8 book-rilliant activities for International Literacy Day

Story stones help you tell your favourite story or create your own stories, using characters and items made from painted stones. You could do one stone each or a set of stones, depending on how much time you have.

You’ll need some paints, paintbrushes and craft stones. You could also use acrylic paint pens or paint deco pens. 

People could also use self adhesive items, such as stickers, or use glue and craft materials to stick and decorate things onto the stone. 

Before starting, cover the floor or table with newspaper or a tablecloth. 

First, sketch out your design in pencil. Then, get painting!

Once finished, everyone should help tidy up and leave their stone(s) somewhere safe to dry. 

Once the stones have dried, split everyone into smaller groups.

People could tell each other their story or work together to make up a story using their stones. If you’re telling or making up a story, each person should use at least one of their stones as part of the story. Make sure everyone in the group has a part in telling the story if they want to.

The story can be about anything they want. Encourage people to be as creative and imaginative as they can to see if they can make up a new story. 

First, you need to decide who your library is for. It could be your own Scouts book club, just for your Section or Group.

It could also go even wider into your local community, if you’ve somewhere to store your library safely.

Your library doesn’t need to just be books. You may also want to make a library of toys, magazines, films or CDs, which people can use and bring back. If you live near a beach, you could also create a library of beach toys for people to use while on there.

Ask everyone to think about what they'd like to share in their library. 

Invite everyone to bring in a book, or a chosen item, that they’d like to share with the section.

Remember, cost may be a barrier for some people. One option would be for your section or Group to buy a selection of books, or other chosen items. They could be sourced from a charity shop, supermarket, book shop or online for everyone to use and choose from.

Remind everyone, including parents and carers, not to donate anything of sentimental or treasured value. Items will be taken and swapped, so anything donated, won’t necessarily be returned. 

Your little library could be housed in anything from an upcycled book shelf or a storage box to an old shoe rack or a trolley. Make sure to choose a container that’s durable and weatherproof. It may need to be lockable and something that can be easily stored at your meeting place.

When ready, put all the items into the library. Your library’s now open for lending!

Your Scout volunteer team can decide how to operate the library and if items need to be signed in and out, as well as how long they can be borrowed for. You could even create library cards and ask for regular donations to the library, too.

You can go almost anywhere with a story and your imagination. It’s time to choose a storybook and go on an adventure!

Everyone should sit in a circle and think about stories they’ve read before. Can anyone remember an adventure from a storybook? What made the adventure fun or exciting? 

Choose a story for everyone to read together, before you all go on the same adventure.

Read the story together, then think about the characters. What did they do? Did anyone have a favourite character? Why was that character their favourite?

Think about the story – what adventure did the characters go on? What do people think might happen next? Did everyone like the story?

Now it’s time to head out on an adventure. Remind everyone that they’ll go on the same adventure as the characters in the book.

If there are props, everyone should grab a piece of equipment or clothing that they’d like to use on their adventure. 

Start the adventure by following the story while acting out each scene. You can go outside, stay inside, or use both outdoor and indoor spaces. 

Once everyone’s finished their adventure, you can sit down and chat about it. You may want to draw a picture of your story.

What did people enjoy? Did anyone have a favourite part? What was the hardest part of the adventure? Would people like to do anything different to the people in the story?

A flip book is a small book with images on each page that change slightly. They’re a basic version of animation. When the pages are flipped through, the images look like they’re moving and makes something happen. It gives the illusion of movement or animation.

Everyone should start by thinking of what they’d like to draw in their flip book.

They could make something that gradually 'moves' across the page, such as an inching caterpillar.

They could also create a visual story about something that changes in size, going from small to big or big to small, such as a flower growing.

Cut the paper into your desired size. A hand-held size, such as the size of a sticky note or small notebook, in rectangles or squares is ideal. This makes it easier to flip the book's pages quickly and get the desired animation effect. 

You might want to put in about 20 sheets of paper to begin with. The more papers in your book the better, because it’ll also help your book flip more effectively.

