Author: kidsstoryworld

I Wonder About Aliens – Poem and Worksheet

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Finger’s crossed no regrets tonight about letting the little one sleep for a bit. Big one is upstairs playing so finally I get a minute to write a very quick blog. Or at least add a couple of activity sheets and a poem to the page! This one I took to a nursery workshop and and a year 1 workshop a while ago and it worked well. As a basic for nursery session, I read the poem then chatted about the kids where they would take their alien for the day. One of my favourite responses was “I’d take them to Tesco!”. Priorities eh?

For year one, I got them to describe their alien, then the other person had to draw. For lockdown – this could work well on video call with a friend perhaps?

Gah going to have to hurry – big one has just come downstairs with a broken Lego jail…..

So here’s the poem, and worksheets with activity ideas. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and please share any pictures on Twitter/Instagram with @kidsstoryworld #AlienAntics !

I WONDER ABOUT ALIENS – Worksheet

I WONDER ABOUT ALIENS – ACTIVITIES

I Wonder About Aliens

By Kirsten Allen

I wonder about aliens

And what would happen if they came,

Down to visit planet Earth.

Do you think we’d look the same?

Would they have hands and toes like us?

Or the biggest furry paws?

Perhaps neither, perhaps both…

Perhaps GINORMOUS purple claws?

Do you think the aliens would talk like us?

What would they like to do?

Perhaps they’d want to spend the day at a local zoo?

Do you think you’d ever meet one?

What on Earth do you think they’d do?

Feeding Time At The Zoo

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Thanks for reading! 💖

Feeding Time At The Zoo – Kirsten Allen

When Chef Jean Paul was asked to cook for a country’s prince or princess
He did it gladly, proudly and willingly without any sign of distress.
He cooked for diplomats, celebs and most important VIPs
And once, he baked a chocolate cake for a wealthy sheikh, while skiing down a mountain slope in the Pyrenees

However, there was one thing Chef Jean Paul dreaded and would get him in a stew
And that was the annual fundraising dinner party at the local zoo!
The giraffes munched on guests’ salad leaves, And a waiter heard one diner stutter,
“Excuse me please, I don’t mean to complain, but there’s lion in my butter!”

The penguins gulped down the fish course
The monkeys threw their poop
And a kangaroo hopped on the table, into the mayor’s bowl of beetroot soup!

The pandas caused pandemonium,
A bear ate all the honey,
An elephant swallowed the flower arrangement and it made him feel all funny!

“I give up! I give in! I quit!” Jean Paul cried “This is the worst party yet!”
And so he hung up his chefs apron, packed up his chefs knives and went off to retrain as a vet!

Tick Tock Little Mouse

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Thanks for reading! 💖

Tick Tock Little Mouse – Kirsten Allen

Tick tock it’s one o’clock and Mouse is hungry for cheese
Time to sneak past the mangy cat, whose fur is covered in fleas.
Tick tock it’s two o’clock, Mouse is still on his way.
Creeping through the farmer’s field he gets stuck in a bale of hay!
Tick Tock it’s three o’clock Mouse is finally free!
On Mouse scurries but too quickly he hurries, so trips and scrapes his knee.
Tick Tock it’s four o’clock Mouse walks slowly with a limp.
A bushy tailed squirrel throws a nut at his head, the cheeky little imp!
Tick Tock it’s five o’clock, the farmhouse is within sight.
When suddenly an owl swoops past and gives poor Mouse such a fright
Tick Tock it’s six o’clock, Mouse feels brave again once more.
He creeps quietly and carefully through the kitchen door.
He sees the cheese, he sees the bread
There on the table straight ahead.
Up Mouse climbs as quick as flash,
But suddenly there’s an almighty crash!
He sees the farmer chasing him with a giant rolling pin!
Mouse jumps down and plates fly up. What a racket what a din!
Then joy! Oh luck! Oh happy days! The cheese falls on the floor.
No time to pause! Mouse picks it up and runs out of the door.
With cheesy grin and tummy full, Mouse rests his weary head
And dreams sweet dreams of cheese boards and ways to get that bread!

