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What it is: Regular live chats and updates sharing the latest ideas in pedagogy, edtech, and classroom strategies.

How I've used/plan to use: To stay current with educational trends and broaden my professional learning network.

Benefits: Enhances reflective practice and encourages new ideas for classroom integration of technology.

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What it is: It's a flexible tool for supporting writing and creativity across the curriculum, especially for children who prefer visual or audio modes over written text.

How I've used/ Plan to use it: To enable children to create digital storybooks by combining images, voice recordings, and typed text.

Benefits: Supports differentiated learning and builds confidence in communication skills.

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3D game programming for kids.

What it is: Kodu Game Lab is a free, visual programming platform developed by Microsoft that allows users—especially children—to create games using a simple, intuitive interface. It’s designed to teach the fundamentals of programming and game design through a creative and playful environment, without needing to write traditional code.

How I've used it/ plan to use it: I plan to use Kodu Game Lab as a tool to help children develop problem-solving skills, logical thinking, and creativity. By designing their own games, they can explore key computing concepts such as sequencing, events, and conditions in a fun and engaging way, making it an excellent addition to the computing curriculum at primary level.

Benefits: Kodu Game Lab makes learning programming fun and accessible for children. It helps develop creativity, problem-solving, and logical thinking skills through game design. Its visual interface is easy to use, making it ideal for beginners and primary-aged learners.

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Kodu Game Lab is a 3D game development environment that is designed to teach kids basic programming principles. Kodu allows creators to build the world's terrain, populate it with characters and props, and then program their behaviors and games rules in a bespoke visual programming language.

Kodu originated as a project in Microsoft Research. The original target platform was the Xbox 360 using C#, XNA, and releasing via the Indie Games Channel. The choice of releasing on the Xbox informed much of the early UI development since everything needed to be done using a game controller. Since porting to the PC, support for keyboard, mouse, and touch have been added.

The goal for Kodu has always been to be as easy as possible for new users. Guided by this goal, we've tended to design new features so that they are simple and understandable rather than more complex and complete.

The heart of Kodu is the tile-based programming language. The language is high level in the sense that a lot can be accomplished in a very few lines of "kode" compared to traditional programming. The kode is continuously evaluated so that it immediately reacts to any changes in the state of the world. For instance, the sample below shows how to program a character to find and eat all the apples in the game world. Line 1 says that if the character sees an apple, it should move toward it. If there is more than one apple in the world, it automatically chooses the nearest to move toward. Line 2 says that when the character bumps into the apple, it should eat it. The bumped tile is Kodu's way of telling when two characters are close to each other. Once the apple is eaten, it no longer exists in the world, so the character will then go after the next one and so on until no more apples remain.

Having the tiles represent real-world events, actions, and objects helps bridge the gap between a new user's real-world experience and the often abstract nature of computer programming.

Featured Worlds

Questions?

For questions or any support issues, email KoduSupport@InfiniteInstant.com.

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What it is: A tool for creating symbol-supported resources.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Created visual schedules and emotion boards for a child with communication needs.

Benefits: Enhances understanding and independence for non-verbal or EAL learners.

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You can use Widgit Online to create both print and interactive materials from a range of easy-to-use templates or from scratch using our intuitive document writer. Here are some popular visuals created by the Widgit community using Widgit Online:

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 National Autistic Society – Teacher Support

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 National Autistic Society – Teacher Support

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What it is: Guidance and strategies for supporting autistic students in school.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Accessed articles on sensory needs and classroom adjustments.

Benefits: Promotes inclusive practices and a better understanding of neurodiversity.

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What it is: Specialist resources tailored for learners with additional needs.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Used visual support cards and social stories with a child with ASD.

Benefits: Provides accessible materials and supports inclusive teaching practices.

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K-12 Teaching Resources | Worksheets, Lessons, Games | Twinkl USA

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Unlimited printable and digital K-12 teaching resources for the classroom and homeschool.