You’ll need to staple all the paper sheets together on one side to make them like a book.

Another option is to hole punch one side of the paper, then secure the pages with paper fasteners. With these, you can add and remove pages to the book more easily than with staples. You can also use two bulldog clips to hold the paper sheets together on one side.

If you don’t want to use paper, a small notebook or using sticky note pads are a good alternative.

When it’s created, fill in your book and colour it in. Then, get practising and share it with a friend.

Everyone should stand in a circle. Someone needs to have a ball or a beanbag.

The aim of the game is to work together to create a story. As you pass the ball or beanbag round the circle, each person should add a sentence to the story, then pass the ball or beanbag on again. 

Encourage people to use cliffhangers to help the story to grow. People can be really creative or imaginative - there’s no right answer in storytelling!

The first person should hold the ball or beanbag and begin a story. For example, they might say ‘in a deep, dark forest, there was a…’ then pass the story on.

They then throw the ball or beanbag to another person who must continue the story. Keep going until the story is finished or everyone’s had a turn. 

You could then create artwork or a comic book based on the story you’ve told. 

Here’s how to make monster bookmarks. Although, you could make it into anything you want, such as animals, aliens or sea creatures.

Everyone should think about the monster bookmark they’d like to create.

To start, cut a strip of card for each person. The strips should be about 15cm tall and 6cm wide.

Next, cut two slits down the middle of each strip of card. The slits should each be about 8cm long and 2cm apart. This should create a flap, which will be the monster’s nose and help the bookmark stay in place on the pages.

People could cut across the bottom of the flap to create a shape to their monster nose. It’s up to them what shape the end of the monster’s nose is – it could be rounded, pointy, or even spiky!

Now, either draw eyes or stick googly eyes above the nose. They’re making a monster, so people can add as many eyes as they like.

Use a hole punch to create one or two, or maybe more, holes in the top of their bookmark. This is where you need to attach antennae. 

Everyone should thread pipe cleaners through the holes they punched, and twist them until they’re secure. It’s up to them what shape they make their antennae – they could bend them so they wiggle, zig-zag, or stand up straight. 

You could also thread through wool or ribbon for hair, instead of pipe cleaners.

Finish up your monster bookmark by adding some extra decoration. Draw on patterns, add stickers, or use other craft decorations to make the monster come to life.

Once it’s dry, people can test their bookmark by slotting its nose onto a page. It’s googly eyes and antennae should peep out over the top, while its nose marks the page.

A comic tells a story, often of an adventure someone has. Comic books often tell the stories of superheroes, people or animals.

Take some pens, plain paper or card, rulers and pencils. Everyone needs to think about their story and plan what happens in the beginning, in the middle and at the end.

People may plan what the characters say, who the character is and what they do. They may also want to add in a cliffhanger between pages. 

Once people have drawn their boxes, either on one or several pieces of paper, they should draw out their story in pencil.

In a comic book, there’s usually four to six boxes per page. Some are square, some are rectangular and some can be fun shapes.

For huge moments, surprises or a twist, you could have your page end on a dramatic note and turn into a splash page. A splash page is a page that has a big image rather than lots of panels, so you can really highlight the action.

People could use a comic strip template, too.

Remind people to mark out space for speech or writing, before they use a pen or colour in their comic. A really common mistake for new comic artists is to pack their panels with pictures, leaving no room for speech.

It's best to mark out space for bubbles before you start drawing. Normally, it’s easiest to put speech at the top or bottom of a panel and to keep the bubble close to the character who's speaking. Be sure to point the speech bubble's tail toward their mouth!

Remember, not all comics have speech bubbles – some comics have no words at all! 

When people are ready, begin outlining everything in a black pen. Comic books often have everything outlined to make it stand out. They could then colour in their story using pencil crayons or felt tips, before.

Once finished, people could make a cover page and staple their pages together. They may want to laminate their paper to help make it more durable. 

If they’re happy to, people could share their comics with each other for friends to read.