CHEEKY MONKEY RHYME AND HOW TO MAKE A PALM TREE ACTIVITY SHEET

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Something for young ones! Here’s a download with “The Tale of the Cheeky Monkey”

Cheeky Monkey Activity Sheet

This rhyme one close to my heart…I used it in my first workshop at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival last year!

As well as colouring in, why not make your own tree using old newspaper or similar?

Cheeky Monkey – by Kirsten Allen

Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey!
Where on Earth could monkey be?
Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey
Was climbing up the coconut tree!

Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey
Picked up a coconut without a sound.
Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey
Threw the coconut on the ground!

Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey
Had a thought and picked another.
Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey
Then threw it at his little brother!

Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey
Made his little brother cry.
Cheeky monkey, cheeky monkey
Said it fell out of the sky!

Mummy Monkey crossly said
It wasn’t nice to hurt his brother’s head!
Little brother was very sad
And Cheeky Monkey felt quite bad.

Sorry monkey, sorry monkey
Said he was as sorry as could possibly be.
So, his brother then forgave him
And together they played in the banana tree!

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Dragon Activities and a Scorching Hot Book Review

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It’s a tricky time at the moment. Everyone seems to be in meltdown (at the supermarkets!) or lock down (with the kids at home) I’m currently prepping for some form of home-schooling for next week with a 5 year old and 3yo. 5yo loves trying to write, lego, board games and drawing maps. 3yo loves eating, climbing on every item of furniture, drawing (whether it’s on paper or walls) and finds things like headbutting me at full pelt hilarious. Then he gives me the most amazing cuddles. It should be interesting. Truthfully, I’m actually looking forward to spending time with them and hubby who typically works long hours. Also truthfully, ask me again in a week’s time:

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One thing both my boys love is DRAGONS. I’ve tried to think of a couple of dragon related activities to do with them (minus fire – health and safety first!) Hope you have fun with these activities!

TO DOWNLOAD AS PDF CLICK HERE: DRAGON ACTIVITIES

  • Pin the tail on the dragon:

Prep:  Draw a picture of a dragon minus the tail on some paper or card and make a tail out of card/paper separately. Put re-useable adhesive (eg. Blu-tack)  on the back of tail. Put picture of the dragon up on wall.

Game: Blindfold the first player, give them the tail and spin them round 3 times. Player then has to try and pin the tail on the dragon. Player who gets the tail the closest to wear it should be wins.

  • What time is it Firey Dragon:

OK (If it’s not obvious!) I’ve pinched this one from “What time is it Mr Wolf?” but used dragons instead. One person is the Firey Dragon.  The other players stand at other side of garden or room and shout “WHAT TIME IS IT FIREY DRAGON?” The dragon answers with a chosen a time eg. 2 o’clock. The other players then take that number of steps forward. Repeat until players are closer or Firey Dragon decides to chase. At that point the players shout “WHAT TIME IS IT FIREY DRAGON?” and firey dragon shouts back “BARBEQUE TIME!!!” and chases and the others try to run away. Whichever player the dragon catches, then becomes Firey Dragon.

  • Find the Dragon Egg – Hot and cold:

Make a dragon egg either use a rock and pretend, or if you’re feeling more creative make one out of Papier mâché or even draw an egg on a piece of card and cut out. One person is the knight and the others are the dragons.  The knight has to close his/her eyes or go in a different room while the dragons hide the egg somewhere (home or garden). The dragon has to look for it and the knights shout warm, warmer, hot and if the dragon is almost on the egg “boiling!” if the dragon moves further away then it gets colder until freezing! When the dragon finds an egg, it becomes a knight and someone takes their place.

And now for the book review…Dragon themed of course 🙂

BOOK REVIEW

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The Boy Who Grew Dragons – by Andy Shepherd and illustrations by Sarah Ogilvie. Published by Piccadilly Press

You’ve heard of dragon fruit right? But did you know that they are actual dragon plants? As in dragons grow from them… No? Well neither did Tomas. Until a dragon popped out one night. Much trickier than cucumbers! But for all the poo in the porridge and burnt rucksacks the dragons are definitely loveable trouble! Even if they are difficult to keep secret. My 5yo son adores this book – it’s funny, it’s imaginatively written, beautifully illustrated and IT’S GOT DRAGONS IN IT!!! What’s not to love?! And the special bond Tomas has with his grandfather is just incredible and makes me think of the lovely relationship that my boys have with their own grandparents. We can’t wait to read the other books in the series The Boy Who Lived With Dragons and The Boy Who Flew With Dragons which are out now. Very much recommend this book and am very excited to see that there are more books planned in the future (check out the Q&A below, with highly imaginative and very lovely author Andy Shepherd, for details!)

