Win copies of My Granny is a Queen, the perfect book to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee by celebrating the queens in our own families – our grannies! Ideal for children aged 2+ (May 2022)
Blog posts for: Age 5
Book of the Month: Mayor Bunny’s Chocolate Town
Win copies of Mayor Bunny’s Chocolate Town, for a great Easter read. Perfect for children aged 2+ (April 2022)
Easter Holiday Reads
Springtime reads for you and your child to enjoy this Easter holiday, with a selection of titles suitable for age 2-7!
Five easy Easter activities to do at home
Whether you want to create a traditional Easter egg hunt or enjoy some family reading time, we’ve got an egg-citing host of activities for you to choose from.
Book of the Month: The Smile
Win copies of The Smile, exploring how much difference a smile can make with children aged 2+ (March 2022)
Book of the Month: Marv
Win a copy of Marv and the Dino Attack and Marv and the Mega Robot, for a superhero story like no other for children aged 5+ (February 2022)
World Book Day costume ideas
Make this year’s celebration of books and reading extra special with our no-sew World Book Day costume ideas, inlcluding Winnie the Witch and Isadora Moon.
Book of the Month: Big Words for Little People – Celebrate and Our World
Win copies of Big Words for Little People: Celebrate and Our World, for great ways to introduce new vocabulary to children aged 3+ (January 2022)
Talking about Climate Change at home
Advice and guidance on how to start talking to your child or children about climate change at home, with practical ideas and suggestions.
Book of the Month: The 12 Books of Christmas
Win copies of 12 books this Christmas in our festive give away (December 2021)
How to escape Christmas fatigue
Avoid the Christmas holiday slump with our top tips for keeping you and your family active over the festive season.
What are reading schemes and why do they matter?
Educational publishing expert Andrea Quincey explains why reading schemes are important, and what the different colours, bands and levels actually mean.
Half-term and Halloween activities for kids this Autumn
Looking for fun things to do with the kids this half-term? We’ve created a list of easy crafts, Halloween games and more.
Diversifying your child’s reading
Diversifying the children’s book industry and what our children are reading is a much talked about topic. Many people want to make a difference, but with so much information available, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Book of the Month: Numicon at Home
Win a Numicon at home First Steps kit, designed to help you get your child’s early Maths learning off to the best possible start. (August 2021)
Book of the Month: I’m the Driver
Win copies of I’m a Digger Driver and I’m a Fire Engine Driver, jumping into the driver’s seat and entering a world of imaginative play (July 2021)
Book of the Month: The Pirate Mums
Win a copy of The Pirate Mums, perfect for introducing young children to the idea that families come in lots of shapes and sizes! (June 2021)
Get number confident on National Numeracy Day
Get involved with National Numeracy Day 2021 and help your child’s confidence grow, with our top tips and free maths activities.
5 top tips to keep reading at home
It’s more important than ever to keep your child reading at home this term and over the summer holidays. Camilla Macoun shares her tips.
Looking forward to the summer term: tips to help boost your child’s learning
What can we do to help our children to make progress over the term ahead? James Clements shares his tips to help boost skills and knowledge.
Science at home: How to extract DNA from a banana
Try this fun science activity to help children create a mental image of DNA and give them a taste of what being a scientist is like!
Building kids’ resilience and confidence
How do you help build your child’s confidence and resilience? Teacher and child psychologist Jean Gross CBE shares her tips for helping children believe in themselves, and discusses how you can encourage them to be determined and enjoy challenges.
Top tips from parents on sharing stories at home
Sharing stories with your child is a wonderful way to take them to new worlds, to share the pleasure of reading, and positively impact their educational outcomes.
World Book Day 2021
Join in this World Book Day with video sessions from some of your children’s favourite authors and our library of free downloadable activity sheets!
Book of the Month: Kitty and the Twilight Trouble
To celebrate the publication of the brand-new Kitty book, we have a bundle of books to give away! (February 2020)
Learning at home: lockdown tips for parents
With UK schools closed again, we’ve pulled together some of our most popular blog posts from the first lockdown to help you support your children’s learning at home.
Mindfulness and mental health in children: five top tips for parents
How can you encourage mindfulness at home with your child, to support positive wellbeing and mental health? Liz Lord shares her tips for parents.
Christmas activities for 5–7 year olds
Whatever the weather this Christmas, you’ll find an activity here to suit your child. Wrap up warm and go out for a winter scavenger hunt, or stay inside and play party games with our range of festive activity ideas.
