Made for little discoveries

Ages 3–4: get hands ready. make discoveries.

Try sorting, playful marks and simple matching. Follow an interest, offer a small choice and make the activity easier or harder together.

Start with a few minutes and a few items. These are flexible browsing suggestions, not a checklist of what a child must be able to do.

Little hands, ready to explore

Big movements, pencil paths and playful cutting before long writing tasks.

Little hands at work

First letter forms: look, trace, try

Notice a familiar lowercase letter, trace its form and try a mark on an empty line. Spacious pages with clear examples and room to try.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

Number tracing 0–10

Connect a numeral with an example, then trace and try writing it with adult support. Spacious pages with clear examples and room to try.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

Pencil journeys: lines, bends and loops

Follow a generous route with a finger, then explore a similar pencil movement. Spacious pages with clear examples and room to try.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

Apple tree: colour, count and stick

Add six red apples to the tree. Two spare apples are included. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

A six-petal flower

Choose six petals and arrange them around the centre of the flower. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

Ladybird spot matching craft

Add three spots to each wing: six spots altogether. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Notice, count & talk

Move objects and match small groups with a familiar grown-up.

First numbers

Join two small groups

Count two visible groups, join them and find how many there are altogether. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Take away with pictures

Remove a stated number from a small group and count what remains. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

More, fewer or the same

Compare two groups by pairing or counting, including a pair with the same amount. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Missing numbers to ten

Use a visible number strip to identify one missing numeral in a short sequence. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Printable counters and counting mats

Twenty large cutout counters, two sorting mats and a numbered strip for practical counting together.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Ten-frame counting mats

Count dots in ten-frame examples, then use two empty ten-frames with your own counters.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Explore everything for this age

Shapes & colours

First shapes flashcards

Eight clear shape cards to show, name and print, with hidden labels and a simple answer guide for adults.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Shapes & colours

Shape tracing and matching

Trace generous shape outlines, match the names and turn a printed page into a simple shape hunt.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Shapes & colours

Colour flashcards

Ten bold colour cards for naming, sorting and finding familiar objects, with clear labels for grown-ups.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Shapes & colours

Colour mixing play pack

Make predictions, mix small amounts of paint and compare the colours you actually create.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Shapes & colours

Colour scavenger hunt

A flexible colour hunt for the living room, classroom or outdoors. Point to a find or bring back a safe object.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Alphabet chart

A clear A–Z chart with matching capital and lowercase letters for pointing, comparing and finding familiar names.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Alphabet flashcards

Printable A–Z cards with capital and lowercase pairs for small, playful letter-recognition sessions.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter recognition games

Small matching games for noticing letters, with easy starting points and ideas to make a familiar game harder.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

Tracing lines and pencil paths

Straight, curved, wavy and zigzag paths with room to move. Trace with a finger first, then try a drawing tool.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

Dot marker activities

Large dot targets for dabbing, pointing and pattern play, using a selection of familiar shape outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

Cut-and-paste picture activities

Match familiar picture pairs, then cut and glue with an adult. Pre-cut pieces keep the matching game open to everyone.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

First cutting practice

Short straight and curved paper routes for supervised cutting practice, with simpler ways to join in.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Number cards 1–10

Clear number cards from 1 to 10 for matching numerals with small groups of real objects.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Count and match 1–10

Count small picture groups and match each total with its numeral, with a straightforward answer key.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Words & picture cards

Body parts picture cards

Seven clear body-part pictures for pointing, naming and talking together without a memory-test feel.

2–3 · 3–4 years · FreeExplore activity

Words & picture cards

Animal picture cards

Eight familiar pet and farm-animal pictures to name, compare and use in quick guessing games.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Words & picture cards

Everyday objects picture cards

Familiar home objects with British and American labels, ready for pointing, naming and “what do we use it for?” games.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Words & picture cards

School and nursery objects

Books, pencils and other familiar classroom objects, with rubber/eraser vocabulary and easy adult prompts.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Feelings & routines

Feelings chart and prompt cards

Six feelings words with gentle conversation prompts. Use the pictures as invitations, never as a test of someone’s feelings.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Days & weather

Weather cards

Six weather pictures for looking outside, naming what you notice and keeping a simple daily observation.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Days & weather

Days of the week cards

Seven clear day cards for simple sequences and conversations about today, yesterday and tomorrow.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Feelings & routines

Visual timetable builder

Choose familiar routine pictures and put them in your own order for a simple now-and-next or longer visual timetable.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Feelings & routines

Morning routine chart

A simple morning picture sequence you can adapt to your household, with no scores, streaks or pressure to race.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter A worksheets and activities