Thanks for reading the blog and review!

Q&A with Andy Shepherd

Q1: If Tomas were on Gardener’s Question Time what advice would he give
to anyone thinking of growing dragons?
A1: Keep your eyes open for a tree that looks like an upturned mop head, with
sprouty cactus leaves and a hairy knobbly trunk. Before any dragon fruit grow
you’ll see vivid yellow and orange tendrils, shooting out from the cactus
leaves, like a burst of flames. Next will come a moon-white flower, but if you
want to see it you’ll have to camp out in the garden because it only flowers at
night!
Once the fruits start to grow they change from green to red – now you can
start getting excited because a red fruit means the dragon is ready to hatch!
Top tips:
Don’t over water your dragon-fruit tree – like all cacti it doesn’t like soggy feet.
Invest in some good quality poly tunnels to protect your vegetables – once the
dragons start bursting out of the dragon fruits the first thing they look for is
nice tasty veg to give them fuel for their trip North.
Keep oven gloves and a hose at the ready to deal with the dragon poo they
leave behind – dragon poo has a nasty habit of exploding when it dries out!
Make sure you have a bench by the dragon-fruit tree. When the dragons start
hatching you will want to lay down your tools and watch the magic. You never
know what dragon might grow next – perhaps it will have scales that ripple
and shimmer like sunlight on the sea or breathe rainbow sparks that light up
your garden like tiny fireworks. Growing dragons is A LOT more trouble than
growing cucumbers, but there is also A LOT more magic in a dragon!
Happy dragon growing!
Q2: What is the best thing about having a dragon as a pet?
A2: When they are small and they sleep next to you, their warm scales are like a
hot water bottle. And when they settle on your shoulder, their tails curl round
your neck and their warm breath tickles your ear. Then when they get big you
can soar across the sky on their back, hollering to the stars, the whole world
stretching below you.
NB Dragons aren’t really pets. We grow dragons and they are our friends. We
look after them and the tree they grow from. But they don’t belong to us.
Dragons belong to themselves.
Q3: Any plans for more books?
A3: The fourth book ‘The Boy Who Dreamed of Dragons’ is coming out in June
and then in January 2021 there will be a fifth book, ‘The Boy Who Sang With
Dragons’.
In the next part of the story Tomas meets some new friends, both human and
dragon. When Zing a sparky little dragon with oversized wings hatches there’s
a whole lot more trouble in the garden. Then when a new girl, Aura, arrives at
school declaring herself to be Queen of the Dragons, Tomas finds life
changing even more.
But as Grandad says ‘If nothing changed, nothing would grow. And things
need to grow. Even us.’

 

TROLL CODE 137

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TROLL CODE 137 – Kirsten Allen

 

Brog was a troll. He was as big an ox. He was as green as the slimiest pond water. His rock sized teeth (with a few missing) were as yellow as snot. And he lived under a bridge. All as a troll should be. Except for one thing. Everyone knows that all trolls have a big mud coloured hairy wart on the end of their chins. That is all trolls apart from Brog. He desperately wanted a wart like the other trolls at school.

“Your chin is as bald as a bowling ball! You’re not a real troll and we don’t want to play with you!” Blomp the largest troll said unkindly. All the other trolls laughed and sang “Brog is a big bald bowling ball! Brog is a big bald bowling ball!”

Poor Brog! He clomped off as fast as his big two toed troll feet could carry him and hid in a cave.

He heard footsteps. “GO AWAY!” he shouted in his biggest scariest troll voice. “THIS IS MY HIDING SPACE SO GET OUT!” He bellowed. But the footsteps didn’t go away. They got closer and closer. They belonged to his teacher Ms Blod. “Would you like to talk?” she asked. Brog glared and shook his head. He was so angry and upset he didn’t want to talk to anyone. But when Ms Blod put her arm around him, giant slimy troll tears started to roll down his face and landed in a big SPLURP on the floor. “I heard what those young trolls said. It was unkind. Even for trolls.”

