Advice and guidance on how to start talking to your child or children about climate change at home, with practical ideas and suggestions.
Talking about Climate Change at home
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Blog posts for: Age 8-9
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.
Book of the Month: Mickey and the Missing Spy
Win a copy of Mickey and the Missing Spy, for an interactive book ideal for budding spies aged 7+ (November 2021)
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.
Book of the Month: Pippi Longstocking
Win a copy of Pippi Longstocking (gift edition) for you and a friend, and enjoy this beautifully illustrated story (October 2021)
Book of the Month: Roald Dahl Scrumptious & Delumptious Words
Win copies of a Roald Dahl book bundle, to broaden vocabulary and have fun with language (September 2021)
Establishing a reading habit for the summer holidays and beyond
There are so many reasons to read with your children, this summer holiday and beyond. Read Mary Hamley’s tips on how to encourage a daily reading habit.
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.
Book of the Month: Mickey and the Trouble with Moles
Win a copy of Mickey and the Trouble with Moles, a perfect read for budding spies and sure to stretch their problem-solving skills! (May 2021)
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.
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!
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 7–9 year olds
Looking for homemade gifts to make with your child? Try making your own Christmas cards or a swirling, glittery snow globe with our activity ideas for 7–9 year olds!
Top five tips for creative writing at Christmas
From storytelling games to alternative Christmas stories, encourage your child’s creative writing during with our top tips for creative writing at Christmas.
Money skills in a digital age
How to develop an understanding of money and healthy money habits in our children when there are fewer opportunities for them to see the real and physical exchange of cash.
Book of the Month: Roald Dahl Words of Magical Mischief
Celebrate Roald Dahl Story Day with Roald Dahl Words of Magical Mischief, a brand-new, wickedly mischievous guide to the magical words!
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.
Oxford Levels: How to support your 7–11-year-old’s reading development
Find out how Oxford Levels and levelled readers can support and develop your child’s reading skills even after they’ve learned how to read.
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!
Book of the Month: Progress with Oxford: Age 8–10 Activity Books
From cracking comprehension to tackling times tables, Progress with Oxford has been created to help your child practise essential numeracy and literacy skills at home.
How reading programmes can help junior readers
Once your child has mastered decoding, it can be liberating to choose whatever books they like – but there are still benefits to structured reading schemes.
Developing reading skills as your child gets older
Once your child has mastered phonics and word-reading, where do they go next? Here are our ideas to keep your 7–11-year-old’s reading skills developing.
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.
Times tables: Practice makes perfect
Maths teacher and education expert Louise Pennington shares her favourite activities and games to help your child learn their times tables.
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.
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.
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: Willow Wildthing and the Swamp Monster
Win this brand new book, perfect for children age 7+ interested in the natural world and the environment. When Willow crosses the boundary to the patch of woodland behind her house, something amazing happens: she enters The Wilderness, where magic and nature collide…
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.
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.
Fractions, decimals and percentages
Flummoxed by fractions? Dismayed by decimals? Perplexed by percentages? Get tips for exploring these tricky concepts at home.
How a dictionary and thesaurus can help your child discover the world of words
Find out how using dictionaries and thesauruses can expand your child’s vocabulary and help them enjoy learning.
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.
Stories from the road less travelled – children’s books that celebrate diversity
Every child deserves to see lives like their own represented in powerful stories. Cerrie Burnell shares her favourite children’s books that celebrate diversity.
How to choose a book for ages 7–11
Literacy adviser and ex-librarian Beverley Humphrey offers her expert advice on how you can help choose the right book for your 7–11 year old.
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.
Picture books for older readers
Who says we have to leave picture books behind in KS1? These wonderful books use spellbinding illustrations to introduce children to big ideas. Includes FArTHER and The Man Who Walked Between Towers.
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.
Children’s dictionaries – how to find the right dictionary for your child
Find the right dictionary for your child with these four useful tips.
Supernatural tales for 7–9 year olds
Watch your children’s imaginations spirit them away with our selection of supernatural tales for ages 7–9. Unputdownable books about extraordinary children!
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