Everyone should meet in a library. Tell everyone you’re going on a scavenger hunt. 

Explain you’ll be asking people to find specific items in the library. You may want to ask someone who works at the library to give everyone a tour of the facilities and let people know any areas that are out of bounds. 

People should get into groups of three or four. Remind everyone of the library’s rules, such as staying quiet and respecting other users. 

There are lots of ways to play this game, such as:

• Ask all teams to find the same item, then bring them back before a certain length of time passes.
• Ask all teams to find a different item, then bring them back before a certain length of time passes.
• Ask teams to look for an item, then send one person to find it within a time limit. Any team that brings the correct item back in the time limit gets a point. 
• Ask teams to look for the item and the first team to bring it back gets the most points. For example, if you had 10 teams, the first team back would get ten points, the second team would get nine points, the third team would get eight points and so on. 

You may want to give the teams a timer to help with time management and when to come back. 

Your items should all be on the same floor and be focused around books. You may want to stay in the young people’s section. Remind everyone not to leave the library or take any items that you need to pay for. 

Depending on the age of the group, the items could vary and be harder or easier. For example, some items could be:

• A green book
• A book by a specific author
• A picture book 
• A book with more than 600 pages
• A book with someone on the cover that looks like you
• A pop-up book
• A book that’s been turned into a film
• A non-fiction book
• A book that’s won a prize
• A book about Squirrels
• A book that’s set in the jungle
• A comic book

Preparation is the key to a successful story session, particularly if you’re feeling a little out of your comfort zone.

• Choose a comfy location. Try to designate a special ‘story’ rug or mat for the group to sit on or sit in a circle. Make sure to remove any distractions, such as books or toys, within easy reach.
• Read the story beforehand: Before reading to a group, read the story out loud a few times to yourself. This will help you feel more comfortable with it and help you get the pace right. It’ll also help you find the places to pause or spot things to ask questions about.  
• Bring it to life: As you practice the story, see how you can bring it to life. If the story calls for a silly voice, try to do a silly voice. If it needs you to act frightened, act frightened. You could think about actions or sound effects people could do too. 
• Only have one person read each story: Having more than one person reading the story will make it difficult to follow. Other people can support everyone to interact with the story and listen.
• Think of questions to ask: It's good to ask questions after the story. You could ask what happened, what people enjoyed about the story or what they think happens next. Questions will help people’s understanding of the story and support their ability to critically analyse similar situations in the future. 

It's okay to feel nervous, but remember it’s going to be great! Many young people love stories and being read to is a great experience so enjoy it and they will too. However nervous you’re feeling inside, try to look happy and confident.

• Go slowly: If you’re nervous you’ll tend to speed up, often without realising. Try to actively go slowly to make the story clear.
• Look at people if you can: Even if your nervous, try to make eye contact or look at people. You may want to find a focal spot to look at above people's heads, so you can look out at the audience without making eye contact. 
• Encourage participation and interaction: A story meeting is interactive, so interact. Use the recurring words and catchphrases in the stories to get people involved and saying them with you. Get people to join in with sound effects too, such as roaring like a lion or whooshing like a tree's branches. If people get overexcited, simply pause or put the book aside until they quieten down. 
• Interact with what's happening in the story: Encourage the young people to respond to the words and pictures. Ask questions and don’t be afraid to go off script. For example, ‘Who’s afraid of sharks?’ or ‘And what do you think happened next?’ 
• Involve other adults: If you’re nervous about reading in front of other adults, don’t be! They're there to help make the meeting a success, so make sure you create opportunities for them to get involved in the storytelling too. Getting them to sit with the young people during the story is a good way to get them involved. 

The story may be over for now, so remember to tell yourself well done! You may want to take time thinking over what went well and what you may change next time. Always remember, when it comes to reading a story, play to your strengths. No two readers are alike. Some are natural performers, others are better at just being themselves. There is no ‘right’ way to read a story - it's perfect in just your own way. 

