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Premier League and National Literacy Trust launch football activities to inspire kids to read and write at home
The National Literacy Trust has teamed up with Premier League Primary Stars to launch a week-long series of free football-themed activities and challenges to inspire children to get reading and writing at home: literacytrust.org.uk/family-zone/9-12/dan-freedman-football-challenge
From today, Premier League Primary Stars will take over the charity’s Family Zone website for one week with a series of exclusive videos, challenges, activities and a free ebook for children and families to enjoy at home, in partnership with ‘Author of the Week’ Dan Freedman.
Launching as part of the weekly Premier League Primary Stars Family Challenges to engage children in home learning, Freedman – best known for his hugely popular series of Jamie Johnson football novels – has tasked children to create their own fictional character that could be part of a football-themed story. Families candownload a free activity pack filled with top tips and ideas to get started.
Children who submit their original characters for the Challenge will be in with a chance of receiving a special Premier League reward for their school. Details will be announced at a live Q&A event on the National Literacy Trust’s Facebook page on Tuesday 2 June at 11.30am (BST) featuring Freedman and CBBC Match of the Day Kickabout presenter Ben Shires. At the live event, children, families and teachers will be able to ask the duo questions about football, reading and writing.
Other exciting football-themed activities that will launch on the National Literacy Trust’s Family Zone this week include:
• A video of Dan Freedman talking about his journey from reluctant reader to children’s author and reading an excerpt from his very first Jamie Johnson book,The Kick Off (Scholastic UK)
• A free ebook download of The Kick Off (Scholastic UK) for children to enjoy
Dan Freedman said: “What an honour to be Author of the Week! I wasn’t confident in my reading or writing when I was at school, but football was my huge passion and offered me that crucial way in. From visiting schools, I do know that lots of young people feel the same challenges so being able to connect with them and share our experiences through this brilliant project is hugely exciting. I’m so proud to be working alongside the Premier League and National Literacy Trust and I think our live event is going to be a real cracker. We want to harness the incredible power of football to encourage young writers to pick up their pens and young readers to pick up their books. I hope that having a complete Jamie Johnson book available for anyone to download for free will make it really fun and easy for as many people to get involved as possible.”
Jim Sells, Sport and Literacy Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We know that football has the power to inspire kids to get reading and writing, so we’re thrilled to team up with Premier League Primary Stars and Dan Freedman to bring children and families such an exciting series of football-themed activities to enjoy together at home. What’s more, the activities can also be done in the classroom for children who are starting to return to school. We can’t wait to read all about the fantastic characters children will create and hear their questions for Dan and Ben in the Facebook Live Q&A.”
Nick Perchard, Head of Community at the Premier League, said: “We are delighted to work in partnership with the National Literacy Trust on the Family Zone and Live Q&A activity with author and Premier League Primary Stars advocate, Dan Freedman. We hope that this new Challenge, which can be accessed as part of home-learning or at school, will inspire children who have a passion for football, and who may be reluctant readers and writers, to get involved and think about learning in a different way.”
Visit the National Literacy Trust’s Family Zone for more reading and writing activities to engage children and support their learning at home: literacyfamilyzone.org.uk
Visit the Premier League Primary Stars website for more football-themed home learning activities for children and families to enjoy, including fun quizzes and Family Challenges: plprimarystars.com/for-families/