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What it is: A free coding platform for children.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Introduce basic programming concepts through simple animation projects.

Benefits: Develops logical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity.

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What it is: An interactive learning platform with tools for writing, coding, art, and more.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Plan to use creative writing templates and simple coding projects with Year 2.

Benefits: Encourages digital literacy, creativity, and cross-curricular exploration.

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What it is: A comprehensive platform covering all subjects, with videos, quizzes, and articles.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Used KS1 History videos to introduce topics like “Toys from the Past.”

Benefits: Engaging and age-appropriate content that supports curriculum topics across subjects.

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Use BBC Bitesize to help with your homework, revision and learning from KS1 to GCSE. Find free videos, step-by-step guides, activities and quizzes.

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The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)

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The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)

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What it is: Research-based guidance and teaching strategies.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Used their Toolkit to support decisions around interventions.

Benefits: Evidence-informed and practical advice for improving outcomes.

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FutureLearn – Teaching for Home Learning

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FutureLearn – Teaching for Home Learning

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What it is: Online courses for educators.
How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Completed a short course on inclusive education.
Benefits: Supports reflective practice, great for self-paced professional development.

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What it is: Interactive maths game focusing on number bonds, times tables, doubling and halving.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Daily warm-up activity for Year 3 mental maths practice.

Benefits: Builds fluency in a fun, game-based way.

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QR CODE

Scan this on mobiles and tablets to quickly open this web page.

Hit the Button is an interactive maths game with quick fire questions on number bonds, times tables, doubling and halving, multiples, division facts and square numbers. The games, which are against the clock, challenge and develop mental maths skills. An untimed, practise mode is available in our Hit the Button app along with lots more extra features.

The activities can be matched to appropriate mathematical ability. Regular use of Hit the Button can help students to sharpen their recall of vital number facts in a fun way and learning multiplication tables need not be boring.

AGE

6-11 Years

SUBJECTS

Maths Times Tables Division Number Bonds Doubles Halves Square Numbers

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Hit the Button - Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds

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Quick fire questions on number bonds, doubles, halves, times tables, division facts and square numbers against the clock. Superb!

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What it is: Daily images and writing prompts to encourage creative writing.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Used images to inspire descriptive writing in class.

Benefits: Stimulates imagination and builds vocabulary.

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Instead of groans at the beginning of a writing lesson, your class were excited to pick up their pencils and you were the teacher that sparked their imaginations!

Even your most reluctant writers are generating adventurous vocabulary, perfecting punctuation and filling the page with no signs of stopping!

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Instead of groans at the beginning of a writing lesson, your class were excited to pick up their pencils and you were the teacher that sparked their imaginations! Even your most reluctant writers are generating adventurous vocabulary, perfecting punctuation and filling the page with no signs of stopping!

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What it is: A wide range of open-ended maths problems.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Used KS2 challenges during maths mastery sessions.

Benefits: Develops problem-solving and reasoning skills.

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What it is: A free online platform offering short science activities with images, questions, and videos.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: I plan to use “Odd One Out” activities to prompt classroom discussions. It will help to encourage children to justify their thinking and explore science vocabulary.

Benefits: Improves critical thinking and promotes scientific talk, especially useful for KS1 & KS2.

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From the award-winning Explorify, this remotely-delivered CPD is designed to support you with the teaching of primary science. Perfect for inspiring young minds with the wonders of science!

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What it is: Interactive simulations for science and maths.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: I have seen the “Forces and Motion” simulation used to support understanding of push/pull in Year 4.

Benefits: It makes abstract concepts visible and interactive, great for visual learners.

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Over 1.1 billion simulations delivered

160interactive simulations

97language translations

3001teacher-submitted lessons

Founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.

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Founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.

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What it is: Offers free eBooks, phonics support, and literacy activities for children and parents.

How I’ve used it / plan to use it: Assigned free eBooks to children for home reading practice.

Benefits: Promotes home-school learning, and supports reading comprehension and phonics development.