Weekly activities for Doncaster's Snacks and Stories Club
Welcome to the National Literacy Trust in Doncaster's Snacks and Stories Club, developed in partnership with Greggs, where each week participating children will enjoy a tasty snack, hear a fantastic story, and get creative with draw-along tutorials and other fun activities.
Find out which books will be explored below, alongside the videos that demonstrate how to draw a character inspired by that week’s story.
Scroll down for other resources too, including the Snacks and Stories Teacher Guide.
Week 1
This first week is for settling in. Children can enjoy a snack and take some time to fill in our questionnaire. This week, we want children to draw one of their favourite book characters into their Snack and Stories booklets. Watch the video below to hear more:
Week 2
This week, children will hear the story of Sharky McShark by Alison Murray. After that, the video below shows how to draw a cartoon shark in its very own underwater setting:
There’s even room in the Snacks and Stories booklet to write a character description for the shark.
Week 3:
This week, read a selection of poems from Dinosaur Poems by Paul Cookson. We recommend a few below. Then, watch this video to find out how to draw a t-rex.
In the Snacks and Stories booklet, children can create their own dinosaur too, before adding a few fascinating facts from their own imaginations.
We'd recommend the following poems from the Dinosaur book:
- The King of all the Dinosaurs, p19 (get children to join in with “Rex” on the repeated line)
- A T-Rex's Disgrace, p22
- Terrible Lizards one-to-ten, p26
- Reading Lesson, p77
- We are the Chompions, p84
- Beware the Draculasaurus, p95
- The Little Stone p116
- Dinosaur Discovery, p120
Week 4
This week, children will hear from the fantastic Is There a Dog in This Book? by Viviane Schwarz. Watch the video to find out how to draw a cartoon cat:
In their booklet, children can their draw their own ‘Perfect Pet’… it can a cat, a dog, something more exotic, or even a made-up creature from their own imaginations.
Week 5
This week, children will hear one of the Supertato stories by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnett. Then, watch the video to find out how to draw a new fruit or vegetable superhero:
Next, children can create a new superhero of their own in their Snack and Stories booklet.
Week 6
This week, it is the story of Rich Witch Poor Witch by Peter Bently and Jim Field. Follow the story by drawing this spooky witch:
After that, children can create their own WANTED poster featuring a villain or monster of their choice.
Week 7
This week, enjoy The Worm Book by Phil Sheppard, then watch this video to find out how to draw the worm in his apple.
After that, children can create their own appley characters in their Snacks and Stories workbook.
Week 8
The graphic novel Bumble and Snug by Mark Bradley is this week’s book. Once you have taken a look at the book, watch this video to explore creating characters out of basic shapes...
Next, the children can put their character into its own comic book story, or experiment with creating more characters using different shapes, expressions and costumes.
Week 9
This week’s book is The Empty Stocking by Richard Curtis and Rebecca Cobb. After enjoying the story, children can learn to draw Santa himself by following this draw-along tutorial!
Finally, solve the Christmas word puzzles in the Snack and Stories booklets.
Snacks and Stories teacher guide
We have developed a teacher guide to help answer any questions you might have about the Snacks and Stories Club programme, from how often the children will receive books, to how many snacks will be available for everyone!
Group A Teacher Guide is available to download here.
Group B Teacher Guide is available to download here.
For any questions about the Snacks and Stories Club, in partnership with Greggs Foundation, please email philip.sheppard@literacytrust.org.uk.