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Join us for fun online activities, workshops, storytelling sessions and shows this January and February half-term

Another lockdown in the UK means yet again finding ways to keep the little monsters and teenagers amused whilst stuck indoors - and that's where we're here to step in and save the day! Whether you're 3 years old or 93, we have a host of online activities, workshops, storytelling sessions and shows exploring Shakespeare's plays to keep the whole family entertained.

Join us wherever you are in the world to share in the joy of Shakespeare's stories and immersive yourself in his wonderful world.

Online workshops (3-8 years)

For the littlest of monsters, our puppetry workshop on A Midsummer Night's Dream is just the trick. Recommended for children aged 3+ and their families, this magical puppet show and workshop offers the opportunity for young minds to watch an enchanting tale unfold before their very eyes, as well as create their own puppets from everyday household items and bring them to life!

Our online and interactive workshops for children aged 5-8 are the perfect introduction to some of Shakespeare's much-loved comedies. Children can delve into the madcap worlds of A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night through a range of playful activities and games.

Globe Playground (5-11 years)

The Globe Playground playfully introduces Shakespeare to Primary-aged children, with the help of some characterful beasts!

We have a range of activities, including games, puzzles, recipes, colouring in and more, plus a host of fun facts, backstage videos, and animations, for children aged 5-11 to get creative.

Online storytelling sessions (5-12 years)

Shakespeare was a master storyteller and so are our wonderful team of Practitioners! In these immersive storytelling sessions, our Practitioners will guide the whole family through strange and wondrous lands, by combining song, props and costumes (and perhaps a helping hand from you too!).

Choose from Shakespeare's epic tales Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest.

Online workshops (8-12 years)

Our online workshops for children aged 8-12 take learning to the next level. Filled with fun activities and games designed to draw out elements of the play's language, characters and themes, kids can get hands on with understanding Shakespeare in our practical and engaging workshops on Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest.

Online workshops (12+ years)

For those exploring Shakespeare's plays at Secondary School, our online workshops for ages 12+ offer the opportunity to delve deeper into the texts, and are the perfect accompaniment to at home learning. What's more, teenagers can attend these solo, without a guardian, so will really get a sense of independent study! Workshops include Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, both key texts on the syllabus.

And if you fancy a film night with the family, our Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production of Romeo and Juliet, created especially for young people, is still available to watch on YouTube, for free, and is a fast-paced, action-packed 90 minute introduction to one of Shakepeare's most popular plays on the syllabus. What's more, we also have a host of free resources to go hand-in-hand with the production: from explorations in the themes, language and characters in the play, to videos and behind-the-scenes insights into the production.

FINIS.

Join us for online workshops and storytelling sessions as part of Telling Tales from 30 January - 21 February 2021.

Our Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production of Romeo and Juliet is now available to watch for free until 31 March 2021.

(Online) things to do this January & February 2021

Read

Watch Romeo and Juliet for free on YouTube

Watch

50 Shakespeare words and their meanings

Read

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Online events for all the family to enjoy during lockdown | Blogs & features

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Join us for fun online activities, workshops, storytelling sessions and shows this January and February half-term Another lockdown in the UK means yet again finding ways to keep the little monsters and teenagers amused whilst stuck indoors - and that's where we're here to step in and save the day!

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Online astronauts and space fun

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With a new national lockdown now in place, the Seven Stories Visitor Centre and Bookshop are closed to the general public until further notice.

Keeping our brilliant team and lovely customers safe is our top priority so please bear with us whist we ensure that our Covid measures are tip top and we are ready to welcome you once again to our delicious takeaway service.

As before, the magic of Seven Stories will go on with a host of online events, book recommendations and resources to support families at this time. Our vital work with schools and communities will also continue, empowering children and young people to understand their world and imagine their future.

Your commitment to our charity allows us to do what we love best - working with children's books to create playful and profound experiences for children and young people to enjoy. If you are able to support us with a donation you can do so here . Thank you.

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Seven Stories | Dark Skies Festival Creative Writing Workshop

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With a new national lockdown now in place, the Seven Stories Visitor Centre and Bookshop are closed to the general public until further notice. Keeping our brilliant team and lovely customers safe is our top priority so please bear with us whist we ensure that our Covid measures are tip top and we are ready to welcome you once again to our delicious takeaway service.

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Hogwarts and more

GOOOAAALLL!!!!

