If your children are starting school in September and you are looking for some fun, play-based activities to help them get ready then I’ve created a downloadable activity pack that you can access here from my Ko-fi shop for £1.99 (this price is for a limited time only)

It’s a handful of play-based activities to complete with young children to help them prepare for starting school. Activities involve helping them to recognise their name and providing opportunities to discuss any concerns they have about school through play. Many of the activities have the added bonus of also helping to develop children’s fine motor skills through play, which are really important for helping build the foundations for learning to write.

If you are a paid subscriber to the SEN Resources Blog the activity pack is part of your subscription and you can download it (along with all the other activity packs I have created ) below.

How else can I prepare my child for school?

Preparing your child for starting school isn’t about panicking over the summer holidays and attempting to teach them to read and write and count to 10! In fact it’s more about helping them feel confident and prepared for any big changes that are coming up as well as supporting them to continue to develop skills through play before they start.

• Have a read of this article about how to make the first week of Primary School a success for your child here.

• We asked some reception teachers their advice for how to prepare children for starting primary school. Why not have a read of what they said here.

• Buy my book, 100 Ways Your Child Can Learn Through Play, on amazon (or from any other major bookshop) here. It’s packed full of 100 play-based activities for young children. What makes it special is that at the bottom of each activity is a tick box that tells you which skills that activity has helped your child to develop. Everything from fine motor skills, speech and language to social skills and concentration. (It’s also been endorsed by Carol Vorderman and Rob Delaney on the back cover!)

• There are lots of other fantastic resources out there to support children who are starting school, including books and toys. Have a look at all my recommended resources here.