National Writing Day (UK) | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with National Writing Day. National Writing Day is a UK-wide celebration organised by the charity First Story. It takes place annually in late June and is dedicated to inspiring people of all ages and backgrounds to get writing. The day promotes the idea that writing is a powerful tool for self-expression, communication, and creativity. For official information, resources, and details about the event, please visit the First Story website: www.firststory.org.uk/writeday.

Understanding National Writing Day in EYFS & KS1

Discover the magic of putting your thoughts on paper! 📝✨📖 National Writing Day is a day dedicated to encouraging everyone, especially young children, to find their voice through writing. Writing is not just about letters and words; it’s about sharing ideas, telling stories, and expressing how we feel. Whether it’s a tiny scribble, a beautiful picture, or a whole story with lots of words, this day reminds us that every piece of writing is an adventure and a chance to be creative.

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a wonderfully creative and crucial theme for exploring mark making, early literacy, storytelling, communication, and self-expression. It’s about building children’s confidence in their own abilities to communicate, no matter their stage of development. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about literacy, creativity, and communication both essential and wonderfully fun!

Why Is Learning to Write Important for Young Children?

Integrating National Writing Day and themes of writing and communication into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for developing a wide range of essential skills, fostering creativity, and building a foundation for future learning.

• Fosters Communication and Expression: Provides a way for children to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

• Develops Fine Motor Skills: Mark making and writing strengthen the muscles needed for handwriting.

• Builds Confidence: Gives children a sense of accomplishment and pride in their own creative work.

• Enhances Literacy Skills: Helps children understand the link between spoken words and written symbols.

• Encourages Creativity: Inspires children to create their own stories and characters, using their imagination.

Engaging Writing & Literacy Activities for National Writing Day (EYFS & KS1)

Time to get creative with words for National Writing Day with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on making writing fun, engaging, and personal! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our dedicated ‘Mark Making, Drawing & Writing’, ‘Literacy’, and ‘Books and Storytelling’ resources.

Here's some inspiration for celebrating National Writing Day in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken. Emphasise positive messages about trying your best and celebrating everyone's ideas.)

Creative Storytelling

• Collaborative Story: Start a story with a sentence and have each child add their own sentence to continue it. This can be done verbally or by taking turns writing/drawing.

• Story Maps: Use our 'Story Maps' and 'Story Maps - Beginning/Middle/End' to help children plan and sequence their own stories.

• Traditional Tales: Use our 'The Enormous Turnip - Character Description Sheets' or 'The Gingerbread Man - Sentence Illustration' to retell a familiar story in their own words or pictures.

• Character Creations: Give children a paper plate or a character template and get them to design their own character for a story. They can use our 'The Gingerbread Man - Design a Gingerbread Man' or 'The Gingerbread Man - Character Description Sheets' as a guide.

Hands-on Writing & Mark Making

• Sensory Writing: Provide a tray of sand, shaving foam, or paint and let children use their fingers to practise making marks, letters, and shapes.

• Mark Making Challenges: Use our 'Mark Making - Inspiration Cards - Different Media' and 'Mark Making - Inspiration Cards - Topics' to provide children with a variety of mark-making experiences.

• Outdoor Writing: Use water and paintbrushes to 'write' on a wall or pavement outside. The marks will disappear, so children can try again and again without fear of getting it wrong.

• Pre-Writing Practice: Use our 'Pre-Writing Card Prompts' and 'Pre-Writing Sheets' to help children develop the movements needed for writing.

Writing About the World

• Nature Journal: Give each child a small booklet and a crayon to go on a nature walk. They can draw or write about what they see, feel, and hear.

• My Favourite Things: Use our 'My Favourite Dinosaur Sheets' or 'The Little Red Hen - 'My Favourite Character' - Drawing/Writing/Mark Making' to encourage children to write or draw about their favourite things.

• Weather Diary: Use the 'Weather - My Weather Diary - Booklet' to get children to record the weather each day with pictures or simple words.

• Holiday Recounts: Use our 'Holiday - Yr1 Comprehension: Narrative - Aryan's Day at the Beach' and other holiday resources to get children to write about a recent trip or holiday.

Making Writing Fun

• Tongue Twister Game: Use our 'Tongue Twister Cards/Posters - Colouring' to read and practise funny tongue twisters. Then, challenge children to write their own simple one.

• Word Games: Use our 'CVC Word Slice Colouring Picture Puzzles/Activities/Games' to make learning about words and sounds fun.

• Role-Play Writing: Set up a role-play area like a 'Doctors Surgery Role-Play Pack' or 'Bus Stop Dramatic Role Play Pack'. Provide notepads and pencils so children can write prescriptions, tickets, or signs as part of their play.

• Making a Poem: Use our ''I Dream...' Poem' sheets to encourage children to write a simple poem about their dreams.

• Explore More: To explore our extensive catalogue of resources on these themes, please visit our ‘Mark Making, Drawing & Writing’, ‘Literacy’, ‘Books and Storytelling’, and ‘Traditional/Fairy Tales’ pages.

These activities offer great inspiration for making National Writing Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering creativity, communication, and a lifelong love for writing.

To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘National Writing Day’

Free EYFS & KS1 Mark Making, Drawing & Writing Activities and Printable Resources:

A selection of our ‘Little Owls Resources’ Mark Making, Drawing & Writing Activities and Printables | EYFS & KS1 :

Find additional resources on our ‘Mark Making, Drawing and Writing’, ‘Outdoor Area - Mark Making’ and ‘Literacy’ pages.

For additional ‘Writing’ resources, visit the following pages:

(Dedicated KS1 ‘English’ Curriculum pages coming very soon!)

Books and Storytelling

Mark Making, Drawing & Writing

Outdoor Area - Mark Making, Drawing & Writing

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes

More Early Years Event Pages for June

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!

SEARCH ‘LITTLE OWLS Resources’ USING THE FOLLOWING MENU BUTTONS…

Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'National Writing Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by First Story, which organises this annual initiative. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and details, please visit the First Story website: www.firststory.org.uk/.