Brog dried his eyes, blew his gooey nose on the back of his sleeve (that hadn’t been washed for at least a month!) and listened. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve had a little chat with them and reminded them of Troll Code number 137: All trolls must be kind to other trolls. If you’d like to come with me, I think there’s something they’d like to say.”

Brog followed Ms Blod. What could they possibly have to say that would make any difference? At the far end of the bog, the other trolls stood looking very ashamed of themselves.

“We’re sorry we broke Troll Code 137 and even more sorry that we hurt your feelings.” They said. “We shouldn’t have called you names and should have let you play with us.”

Blomp stepped forward. “We know it won’t make up for how we made you feel, but we have a little present for you. We made it ourselves.” And there, made of dried badger dung, mud and bristly troll ear hairs (the wax was still on the warm side) was the biggest most disgusting wart that Brog had ever seen. “I don’t know what to say! Thank you! It’s perfect! But….” He paused and took a deep brave breath “I’m afraid I can’t accept it.”

The other trolls gasped. “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s the best and ugliest wart I’ve ever seen. It’s just that I don’t need it anymore.”

“What do you mean?” The trolls were puzzled. “We thought you wanted your very own chin wart more than anything in the world!”

“I did,” explained Blod. “But I don’t need it anymore because I like being me. As I am. Wartless.”

“We like that you are you too. Wartless or not.” Then together as friends, they went off stomping, clomping and burping to the stinkiest part of the bog to laugh and play until the sun went down.

 

 

THE MAGIC BOOTS STORY AND ACTIVITIES

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Hi all – I’ll be putting together a few activities for the stories. Here’s one I was supposed to take into schools.

Please feel free to print/download/colour in/read outloud . Would love to see pics and stories! Share them with @kidsstoryworld on Twitter and Instagram

Kids Storyworld – MAGIC BOOTS STORY AND ACTIVITIES

Any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me and thanks for reading!

THE MAGIC BOOTS – Kirsten Allen

 

Eve was enjoying her walk in the rain. She loved nothing more than hearing the pitter and the patter of the raindrops and jumping in big puddles. The muddier the better! Suddenly, she heard a voice shout “Help! Help!”. Eve looked around but couldn’t see anyone. “Here I am! Please help me!” the voice cried. She looked down and there on the grass, close to the edge of the village pond was a fish. It was very pale and gasping for breath. Without any hesitation, Eve quickly picked it up and as the fish plunged back into the water, Eve saw all the colours of the universe shimmering and shining. A long, long time ago a bright shooting star had fallen out of the sky and into the pond. When the star hit the water, it’s light shattered into a thousand pieces and swirled back together forming this magical fish.

“Thank you! Thank you!” the fish said. “It rained so heavily that the pond water over-flowed and I went with it! But how can I ever repay you?”

“There’s really no need.” said Eve “You’re more than welcome!”

“I insist!” said the fish “I know how much you love dancing and jumping in puddles. If you look in the reeds, you’ll find a pair of boots.”

Eve looked.

“Wow! Thank you so much! I love them!” she started to put them on.

“Wait!” said the fish. “They are magic boots. When you would like to play in the rain, you put them on and say the magic words ‘Splosh, splash, splish! Rain is my greatest wish’ and it will rain.”

“And how do I get it to stop?” asked Eve.

“Yes, that’s very important! When you’d like the rain to stop you must say ‘Splish, splash, splosh make the rain stop!’. Don’t forget!”

“I’ll remember” promised Eve. “And thank you again!”

One very dry morning Eve put on her boots and said the magic words. The rain came and Eve danced and jumped in the puddles until her parents called her inside for lunch. But what she didn’t know was that Barnaby, the mischievous boy from next door had been watching and listening. “I want those boots” he said to himself. Eve had left them on the doorstep to dry out and when no one was looking, he took them and ran off to a quiet spot in the park.

