With the summer holidays in full swing, you might be wondering how to keep up the reading and writing with your children throughout the long break?

Local libraries in the UK run an annual Summer Reading Challenge to encourage children to continue reading throughout this period. This year they have teamed up with WWF for their challenge with a range of fun cartoon characters young readers can meet along the way. And on completion of the challenge children receive a real medal and stickers! More details here.

Oxford Owl have written a list of ideas on how to keep little ones brains active called "How to beat the summer slump" We particularly like their suggested activity of adding to an existing story your child already loves. For example rewriting the end of the Gruffalo. Read all the article in full here.

We've designed a fun printout inspired by the WWF Summer Reading Challenge featuring our Forest Friends from our new wooden stacker toy!

All you need to do is print out the activity here, then get your little ones to practice your reading skills and help our Forest Friends find their names. All they need to do is draw a line from the animal or insect to the correct name! We’ve given you a clue with some color coding! There is also an option to practice their handwriting too by tracing their names. Have fun! Check out our new Forest Friends here.