World Book Day | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with World Book Day. For official information, themes, and resources, please visit the World Book Day UK website: www.worldbookday.com.

Thursday 5th March 2026

Understanding World Book Day in EYFS & KS1

Let's dive into the wonderful world of books! 📚✨ World Book Day is an annual global celebration of books and reading, designated by UNESCO. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is typically celebrated on the first Thursday in March. The primary aim of this special day is to encourage children and young people to discover the sheer pleasure of reading for themselves. Schools and nurseries often participate with great enthusiasm, encouraging children to dress up as their favourite book characters, taking part in a variety of book-themed activities, and famously, providing children with a £1 book token to choose a free book.

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, World Book Day provides an unparalleled opportunity to ignite and nurture a lifelong love for books, stories, and reading. It's a fantastic theme for exploring literacy, communication and language, creativity, imagination, personal, social & emotional development, and understanding the world through diverse narratives. This day offers countless planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about reading and storytelling both magical and foundational.

Why Is Celebrating Books & Reading Important for Young Children?

Integrating World Book Day and activities that celebrate books and reading into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) leverages the children’s enthusiasm to foster their cognitive, linguistic, and emotional development, laying the groundwork for future academic success and a lifelong love of learning.

• Fosters a Love for Reading: Makes reading a fun, exciting, and celebrated activity, building positive associations with books.

• Literacy Development: Enhances vocabulary, phonological awareness, comprehension, and early writing skills.

• Imagination & Creativity: Encourages imaginative play, storytelling, and creative expression as children engage with characters and plots.

• Empathy & Emotional Intelligence: Helps children understand different perspectives, emotions, and social situations through characters' experiences.

• Knowledge Acquisition: Exposes children to a wide range of topics, cultures, and concepts, broadening their understanding of the world.

• Communication Skills: Promotes discussion about stories, characters, and ideas, strengthening oral language.

• Bonding & Connection: Shared reading experiences create positive interactions between children and adults, fostering a sense of warmth and security.

Engaging Book Day Activities for World Book Day (0-7 Year Olds)

Open the storybook and let the magic of reading fill your setting on World Book Day with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on making books come alive, celebrating characters, and inspiring a love for stories! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our extensive 'Books and Storytelling' and 'Traditional Tales' resources.

Here's some inspiration for celebrating the joy of reading 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.)

• Dress Up as Book Characters: Encourage children and staff to come dressed as their favourite book characters. Have a parade or a 'show and tell' where children describe who they are and why they chose that character.

• 'Our Favourite Books' Display: Create an inviting display using 'Banners - 'Our Favourite Books'. Children can contribute by drawing or writing about their favourite books using 'My Favourite Book' Differentiated Mark Making/Drawing/Writing Sheets’.

• Deep Dive into a Favourite Tale: Choose one or more well-known traditional tales or fairy tales to focus on throughout the day. We have comprehensive resources on dedicated pages for:

  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears

  • Jack and the Beanstalk

  • Little Red Riding Hood

  • The Enormous Turnip

  • The Gingerbread Man

  • The Little Red Hen

  • The Three Little Pigs

• Traditional Tales Investigation: Use our resources to investigate what makes a traditional tale. 'Traditional Tales - 'What Is A Traditional Tale?' Display Pack', 'Traditional Tales - 'What Is A Traditional Tale?' Poster', 'Traditional Tales - Role-Play/Display Sign Posts', 'Traditional Tales - Speech Bubbles', 'Traditional Tales - 2-Piece Puzzles', 'Traditional Tales - Match Story Element Puzzles', and 'Traditional Tales - Drawing/Writing/Mark Making Sheets'.

• Story Mapping & Retelling: Use 'Story Maps' and 'Story Maps - Beginning/Middle/End' to help children sequence stories. Encourage oral retellings and dramatic play.

• Character Exploration: Use 'Book Character Sheets', 'Character Talk Sheets', and 'Character Building Description Sheets' to delve into character traits and motivations.

• Book Review Time: Encourage children to share their opinions on books they've read. Use 'Book Review - Draw/Write Sheets' or 'Book Review Sheets - Differentiated'.

• Create Your Own Book: Inspire budding authors and illustrators to make their own books using 'Create Your Own Book Template’. Alternatively, use 'World Book Day Story Building Pack - Cut, Stick & Create/Write/Tell Stories'.

• Literacy Support: Refer to our 'EYFS Framework - Support Examples - Birth To 3 - Literacy', 'EYFS Framework - Support Examples - 3 And 4 Year Olds - Literacy', and 'EYFS Framework - Support Examples - Reception - Literacy' for guidance on integrating literacy.

• Poetry & Rhyme: Introduce simple poems or nursery rhymes to highlight the rhythm and sound of language.

• Author/Illustrator Focus: Briefly discuss a well-known children's author or illustrator and their work.

• Explore More: For even more book related resources, please visit our ‘Books and Storytelling’ page!

These activities offer great inspiration for making World Book Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering a lifelong love for reading, strong literacy skills, vivid imagination, and deep engagement with stories.

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

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘World Book Day’

Free ‘Books & Reading’ related resources for EYFS & KS1:

Inspirational ‘Books & Reading’ related resources for EYFS & KS1:

Deep Dive into a Favourite Tale: Choose one or two well-known fairy tales to focus on. We have comprehensive resources on dedicated pages for:

Investigate what ‘Traditional Tales’ are with our engaging prompts, games, display packs and more!

For even more book related resources, please visit our ‘Books and Storytelling’ page!

Explore our Literacy Support Examples for use with ‘Birth to 3’, ‘3 and 4 year olds’ and ‘Reception’ children:

For additional ‘Literacy’ resources, visit the following ‘Area of Learning’ pages:

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

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

More Early Years Event Pages for March

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 'World Book Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by World Book Day UK, which organises this event, other than providing their official website as a source of information about the initiative. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information, themes, and to learn more about encouraging children to read, please visit their website at www.worldbookday.com.