Barnaby put the boots on and remembered the words “Splosh, splash, splish! Rain is my greatest wish!”. The rain came and Barnaby joyfully danced and jumped in the puddles. He splashed about until the sun went down and the moon came up. “I’d better get back home for dinner!” he suddenly thought and tried to remember the words that would make the rain stop. “Drip Drip Drop! Make the rain stop!” But the rain didn’t stop. “Paddle, paddle, paddle! Make the rain skedaddle!”

But the rain didn’t stop. No matter how hard he tried he could not remember the words. Worried about what his parents would say he ran home and didn’t tell them about the boots. The rivers whooshed, the banks flooded and soon the water was flooding the village! When it started coming under the doors of the houses, Barnaby knew he must say something. He waded next door holding the boots and knocked on the door. “My boots!” said Eve.

With no time to lose, Eve put on the boots and said the magic words “Splish, splash, splosh, make the rain stop!” and the rain suddenly stopped.

“I’m sorry,” said Barnaby “I should have asked before I took them.”

“That’s ok.” said Eve kindly, “We all mistakes. You did the right thing in the end and brought them back.”

From that day on they became firm friends and whenever there was puddle jumping to be done, Eve would ask Barnaby to join her. And Barnaby never took anything without asking again.

© 2020 Kirsten Allen ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

 

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THE SEED WHO BELIEVED #50PreciousWords Contest

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There are many beautiful words in the dictionary so it’s not easy to choose just 50 or less! But I love a challenge and I love writing so when I saw the #50PreciousWords contest on author Vivian Kirkfield’s page I just had to give it a go.

If you enjoy it and have a minute please do like and comment on the competition page here: https://viviankirkfield.com/2020/02/29/50preciouswords-2020-contest-is-officially-open/#comment-147331

It’s entry 192 💖

Thanks for reading and your support!

The Seed Who Believed  – Kirsten Allen

Once a tiny seed doubted if it could grow.
“I’ll share my warmth” said Sun.
“I’ll protect you” said Soil.
“I’ll shower you with love” said Rain. “But you need to believe you can.”
With new confidence and determination, Seed pushed brown roots down and green shoots up and blossomed.

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Finding our way and Book Review…

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Anyone  who knows me knows how bad my sense of direction is! My dad could pick up a map look at it once and know exactly where to drive on an 8hour journey. My husband studied Geography and is also has a phenomenal sense of direction and map reading skills.

By contrast:

– on a school geography trip a good friend said she never wanted to partner with me on an orientation exercise again. We’d got lost multiple times and didn’t complete the task after I was “certain it was this way”….

– Friends would rather use a taxi than walk with me on one of my short cuts

– my last short cut on a 10minute (local) car journey took on a 40min route

– when I first told my then boyfriend now husband I couldn’t read maps he, with a degree in geography and infinite patience, said he would teach me. We were on the way to the Lake District. 15min after he trustingly handed it to me, he pulled over in a lay-by and took it back off me. We were lost. He’s a pretty patient guy but I could feel the exasperation.

– once I wanted to surprise my husband for his birthday with a restaurant he’d not been to. After pretending I was misleading him so he couldn’t guess where we were going, I ended up having to come clean, tell him we were lost and hand over the details so he could find the way and we could make the table on time 🙈

So imagine my happiness and joy when my 5yo son started showing an interest in maps! He’s pretty good at drawing them too. Sometimes he even tells me if we’re going the wrong way somewhere. Thankfully it seems he’s inherited his father’s and my father’s skills.

There are so many ways to help children learn to navigate and create an interest in the world around them. I’ve been to the charity shop and bought old ordinance survey maps and A-Zs which we enjoy looking at. I point out rivers etc to him. In the car on the occasions I know where we’re going, I’ll sometimes ask him to guide me left or right etc. These are fun games and I’m learning too!  I also got him some map books which we do together.

