Have you read Sue Hendra’s Supertato books? We love them and this Evil Pea paper plate craft is perfect to make alongside the books.

I made this paper plate What The Ladybird Heard craft with movable parts that mean you can hide away a little drawing or bit of writing too. Why not make some story stones to help retell the story? These ones are sea themed and you could easily add stones with a mermaid, ladybird and any other of the characters from the book. For nursery children – can they make a ladybird using playdoh, junk materials, or draw it with coloured pencils, chalks or paint? What shapes can they see? Talk about circles.I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. Recap on the story of ‘What the Ladybird Heard’– whether at home or in class, read the story again with the children or invite the children to tell you or their parents/siblings the story. Look at the illustrations of the farm in the book. Look at the different textures used on the tree / grass / buildings. Can you try to recreate these textures using different art materials?

I think it’s fair to say that Julia Donaldson is one of my kids favourite authors and I know that the same can be said of an awful lot of other children too. What The Ladybird Heard is one of our favourite stories (as well as the two sequels) and these What The Ladybird Hears activities and crafts are great either as extension activities for the books or just as a simple way to keep your child entertained and having fun. What The Ladybird Heard Activities and Crafts Can you sort the animals in the story using Venn or Carroll diagrams? Which ones have two legs? Which have four legs? Which ones have a beak or a nose? How many other ways could you sort them?Build a Bug Hotel and see who comes to visit. You can keep a guest log and see if the visitors change, over the different seasons - https://www.yocom/watch?v=OexxoXo9uFk The fourth title in the Number One bestselling What the Ladybird Heard series from the award-winning team of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks. Have fun with this interactive ladybird counting game - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/ladybird-spots

I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married. There are some great free printable activities over on Kiddycharts which has got a What The Ladybird Heard colouring sheet, dominoes, find the ladybird activity and an activity to match the animal to the noise that they make. Wonderfully written, we see this little hero save the day again and out smart the troublesome duo Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len. Great ‘cops and robbers’ appeal . . . perfect for children motivated by the seemingly endless ways in which one might trap the ‘baddies’.

P1 children (and older siblings) might be interested to hear the story being told by Julia Donaldson. Julia explains how she came to write this story and some of her other songs and books. There is even a guest appearance by one of her favourite characters - https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors-live-on-demand/julia-donaldson

By using food dye, colour a water tray or if at home, have fun at bath-time – by making the Red Sea! Allow the children to experiment with different sized containers to explore volume. Many children will also find playing with water emotionally soothing. Look at the vocabulary used to describe how the thieves are planning to steal the cow. What other direction words can you think of? Why not have a red lunch – what foods can the children think of which are red in colour? They may want to have strawberries, watermelon, jelly or even a jam sandwich!

More Activities for Children’s Books

I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him). Take a trip to the seaside, the farm and the bustling streets of London with the best-loved What The Ladybird Heard books. Starring a crime-fighting little ladybird as she embarks on a series of daring adventures, the What The Ladybird Heard books are written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Lydia Monks. Invite the children to create their own Wanted Posters for the robbers, Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh! Encourage them to use descriptive words about how the robbers look, whether they are tall or short and what they were wearing. (Some free resources of poster templates can be accessed here - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/search?term=wanted+poster)