Christmas activities for 4–5 year olds
Practise early maths and letter recognition skills with some Christmas colouring in and get lots of car game ideas to keep everyone occupied on long journeys this Christmas.
Time flies: helping your child learn to tell the time
Learning to tell the time using both analogue and digital clocks is still an important skill, but it’s something that children can find tricky to master. Louise Pennington shares ideas to support your child’s growing understanding of time.
Preparing for the phonics screening check
The phonics screening check is an informal way for schools to assess your child’s progress in reading. Sarah Loader shares tips for supporting your child’s development at home.
Settling in at primary school
Our top tips for helping your child get used to their busy new school routine.
How fun with phonics helps develop communication skills
One of the most valuable skills we can give our children is the ability to communicate well. Read top tips on how to develop communication skills.
Using music for social and emotional development: Family activities from Amani Project
We’re working with Amani Project to help you make music and make change this summer! Get involved and complete the weekly activities to earn badges and find out more about Amani Project’s important work combining the power of music for children’s social and emotional development all around the world.
500 Words: Black Lives Matter – how are British children responding to the emerging themes and issues in their writing?
Almost 6,000 children entered the writing competition in July 2020 and Oxford University Press’ analysis shines a light on children’s insight, empathy, and imagination when writing about race. Find out more.
Summer reading for kids: recommended books
From island adventures to stories about twin detectives, here’s our list of favourite children’s books to read this summer.
Book of the Month: Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary
The Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary is packed with words ordered by phonic sound to help young children learn how to spell. Enter our competition to win a free copy.
Learning at home during lockdown: Almost over the finish line
If, like us, finding the enthusiasm to keep going with home learning is tricky, here are a few ideas for making it over the finish line.
Inspire the author in your child with the new 500 Words: Black Lives Matter Competition!
Oxford University Press is proud to be partnering with the 500Words: Black Lives Matter story-writing competition. Our language experts collect and analyze every story received to better understand children’s language and inform learning, so get your pens at the ready!
Teaching number bonds (without any screens)
Lots of schoolwork is being set online at the moment. Here is one example from education expert James Clements of teaching maths skills without a screen.
Boosting early maths skills with number facts
Louise Pennington shows us her top five maths games, including ‘Bunny rabbit ears’ and ‘What’s in the bag?’, to help your child practise their number facts.
Start calculating with Numicon
It can be hard making the jump from counting numbers to calculating. Sheila O’Reilly shares activities to introduce your child to addition and subtraction.
Learning at home: Reading to learn
Education expert James Clements talks about how children who are already confident readers can get the most out of their reading.
Ordering and counting with Numicon
Early Years teacher and mother Sheila O’Reilly shows us how to use Numicon shapes to help your child learn to count and order numbers.
Learning at home: The tricky business of screen time
Keeping your child’s screen time manageable can be tricky, especially at the moment. Education expert James Clements gives us his top tips.
Writing a thank you letter
Practise handwriting by writing a thank you letter to someone who has helped you during lockdown – like a teacher, a family member, or a healthcare worker.
How Numicon can help develop maths skills at home
Early Years teacher and mother Sheila O’Reilly shows us how the 1st Steps with Numicon at Home kit can support your child’s early maths development.
Five ways to improve maths home-learning
Maths expert Andrew Jeffrey shares five easy-to-implement strategies that can make a positive difference to our children’s maths learning at home.
Not your typical books for boys
An alternative list of recommended books for boys. Perfect for boys who are looking to read about something other than football or jokes about bottoms!
Teaching maths at home
Mathemagician Andrew Jeffrey suggests ways you can support your child’s maths development at home without needing to be an expert.
Money, money, money
Money isn’t everything, but being ‘good with money’ is undoubtedly a useful life skill. Read Fiona Lazenby’s top tips for practising using money with your child.
Maths is everywhere!
Maths expert Louise Pennington shares her advice for developing your child’s maths skills during school closures by exploring maths in the real world.
Learning at home: What can we learn from teachers?
Education expert James Clements talks about the lessons we can learn from teachers about helping your child to learn at home.
Learning at home: Learning to read
Education expert James Clements runs through everything you need to keep your child’s reading skills developing during the school lockdown.
Author videos: Storytelling, draw-alongs, and challenges
Over the coming weeks, we are bringing you exciting new challenges, drawalongs and storytimes direct from the very best authors and illustrators. Find out more.