We ove our own #caribbean style Architecture! #Chattelhouse

„„Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike. Harry wasn't sure what made him do it. He wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on castors and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, 'Leave him!' And miraculously - inexplicably - the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick black garden hose, its eyes now on Harry...

„The office door opened. Dumbledore came in, looking very sombre. 'Professor,' Harry gasped, 'your bird - I couldn't do anything - he just caught fire -' To Harry's astonishment, Dumbledore smiled. 'About time, too,' he said. 'He's been looking dreadful for days, I've been telling him to get a move on.' He chuckled at the stunned look on Harry's face. 'Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. Watch him ...' Harry...

„„This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen,' said Hermione, as they scanned the recipe. 'Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed and knotgrass,' she murmured, running her finger down the list of ingredients." Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 10 ───────────────────────────── This small scene is based on one of the promotional photos that showed Hermione on her own in the bathroom working away with the polyjuice potion. Always liked that one so I had to do it, even though...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 07 Chapter 7 : The Slug Club Without warning, Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry, who was instantly paralysed. As though in slow motion, he toppled out of the luggage rack and fell, with an agonising, floor-shaking crash, at Malfoy's feet... _ In which Harry attempts to eavesdrop on Malfoy to see if he will reveal his purpose at Borgin & Burkes or his alliance with Lord Voldemort. _ If you haven't had a look already, please visit the previous builders...

Flickr is nothing without you, our community. We want to make sure this community continues to thrive, grow, and inspire, so we've made some big changes.

The Hall of Prophecy is a chamber within the Department of Mysteries and is mentioned in the book/movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". For those of you who are not familiar with it (and for those of you who want to refresh their minds), here is a link with photos to the original Hall of Prophecy . I've been interested in Harry Potter for some years, but never got the chance to build something Potter related - until now. This MOC is dedicated to Carson Hart , who is always...

LEGO-Hogwarts Kann nicht gebaut werden. Herausforderung gesucht! Das ist genial !! - #Das #gebaut #Genial #gesucht #Herausforderung #Hogwarts #ist #Kann #lego #LEGOHogwarts #nicht #werden

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400+ Harry Potter - Lego ideas | lego, harry potter, lego harry potter

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Hogwarts and more GOOOAAALLL!!!! We ove our own #caribbean style Architecture! #Chattelhouse „„Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike. Harry wasn't sure what made him do it. He wasn't even aware of deciding to do it.

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What house will you be?

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Wizarding World: The Official Home of Harry Potter

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Join the Harry Potter Fan Club for free to discover your Hogwarts house.

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Harry Potter: A History of Magic - Google Arts & Culture

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Explore the wonders of the British Library exhibition

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Children's cookery show with Omari McQueen.

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Let your lawn go wild

You might be surprised at how many flowers you can spot if you the let the grass grow in spring. Little clusters of daisies, yellow lesser celandines and maybe even some bright daffodils might pop up in your secret garden.

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You might be surprised at how many flowers you can spot if you the let the grass grow in spring. Little clusters of daisies, yellow lesser celandines and maybe even some bright daffodils might pop up in your secret garden.

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Christmas, Easter, Bonfire Night and Halloween - the events that usually punctuate our year - haven't felt sufficient in the pandemic, so in my family we've gone all out for occasions that would usually pass us by. Cultural appropriation maybe, but it has livened up Groundhog Day dinner times. We had a Diwali party in November, taking advice from an Indian friend on how to do it right, and cooked pakoras, wore new(ish) clothes, played games and covered the kitchen with fairy lights. For Burns Night my four-year-old helped make frozen cranachan, we ate haggis, played a bagpipe Spotify playlist and recited poems, including a welcome address penned by my seven-year-old, whose lines included: "I don't know why but my dad is wearing a skirt ..." (In lieu of a kilt, a peach silk number had to suffice.)

Christmas, Easter, Bonfire Night and Halloween - the events that usually punctuate our year - haven't felt sufficient in the pandemic, so in my family we've gone all out for occasions that would usually pass us by. Cultural appropriation maybe, but it has livened up Groundhog Day dinner times. We had a Di wali party in November, taking advice from an Indian friend on how to do it right, and cooked pakoras, wore new(ish) clothes, played games and covered the kitchen with fairy lights. For Burns Night my four-year-old helped make frozen cranachan, we ate haggis, played a bagpipe Spotify playlist and recited poems, including a welcome address penned by my seven-year-old, whose lines included: "I don't know why but my dad is wearing a skirt ..." (In lieu of a kilt, a peach silk number had to suffice.)