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In a world of technology we can think “What’s the point?” (Though I’ve even been known to get lost using Google directions!!) Well according to this article, map reading can help with maths, spacial awareness and visual literacy:

The Importance Of Map Reading

Orienteering also a fun thing to do and a great outdoor activity and good for imagination. My son draws made up islands with palm trees and X marks the spot. And later in life it can save a fortune in taxis and apologies for being late…(ahem…)

Thanks as ever for reading my blog! 💖📚

BOOK REVIEW

The Cockatoo From Timbuktu – By William A.E Ford, Illustrated by Ramile M. Imac

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This is the charming book we were kindly sent by the author and it inspired the blog about directions and finding your way. It’s a beautifully illustrated rhyming book about Kian the cockatoo who escapes from the zoo to find his way back to his family in Timbuktu. As mentioned my son loves  maps (there’s a beautiful one at the beginning of the book) and learning about different countries. The story takes  you around the world  until Kian finds his way home. We really enjoyed reading about the animals in Australia and my youngest loves penguins so his favourite page was when Kian flew through Antartica. The book is a great conversation starter for young ones and there is a lot that children can learn from it including the fun facts at the end of the book! The perfect book for children who love animals and adventuring!

And now for a short Q&A with the lovely author William A E Ford!

Q1: Is there anywhere in the world you’d like to visit but haven’t yet?
A1: I love to travel and see new places. There are so many places I would like to go that I havent visited. I would say Japan, South Africa and Iceland are places on top of the wish list. I should also add Timbuktu in Mali to the list as well!

Q2: When you go there, if you could have any animal as a travelling companion, what would you choose and why?
A2: If I could choose any animal/bird to accompany me, I would have to go for a cockatoo. Failing that it would have to be a monkey to keep me entertained.

To read about more of William’s books and news please visit https://williamaeford.com/

THE STORY OF THE MOUSE WHO DID…

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Alfred was in the garden trying to blow bubbles. The harder he blew, the less the bubbles came. His brother laughed loudly at his attempts. A very cross Alfred snatched up his bubbles and stomped inside.

“What’s the matter?” Grandpa asked Alfred.

“I’ll never be able to make a bubble. If I could, I’d blow the biggest shiniest bubble in the whole world.”

“I see,” said Grandpa. “Come, sit with me and I’ll tell you a story.”

Alfred did not know how a story was going to help but sat down anyway.

“Once upon a time, there was a small mouse,” his Grandpa began.

“In fact, he was the smallest mouse in the village. One day, he said to his big brother ‘I’m going to be the first mouse in the village to row around the Great Big Lake.’ His brother laughed but the mouse ignored him. In the garden shed the mouse found a bucket and two sticks of wood.

His brother was fishing on the banks of the lake. ‘You silly little mouse! You’ll never get anywhere in that rusty old bucket!’ he said. The mouse ignored him, climbed into the bucket and started rowing with the sticks. He was still by the shore when the boat started sinking. There was a hole in the bucket!

His brother laughed even harder. But the mouse ignored him and returned to the shed.

This time he found a giant slipper. Back at the lake his brother was skimming stones. When he saw the mouse, he giggled.

‘That’s not going to get you around the lake you silly little mouse!’

This made the mouse even more determined, he got his oars, put the slipper on the lake and sat in it. Straight away water whooshed over the sides. And when the soggy slipper got tangled in the reeds, the mouse’s brother laughed until his sides almost split. ‘You might as well give up!’ he said. But the mouse ignored him. This time instead of going to the shed, he went to the kitchen. He looked everywhere for the best thing he could use as a boat. He even inspected a chunk of cheese and though it was very tasty, it wasn’t going to help him be the first mouse to row around the lake. Then he saw the giant half a walnut shell his grandma used for mixing cakes and cookies.

The mouse carried it to the lake where his brother was snoozing in a deckchair. He put the walnut shell in the water and sat in it. This time, his boat didn’t have a hole in it and the water didn’t whoosh over the sides. He started rowing only pausing to wave at the ducks and geese and say hello to the frogs. When he finally made it back to the riverbank, all the mice in the village had gathered to cheer him loudly. His brother was cheering the loudest!

‘I’m sorry I made fun of you and didn’t believe you. I’m so proud that you are the first mouse to row around the Great Big Lake!’ The mouse smiled. ‘I knew I could do it. It wasn’t a question of if but of how.’”

Grandpa looked down and smiled at Alfred. Alfred ran back into the garden. He stopped and thought. Not if he could blow a bubble but how. An idea came to him. He put his lips together and this time blew very gently. Alfred and his brother watched as the biggest shiniest bubble in the whole world floated up up up and away into the clouds.