• Reflect and review. Take time to review the meeting and think about what worked and what didn’t. If things went well, brilliant. Whatever you did, keep on doing it. 
• Make notes for next time. If things didn’t go so well, try to work out why. It may be you need to ask people to put teddies away or close the blinds. Learn from it, put it behind you, and move on. 

Make sure there’s a way to include everyone in a game or activity.

If anyone doesn’t feel comfortable playing the game or taking part in the activity, give them the opportunity to take on another role instead. Some examples are reading the story, playing or stopping music, or writing down ideas.

The activities could be played in pairs if people don’t want to take part alone. Remember, people who struggle with making choices could find all the options a bit overwhelming, so they might need extra support or to work with a young leader/volunteer to be able to choose something.

People may prefer to work in groups or pairs when suggesting their ideas.

If someone needs support in writing down their ideas or drawing, give them the opportunity to work with someone else to help them. You could also have pictures, scissors and glue sticks available for people to create collages rather than writing or drawing.

If they find it difficult, you could have a ready-made list of ideas for people to use and pick from. It might inspire another idea!

Anyone who struggles with creating a design could be given a template with a pre-drawn image that they can glue or stick craft materials onto. They could also be given printed designs to colour in or copy.

If people may struggle to create their own or use their imagination, they could have a selection of question prompts to help them or a ‘fill in the blanks’ activity to help them be creative.

People could work in pairs if someone doesn’t want to do the activity independently or if someone may need more support by working together to take part. If someone might struggle with an activity, their partner could then help them.

Adults can take a step back or get more involved depending on how people are getting on. If needed, let people be in bigger groups to make sure everyone’s supported in taking part in the activity. A young leader could join a group to help people to take part, too.

You can have the discussion together to help people come up with ideas and have a few ideas written down to help people. People could also work in pairs or small groups to come up with ideas.

People who struggle with making choices could find all the options a bit overwhelming, so they might need extra support. They might want to work with a friend, young leader or volunteer to be able to help to them decide.

People who struggle with making choices could find all the options a bit overwhelming, so they might need extra support. They might want to work with a friend, young leader or volunteer to be able to help them to choose.

People could work in pairs or small groups to come up with ideas or make decisions.

You could offer lots of different ideas for each activity, so there are lots of ideas for people to choose from and suggestions that are suitable for everyone. 

You could have a whole group discussion before letting people make a decision, as this might help people think of ideas or choose the best option for them.

Make sure to break instructions and information up into smaller 'chunks' so no one feels overwhelmed.

Take time and have patience while telling everyone what to do. Give short instructions clearly and concisely.

If you need to, pause, then repeat the same instruction using the same words. You should allow extra 'thinking' time for some people to process verbal or written information and respond. 

When giving instructions, be clear and literal, so say what you actually mean and avoid sarcasm or sayings. Try to avoid metaphors and colloquialisms, such as ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’, as these can be confusing and make people worry.

When giving instructions, make sure any actions are things everyone can do and check that everyone is comfortable and happy in taking part.

You could do the activity and have everyone watch a demonstration or show everyone an example to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing. Check for understanding by asking the group questions, such as ‘what do you need to do first?’, or having a practice round of a game.

Always try to avoid shouting or using whistles. Some people may not understand why you're shouting and could find this distressing, particularly if they're hypersensitive to noise. If it’s tricky for everyone to hear the instructions being called out while moving around, call everyone together and give the instructions in a circle instead.

If people are struggling to understand or know what to do, you could let any confident young people help explain to each other what to do. 

If it’s too noisy and anyone doesn’t like the noise, the person leading the activity can remind everyone to be quieter. You could have a noise level warning system to help everyone be reminded of the noise levels. The person could wear ear defenders, or you could run the activity outside or over a larger space to reduce the noise. Shutting doors and windows can help to reduce external sounds, too.

To take part in a noisy activity, an individual with hearing loss might find it more comfortable to turn their hearing aid off. If this is their regular practice, you'll need to make sure that it's turned on again afterwards.

You may want to have a space for people to take a break if they’re overwhelmed. It may have colouring in, cuddly toys, sensory and fidget toys, soft seats or some books.