Free letter A and a tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter B worksheets and activities

Free letter B and b tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter C worksheets and activities

Free letter C and c tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter D worksheets and activities

Free letter D and d tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter E worksheets and activities

Free letter E and e tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter F worksheets and activities

Free letter F and f tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter G worksheets and activities

Free letter G and g tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter H worksheets and activities

Free letter H and h tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter I worksheets and activities

Free letter I and i tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter J worksheets and activities

Free letter J and j tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter K worksheets and activities

Free letter K and k tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter L worksheets and activities

Free letter L and l tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter M worksheets and activities

Free letter M and m tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter N worksheets and activities

Free letter N and n tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter O worksheets and activities

Free letter O and o tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter P worksheets and activities

Free letter P and p tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter Q worksheets and activities

Free letter Q and q tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter R worksheets and activities

Free letter R and r tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter S worksheets and activities

Free letter S and s tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter T worksheets and activities

Free letter T and t tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter U worksheets and activities

Free letter U and u tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter V worksheets and activities

Free letter V and v tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter W worksheets and activities

Free letter W and w tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter X worksheets and activities

Free letter X and x tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter Y worksheets and activities

Free letter Y and y tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Letter Z worksheets and activities

Free letter Z and z tracing, a mixed-case letter hunt and a playful making activity, with an adult answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Rhyming picture pairs

Match four spoken rhyming pairs with picture cards and a shuffled matching sheet; no independent reading needed.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Letters & early reading

Beginning sound picture sort

Sort six pictures by their initial /s/, /p/ or /b/ sound, with three labelled mats and an answer guide.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Words & picture cards

Opposites picture cards

Five clearly illustrated comparisons for big and small, open and closed, full and empty, high and low, long and short.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Words & picture cards

Clothes flashcards

Eight clothing pictures for naming, describing and pretend packing, with trousers/pants and jumper/sweater vocabulary.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Words & picture cards

Food picture cards

Eight familiar foods to name and compare, with open-ended prompts and no pressure to taste anything.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

First picture sorting activities

A real cut-and-place sorting board: put clothing and food pictures into two groups, then explain your choices.

2–3 · 3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Days & weather

Seasons observation activity

Four season-name cards and a local observation sheet, without assuming snow in winter or sunshine in summer.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Join two small groups

Count two visible groups, join them and find how many there are altogether. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Take away with pictures

Remove a stated number from a small group and count what remains. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

More, fewer or the same

Compare two groups by pairing or counting, including a pair with the same amount. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Missing numbers to ten

Use a visible number strip to identify one missing numeral in a short sequence. Four clear examples and separate answers.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Number rods and strips 1–10

Ten cutout number rods with one equal-sized square per unit, plus a labelled 1–10 counting strip.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Printable counters and counting mats

Twenty large cutout counters, two sorting mats and a numbered strip for practical counting together.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

First numbers

Ten-frame counting mats

Count dots in ten-frame examples, then use two empty ten-frames with your own counters.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

First letter forms: look, trace, try

Notice a familiar lowercase letter, trace its form and try a mark on an empty line. Spacious pages with clear examples and room to try.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

Number tracing 0–10

Connect a numeral with an example, then trace and try writing it with adult support. Spacious pages with clear examples and room to try.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Little hands at work

Pencil journeys: lines, bends and loops

Follow a generous route with a finger, then explore a similar pencil movement. Spacious pages with clear examples and room to try.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

Apple tree: colour, count and stick

Add six red apples to the tree. Two spare apples are included. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

A six-petal flower

Choose six petals and arrange them around the centre of the flower. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

Ladybird spot matching craft

Add three spots to each wing: six spots altogether. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

Build a sun with eight rays

Choose eight triangular rays and arrange them around the sun. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

Cloud and five raindrops

Put five raindrops below the cloud. Two spare drops are included. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Colour, cut & create

Build a house from shapes

Use one big square, one triangle, one rectangle and two small squares to build a house. Illustrated scene, matching cutouts and an assembly guide in colour or colouring outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Shapes & colours

More shapes to notice

Pentagon, hexagon, octagon, semicircle, rhombus and trapezium cards for a closer look at sides and outlines.

3–4 · 4–5 years · FreeExplore activity

Make it work for your child

Try pointing or talking before using a pencil. Offer a smaller set, show an example, or use a familiar toy alongside the picture. You can stop halfway through and come back another day.

What if another age group looks more suitable?

Use it. Interests, experience and comfort vary. Choose by the activity and your child’s response, and ask their school or early-years setting if you need individual guidance.