role play (e.g. Jack’s House, A shoe shop).
Read stories which are told from another point of view.
Yr2 Activity: Princess And The Pea To become familiar with a wider range of fairy stories.
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YR2 Writing – Composition
Narrative
 Fables
- Ask students to choose a moral for a story. Students should then plan the story, selecting a traditional
setting and choosing ‘animal’ characters which are associated with fables. Then write the fable.
- Ask students to plan and write a fable scenario in a modern day setting, ensuring that the story
ends with the moral.
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Traditional Tales
- Write a ‘wanted’ poster for the Wolf or a ‘missing’ poster for Jack. Draw out key character
information and traits and ensure that students include these within their writing.
- Discuss the key language and structural features of an instruction text, using an example. Ask students to
plan and write a recipe for making gingerbread men or for making the ‘perfect porridge’.
- Rewrite the story of The Princess and the Pea using traditional story language and interesting
vocabulary and connectives within their writing.
- Choose a traditional tale with a clear ‘good’ and ‘bad’ character. Model to students how to inverse
the story to make the ‘bad’ character appear innocent. Ask students to try planning and writing
their own inverse story.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
 Writing a recipe for making the perfect porridge.
 Write a set of instructions on how to grow a beanstalk.
 Think of a magical potion. Write a set of instructions on how to make it.
 Test the princess’s algorithm for adding two numbers together. Identify where it is wrong and fix it.
 Draw a grid onto large sheets of craft paper. Draw a story map on to the grid or different places from
stories. Ask students to program a floor robot to travel to certain places on the map.
 Use small world equipment to set up a maze in the classroom. Program the floor robot to navigate to
different places.
Yr1 Activity Sea Drive – Identifying correct programs:
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Executing programs:
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Extended Identifying correct programs:
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KS1 TRADITIONAL TALES page 5
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DIGITAL LITERACY
- Create a ‘missing’ or ‘wanted’ poster. Use a keyboard to add text and upload and edit
photographs.
- Type up a recipe for making a potion. Add graphics, video and sound to enhance the text.
- Use an art tool to draw a character from a story.
- Create a sequence of still images to form an animated sequence. Add sound, voice commentary and
titles to the animation.
HISTORY
Castles
 Explore different parts of the Bayeux Tapestry. Explain that it tells the story of the Norman Invasion of
England in 1066, in which William the Conqueror defeated King Harold.
 Look at the first castles which were built, a Motte and Bailey castle. Discuss how the castle was built
on a hill and who would have lived inside the bailey.
- Make a model of a traditional motte and bailey castle.
 Discuss how Motte and Bailey castles were replaced with stone castles. Look at the ways in which stone
castles improved throughout the years, using examples of different castles found around England and
Wales.
- Create a timeline of different castles to illustrate the changes.
 Look at the different parts of the castle, including the great hall, the chapel, the kitchen, the toilets etc.
- Write a description of each room and what it was used for.
 Ask students to identify how a castle was built to defend itself, drawing out different features,
including the moat, the draw bridge, the high walls, the flanking towers and battlements.
- Write an annotated diagram illustrating the different defence parts and explaining their purpose.
 Look at different ways of attacking a castle, for example, a catapult, trebuchet, battering ram etc.
 Visit a medieval castle and write a recount of the trip.
GEOGRAPHY
Geographical Skills and Fieldwork
 Use an atlas to locate either different countries where some traditional tales originate, (e.g. The Three
Billy Goats Gruff – Norway, Beauty and the Beast – France) the setting of some stories, for example,
Dick Whittington – London.
 Hide Little Bear in the classroom/school grounds. Give groups a large scale map of the classroom/school
showing the teddy’s location and ask students to find him.
 Use square paper and ask students to draw a map of the classroom/school and hide an object for
another group to find.
 Use small world equipment to recreate the journey of a character from a book (e.g. the journey of
Hansel and Gretel, The Little Red Hen). Model how to draw this as a map, using basic symbols.
 Draw a map from Cinderella’s house to the castle, for Jack to find his way back to the beanstalk.
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PE
 Set up a ‘story land’ obstacle course to escape the giant. Learn how to control their bodies when
travelling and balancing and include obstacles which develop balance, agility and coordination.
 Ask students to travel in different ways, for example, as a prince/princess, as a giant, as an animal
(Billy Goats Gruff).
 Ball skills. Throwing and catching the golden egg.
 Play ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
 Look at different types of puppets, (e.g. finger, glove, rod and shadow puppets).
 Use a template to design a puppet based on a character from a traditional tale.
 Decide the type of puppet and the materials which will be used to make the puppet.
 Use craft foam or card, lollipop sticks and embellishments to make stick puppets.
 Make a gingerbread man hand puppet by drawing round a hand on tracing paper, transfer this onto
two pieces of fabric and sew these two pieces together using a running stitch.
 Make simple jointed puppets using split-pins, cardboard and tape. Once completed, add clothing,
jewellery, hair and facial expressions to the puppet.
ART AND DESIGN
 Visit a park or woodland. Collect a variety of different natural materials and create a sculpture of a
fairy tale creature from these.
 Create a large frieze which tells a traditional story in sequence, for example, the gingerbread men. Ask
students to colour/paint different parts and use this to make a display.
 Make a collage using a range of different materials by drawing a giant on a large piece of paper and
asking students to stick the materials to his body.
 Look at examples of different shields. Ask students to design and make a shield for a knight to defeat
the giant.
 Make different characters from stories by painting corkscrews and adding materials. Use these
characters to retell the story.
 Create a life-sized beanstalk to hang in the classroom by stuffing green tights with newspaper and
asking students to make leaves to attach to the stalk.
MUSIC
 Read a traditional story.
- Use instruments to compose a soundscape for different sections of the story.
- Retell the story using a variety of instruments to represent different characters.
 Sing a variety of different nursery rhymes, adding actions
 Sing songs about traditional tales (e.g. When Goldilocks went to the house of three bears; There was a
Princess long ago etc.)
KS1 TRADITIONAL TALES page 7
Activities
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