Next up are Chinese New Year on 12 February (cue paper lantern-making, dumplings and fireworks), Valentine's Day on the 14th (an excuse to make cards and candles) and Pancake Day on the 16th. February in normal times means mardi gras carnivals in Europe, New Orleans and most of all Brazil, and the Sapporo snow festival Japan. These are great excuses to make costumes, artwork and traditional food, and dance to appropriate music.

Nearer home there's National Chip Week (20-26 February), a chance to get creative with veg and potato varieties and toppings. Or invent your own festival. In January we created what will now be an annual, hallway-based celebration of finally putting the coat rack up after four years on the to-do list.

Games for walks

Taking young children on walks inevitably involves some whingeing, but we've recently managed to increase our four-year-old's tolerated walking time from two hours to three or four by upping our props and picnic game (see below).

Playing is also crucial: our four- and seven-year-old now have several favourite games.

Guess the animal (with yes and no answers to questions) can turn into an equivalent based on their latest interests. We've done guess the species of dragon from How To Train Your Dragon, though you have to know your Monstrous Nightmares from your Basic Browns. Spies involves the children secretly following us while remaining hidden: they dart from tree to tree, ducking when we turn to survey the scene. For Pirates, fallen trees make good ships, especially if they're on a small island in a stream.

In Bad Dad, dad is a criminal trying to escape: he runs off and we give chase, yelling "Don't let him get away!" and throwing pine cones at him. For Sloths, the children hang upside down from tree-branches being sloths and I am a hunter/conservationist coming to steal/help them. Motorbikes means running up and down steep-sided halfpipe-like paths and ditches pretending to be motorbikes, making higher-pitched revving noises when going uphill. (Yes, you have to not care about looking like a plonker if you encounter fellow walkers.)

If these pall, enlist professional help. Treasure Map Trails (£5.99 or £8.99 for two) makes unusual illustrated maps of 17 English towns with quirky features to spot. Treasure Trails (no connection) produces downloadable, themed walk booklets (£9.99) involving treasure hunts, puzzles and clues to solve on 1,200 routes across the UK.

Picnics, but better

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The author's children enjoy hot chocolate with an extra flourish. Photograph: Gemma Bowes

If there is still some debate over whether sustenance is allowed on our allotted daily walks, I'd be willing to argue in court that kids need snacks when being made to put one foot in front of the other. We now take three flasks on our family expeditions: hot chocolate for the kids (with mini marshmallows), a larger one of coffee, and one of hot food - typically macaroni cheese for us, but friends recommend frankfurters in hot water for picnic hotdogs.

It's made a massive difference and it's much easier to persuade them out on a " hot chocolate adventure" than a walk. Our country outings have been made even more enjoyable thanks to our mini raclette set (£20), a simple fold-up grill heated by tea lights. We melt cheese for crackers and sandwich crusts, wipe it clean, then melt chocolate for dipping apple slices and sometimes more of those marshmallows, which the eldest whittles sticks for.

Switch up your outdoor kit

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A slackline strung between trees makes a walk in the woods more fun. Photograph: Alamy

A trip to the park you've visited every day can be made to seem exciting with a bit of new kit. We've invested in a (from about £33), Stomp Rockets (from £12) and walkie-talkies. I now have my eye on some Ninja tree-climbers (£25) - rock-climbing holds that strap to tree trunks. On walks we always carry a couple of large carabiners, a climbing rope and a sling (basically a sewn loop of strong webbing, £4 from Decathlon) to hook over branches for swings, to help with muddy descents or to loop round the kids and pull them along when they're tired. We sometimes add a long stick to make a kind of T-bar lift for two - gets the job done when mutiny is threatened.

Nature walks and crafts

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Wild mushrooms are fun to spot, though not collect! Photograph: Richard Pike/Alamy

Spotting mushrooms, collecting pine cones, getting your bearings from moss - it usually grows on the north side of trees - and following animal tracks all add interest to a walk. Hundreds of blogs and books give ideas: getoutwiththekids.co.uk suggests a game where a blindfolded person is led to a tree to feel, moved away, then asked to guess which tree it was when the blindfold is removed.

