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Writer's pictureMichael Hopkins

World Book Day Tuff Tray Ideas

World Book Day is on 7th March 2024, it is a celebration of literature and reading that encourages people of all ages to delve into the magical world of books. To make this day even more special, why not incorporate some fun and educational tuff tray ideas into your World Book Day celebrations?


ForestTots have compiled a list of 10 creative tuff tray activities to inspire you this World Book Day.


bear hunt tuff tray activity

1. Bear Hunt (left): For a recent birthday party, we created an awesome Bear Hunt tuff tray! We used herbs like Chive and Rosemary for the swishy-swashy grass, we used our ForestTots at Home: Sea Sensory Rice (here!) for the river, then we used our sensory Mud Dough (here!) for the squelchy mud, and finally some crushed ice for the snowscape (hoo wooooo!) Finish it off with some people and a bear figure, then decorate with whatever you have in your craft box (pretend leaves, fishes, pine cones) Remember to have the book nearby so you can bring it to life in front of your tot's eyes.


2. Alphabet Soup Adventure: Fill the tuff tray with water and add foam letters to create an alphabet soup. Invite children to fish out letters and use them to spell words from their favourite books. This activity promotes literacy skills while having fun with water play.


stick man tuff tray activity

3. Stick Man (right): If you have a stick man toy handy, you could recreate the river scene from Stickman using some of our pretend mud (here!) and some vivid blue sensory rice (here!)... throw in some woodland figures, pine cones and a dusting of flour for snow, and you've got your scene!


4. Sensory Book Exploration: Gather a selection of books with different textures, such as touch-and-feel books or pop-up books. Place them in the tuff tray along with sensory materials like fabric scraps, feathers, and textured balls. Encourage children to explore the books using their senses.


feed the gruffly activity

5. Feed the Gruffalo (left): Fill the tray with supermarket own soup mix, then decorate with pinecones, tree figures, leaves and woodland creatures... then grab some scoops, spoons and bowls and let them create their own Gruffalo Crumble!


6. Book Cover Collage: Collect old book covers or print out pictures of book covers and place them in the tuff tray along with glue, scissors, and colorful paper scraps. Encourage children to create collages inspired by their favourite books, discussing the stories and characters as they work.


hungry caterpillar threading activity

7. Hungry Caterpillar Threading (right): A fun threading activity themed around the Hungry Caterpillar is great as your tot can play along, finding the food and threading, as you read them the book! Great for fine motor skills and cognitive development.

This activity went down a treat at our recent Mini Beasts event.


8. Literary Sensory Bin: Fill the tuff tray with sensory materials such as dried beans, pasta, or shredded paper. Hide small objects related to different books within the sensory bin and provide children with magnifying glasses or tweezers to search for and identify the objects.


9. Book-themed Sorting Activity: Choose a theme from a favourite book, such as animals, colours, or shapes, and gather objects related to that theme. Place the objects in the tuff tray along with sorting containers labeled with different categories. Children can sort the objects based on the categories, reinforcing classification skills.


10. Book-inspired STEM Challenge: Select a book with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) theme and set up a related challenge in the tuff tray. For example, if reading a book about plants, provide materials for a planting activity. Encourage children to engage in hands-on exploration and experimentation inspired by the book.


These tuff tray activities offer engaging ways to celebrate World Book Day while promoting literacy, creativity, fine motor skill development and imaginative play. Whether exploring the pages of a favourite story or embarking on a literary adventure, these activities are sure to spark a love of reading in children of all ages.


For more information on our monthly events, home activities and party hire, head on to our website or follow us on Facebook or Instagram. Also: don't forget to subscribe to our monthly mailing list!


Happy World Book Day!

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