P2 Read Write Count Activity Bag

There are lots of great pictures of dinosaurs in the book. Can your child draw their favourite? Have a chat together about the dino they draw. Where does it live? What does it eat? They could even give them a name and make up a story about them.

There are lots of interesting facts about dinosaurs in the book. Take it in turns with your child to share two real facts and one made up one and see if the other player can guess which is the fake fact.

There are lots of ways you can use this book to help your child with their maths in a dino-tastic way! For example, you could ask them to look at the sizes of the different dinosaurs and see which is the biggest. Which is tallest? Which is longest? Which weighs the most?

Mum tells Milo that his story needs a beginning, a middle and an end. Take a look at some other picture books together at home or in your local library and see if they all have a beginning, middle and end. Some books don’t – like the dinosaur book in your child’s bag. You could talk to your child about how the books in their bag are different.

In the story, Milo’s cat becomes a tiger and his brother and sister become dribbling monsters! Can your child make a fun monster out of objects in the house? How about a mop monster? Or a blanket beast?

At the end of the book, Milo draws his story. You could ask your child to make up their own story and draw it. Or they could draw another story that they already know, like a fairy tale. They could also use their story cards for inspiration.

A tangram is a Chinese puzzle made up of seven polygons or ‘tans’, which can be put together to make different shapes. You could start by looking at the different shapes and seeing if your child can name them. They might know square and triangle, but what about the parallelogram?

How many different shapes can your child make with the tans? If they need some inspiration, you could have a look at this online tangram game together.

The tan pieces are all different colours – can your child name the colours, and think of something else that’s the same colour?

Pick a character, item and setting from the story cards and see what tales your child can come up with. 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, and to pick more cards to add to the story. They could also draw their story, like Milo.

Try and get the family together for dinner and then use the Talk it Out cards to start a conversation. You could ask your child to pick the first card, so they feel in charge. 

Have a look at the Act it Out emotion cards and have a chat with your child about how they think each character is feeling. How do they feel inside when they’re upset, or happy, or angry? Our page on talking to your child about mental health has more tips for helping them talk about how they’re feeling.