Activities
Book-Based Learning Activities for Foundation to Year 2 Students
This section features a growing collection of single activities and lessons, all created to link directly with children’s picture books. If you’re looking for a unit of work connected to a book, please visit our Units section.
Designed for children in Foundation (age 5), Year 1 (age 6), and Year 2 (age 7), these activities align with the Australian Curriculum across key learning areas including Mathematics, English language and literacy, Science, Health and Physical Education, and Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS).
You can also filter activities by theme or topic, such as:
– Emotional regulation (Health & PE)
– Culture and diversity (HaSS)
– Counting and number sense (Mathematics)
– And many more
This section includes a mix of free, paid, and instruction-only resources. Use the filters to find what best suits your teaching goals, classroom needs, or homeschool context.
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Rain in the Desert
📔 Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein• We are learning about the importance of rain for people, animals, and the environment in the outback of Australia.
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![[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L5 Summarising](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/T4R-A-Family-is-a-Family-L5-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] A Family is a Family is a Family: L5 Summarising
📔 A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary• We are learning to summarise the key messages of the text.
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My Body Parts
📔 Here are My Hands by Bill Martin and John Archambault• Students will identify different external body parts and their functions.
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Who am I?
📔 I See a Kookaburra! by Steve Jenkins• We are learning to identify and describe the external features of Australian bush animals.
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Labelling Plant External Features
📔 Plants Can’t Sit Still by Rebecca Hirsh• We are learning to name and identify the external features of a carrot plant.
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What Parts Do We Eat?
📔 Plants Can’t Sit Still by Rebecca Hirsh• We are learning that we eat different parts of plants.
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Counting Mice (Counting forward)
📔 Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh• We are learning to count objects and match them to numbers.
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Counting Mice (Counting backward)
📔 Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh• We are learning to count backward from 10.
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Duck Stuck in the Muck
📔 One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root• We are learning to count and order numbers from 1 to 10.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L1 Background Knowledge](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-L1-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L1 Background Knowledge
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to use what we already know to help us understand the text.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L2 Making Predictions](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-L2-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L2 Making Predictions
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to make predictions about the text.
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My Number Story
📔 Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno• We are learning to use numbers to create and share a story.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L3 Making Connections](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson3-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L3 Making Connections
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to respond to a text.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L4 Literal Retrieval](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson4-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L4 Literal Retrieval
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to find information from the text to help us understand it better.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L5 Connecting to a Different Text](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson5-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L5 Connecting to a Different Text
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to compare boat issues in a different text to make a good boat.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L6 Writing a Boat-making Procedure](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson6-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L6 Writing a Boat-making Procedure
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to write instructions about how to make a good boat base (a raft).
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L7 Making a Raft](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson7-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L7 Making a Raft
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to make a raft.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L8 Testing the Raft](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson8-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L8 Testing the Raft
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to test and improve our raft design.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L9 Making Inferences](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson9-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L9 Making Inferences
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to make inferences about the text and understand the message of the story.
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![[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L10 Summarising](https://stevendegc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/LetsBuildaBoat-T4R-Lesson10-Cover.jpg)
[T4R] Let’s Build a Boat: L10 Summarising
📔 Let’s Build A Boat by Jane Godwin• We are learning to summarise the story.