We love Lonely Planet's magical Wild Things book: it's full of nature craft ideas, from creating fairy outfits from leaves and flowers to building a potion lab from bits founds in the garden or park, and turning logs into dragons. The National Trust's series of books has activities suited to different types of landscapes, and Born To Be Wild, by Hattie Garlick, arranges its hundreds of things-to-do suggestions by season.

Embrace the dark

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Look up at the night sky, or join a virtual astronomy session. Photograph: Mark Garlick/Getty Images

One of the few advantages this lockdown has over last spring's is the chance for children to be out in the dark without staying up past bedtime. Just going down to the end of our narrow urban garden on winter nights has felt adventurous, and wandering local streets or the park at dusk with a torch or camping lantern is a very different experience from a daytime ramble, with different wildlife to spot.

A few obvious constellations and some space science for stargazing can soon be learned from stargazing apps, websites and books such as National Geographic's childrens' space hub, and skymaps.com, which has monthly printable maps of the night sky. Older kids can study astronomy and astrophotography through online events at the upcoming Northumberland Dark Skies festival (12-21 February).

Holiday vibes at home

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10 fun ways to entertain kids over half-term

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Christmas, Easter, Bonfire Night and Halloween - the events that usually punctuate our year - haven't felt sufficient in the pandemic, so in my family we've gone all out for occasions that would usually pass us by. Cultural appropriation maybe, but it has livened up Groundhog Day dinner times.

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Sir Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of Britain's best loved children's authors.

He has written over 150 books, has served as Children's Laureate, and has won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Writers Guild Award, the Whitbread Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award. With his wife, Clare, he is the co-founder of Farms for City Children. Michael was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity

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Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain's best-loved story makers.

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Have a look here for more year two lessons...

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All subjects - Key Stage 1 - Oak National Academy

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Free online lessons for Key Stage 1 students across a variety of UK school curriculum subjects

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What will you learn today?

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All the latest BBC Bitesize content about year 1 and p2 lessons.

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The stories are aimed at younger children but how cool to see and hear from an astronaut actually in space

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Have fun doing maths games here

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Have fun keeping fit with Joe. Worth while still doing these.

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A great resource for having adventures at home

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Even more activities and adventures to keep yourself occupied at any time - fun for kids, adults, everyone!

Being an adventurer is a state of mind - it's being brave and determined, supporting others and finding fun in everything we do. And it doesn't need to stop when we're indoors.

At Girlguiding we love to explore, we love to discover, we love to find out: we are everyday adventurers.

Take part in challenges, find games to play in your online meetings and check out our Twitter and Facebook too so that you can have your own #AdventuresAtHome.

When the Covid-19 pandemic began, we made some of our unit meeting activities available for free to help families and units during lockdown. Now we're looking forward. To continue to fund great guiding for members across the UK, the programme activities we released for free during this period are now exclusively available from our online shop.

The rest of our Adventures at Home challenges, how-to videos, activity sheets and games are still free for you to use. You don't need to be a member of Girlguiding to give them a try - they're here so all young people can have a bit of adventure, no matter what's going on in their lives.

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Even more activities and adventures to keep yourself occupied at any time - fun for kids, adults, everyone! Being an adventurer is a state of mind - it's being brave and determined, supporting others and finding fun in everything we do. And it doesn't need to stop when we're indoors.

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There is loads of fun things to do and make on Blue Peter's website, do you have a badge yet?

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CBBC - CBBC Picture Maker: Spring Edition

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Create your own CBBC picture using paints, stickers, glitter and more! See what amazing masterpieces you can create using The Next Step, Danger Mouse, The Worst Witch, Horrible Histories and The Zoo stickers - what awesome CBBC show mash-ups can you make?

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Free books at your reading level here, you'll need to sign up

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Free books at your reading level here, you'll need to sign up

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Oxford Owl for Home: help your child learn at home | Oxford Owl

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Oxford Owl is packed with expert advice, tips and activities to help parents support their child's education. Help your child with reading, phonics and maths.

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Check out Buddy and all his great recipes...yum!

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Check out Buddy and all his great recipes...yum!

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Spaghetti Bolognese | Buddy Oliver |  #CookingBuddies

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Welcome to Julia Donaldson & Friends: Week 1

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Purple Mash is an award-winning website for nursery and primary school children. It enables children to explore and enhance their knowledge in a fun and creative way.

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all your favourite shows

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All of your children's favourite CBeebies shows and brands.

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Fun maths
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