Make sure an individual with hearing loss can clearly see the person speaking, as they may find it helpful to read lips or body language.

Avoid shouting or using whistles. Some people may not understand why you're shouting and could find this distressing, particularly if they're hypersensitive to noise. Instead, try putting your hand up to get everyone’s attention.

For anyone who may not be able to hear the instructions or activity, consider printing them a version that they can read at the same time.

Remember that listening skills aren’t the same for all young people. For example, a young person may need to move, lie down, be standing or fiddle with something, rather than sit in one place to do their best listening. ‘Sitting still’ can make listening more difficult.

Remember some people, including autistic people, might not look at you while you’re speaking. This doesn’t mean they're not listening. Eye contact can be painful for some people and shouldn't be forced.

If it’s tricky for everyone to hear the actions or instructions being called out while moving around, this game could be played in a circle instead.

Try to build movement breaks into your activities to help people who may struggling sitting and listening for long periods.

Try to build movement breaks into your activities to help people who may struggling sitting and listening for long periods.

Allow young people to work in different positions, rather than just sat at a table or in a circle.

Consider having a sensory box with different sensory input games/toys, though what this includes may be different depending on the needs of the young people. 

Adapt the story to your audience. Some stories could be read with actions or done using Makaton or British Sign Language (BSL).

Consider alternative ways of taking part reading or writing activities. For example, using pictures, acting out ideas, or working in pairs and small groups with one person writing for everyone. 

Anyone who struggles with reading can partner up with a confident reader or join a group with a more confident reader who’s happy to read out loud. People should feel free to ask if they don’t understand any of the words.

If anyone in your group is blind or partially sighted, you may want to have braille copies or see if you can create an audio version for people to listen to. If anyone’s colour-blind, you may need to use different colours or different materials, so everyone can see the item.

If someone has dyslexia, provide written information either on a light-coloured paper, such as cream or light pink, or encourage the person to use a coloured overlay. You could ask them which colour of paper or coloured overlay helps them.

Make sure to create printed copies large enough for everyone to be able to see or read them. For anyone who may not be able to read the words clearly, consider making the words larger, using an easy to read and large print font. 

Try to use a Sans Serif font on all printed materials, such as Arial, Nunito Sans or Comic Sans. Make sure the font is at least 12 point or above.

When using written resources, try to provide them electronically to allow use of magnification software. People could also have access to magnifying glasses.

You could support verbal information using visual resources, so either having it written down or a guide using pictures/symbols. Take a look at the visual support section for more ideas about supporting information visually.

It doesn’t matter how people want to tell others a story. They don’t have to write or draw if they’d prefer to communicate in another way. People should share in whatever way works for them, whether that’s writing, drawing, speaking or something else. 

Remember, people should only speak or read aloud if they're happy and comfortable to. Not everyone has to speak or read in front of others.

Some people may not want to speak in front of everyone. Instead of sharing with a big group, people could do the activity in pairs or smaller groups. However, no one has to share anything if they don’t feel comfortable doing so.

If a player has difficulties communicating verbally you could explore doing an activity without speaking. Why not try using visual images, emojis or playing charades?

A closed choice can be easier to make than an open question, as people can nod or shake their head in response. You could also give people cards to hold up, show a number using their fingers, or have whiteboards for people to write on and hold up their response. Remember to not speak on behalf of the young person.

If a young person mispronounces a word or a sentence, you could repeat it after them in the correct form. This’ll help them learn for next time and is much more useful than saying what they said is wrong or ‘correcting’ them.

People should share in whatever way works for them, whether that’s writing, drawing, speaking, or something else. Remember, people should only present back to other groups if they're happy and comfortable to. Not everyone has to present back to other groups.

It’s OK if not everyone wants to act in the roleplay or act and speak in front of the group. Some people could narrate or help to direct. 

Some people may struggle with improvisation in a drama activity. You could have some question prompts or work with a partner who enjoys improv and imagination games.