Learning at home: Buying yourself some time
Education expert James Clements shares his ideas for keeping the children busy – in a constructive way – when you need to be getting on with something.
Learning at home: How to prioritise sharing a book
Education expert and writer James Clements talks about the importance of reading to your child to boost their educational success in all sorts of ways.
Book of the Month: Super Happy Magic Forest and the Humongous Fungus
Five brave heroes, one epic quest… It’s time to head back into the Super Happy Magic Forest! Enter our competition to win your free copy.
Learning at home: What would they be learning at school?
Education expert and writer James Clements explains what your child would be learning at school, and how we can use (or not use) the curriculum at home.
Learning at home: Things to get ready for next week
Education expert and writer James Clements suggests 6 practical things you get get ready over the weekend for next week’s learning at home.
Learning at home: Organising the day
Education expert and writer James Clements offers up 4 different approaches to structuring your child’s day learning at home.
Learning at home: Making a start
Educational expert and writer James Clements gives his 3 top tips of how to get started with teaching your child at home.
Book of the Month: Read with Oxford comic books
Win two Read with Oxford comics, full of fun characters and engaging storylines – from sneaking past ticklish octopuses to getting cuddly bumbles home for tea.
Inspire the author in your child with the BBC 500 Words Competition 2020!
Oxford Dictionaries for Children has teamed up with BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words – the nationwide competition to find the most talented young writers in the UK!
How to help your child with mental arithmetic
Building confidence in maths early on will pay back many times over. Get tips for developing your child’s mental arithmetic skills.
Learning to read in Reception
Find out what sort of books to expect to come home in your child’s book bag, and get top tips on how best to support your child.
Building a strong vocabulary: How to help at home
Headteacher Tracey Smith shares her ideas for fun and easy games you can play to build your child’s vocabulary and boost their confidence with words.
How gardening can cultivate your child’s maths skills
Science writer Isabel Thomas shares her top five tips for cultivating maths skills in the garden, no matter how big or small your green space and green fingers.
A case for non-fiction:
five reasons to read non-fiction with your child
Education expert James Clements outlines five benefits of reading non-fiction, and gives us his top non-fiction reads for ages 5–11.
Get messy with measuring
Fiona Lazenby tells us her four top tips for learning about volume, area and capacity at home, and having messy fun in the process!
How to edit your 500 Words story
Finished a first draft of your short story and not sure what to do next? Read Christopher Edge’s top tips for polishing your story to perfection.
The wonder of words: How learning new words can help your child
A rich vocabulary allows a child to enjoy their reading, to express themselves and to learn about the world. James Clements offers tips on how to help your child’s vocabulary develop.
Story sparks: find inspiration for your short story
When you look down at a blank piece of paper, inspiration can seem a long way away. Here are Christopher Edge’s top tips for coming up with story ideas.
How to choose a book for ages 3–7
Children’s librarian Greta Paterson shares her 5 top tips for choosing books for 3–7 year olds.
2018 Oxford Children’s Word of the Year: Plastic
Plastic has been revealed as the Children’s Word of the Year by Oxford University Press for the BBC 500 Words Competition. British children have once again shown themselves to be fabulously inventive, funny and socially astute.
Books to inspire young scientists
Science and engineering provide fantastic career opportunities, but science is not just for scientists – it’s a huge part of everyday life. A good grounding in science will help every child to navigate their world and make good decisions. Isabel Thomas recommends books for ages 3–11 to inspire your young scientist.
Everyday activities to practise subtraction
Subtraction is a key concept in the primary maths curriculum. Here are some easy activities you can try at home to build your child’s skills and confidence.
How to write your best story ever!
Christopher Edge, author of ‘How to Write your Best Story Ever!’, shares his top 10 tips to help your child write amazing stories.
6 top tips for finishing your 500 Words story
It’s easy to start a story, and it’s hard to finish one. Francesca Simon, author of the Horrid Henry series, shares her top tips for finishing a story.
4 fun ways to develop characters for a short story
Every story needs a star! These four fun activities will help any aspiring author dream up some page-turning protagonists.
4 tips to inspire children’s creative writing
Coming up with a great story idea can be tricky, which is why we’ve gathered together four fun activities to inspire your child’s creative writing.
Developing empathy through reading
Children’s author Anne Booth, creator of the Lucy series, discusses how reading builds up emotional literacy, empathy, and relationship skills.

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