Room on the Broom is one of those picture books that earns its place on the shelf through sheer re-readability. Julia Donaldson’s rhyming text and Axel Scheffler’s illustrations have made it a firm favourite with preschoolers everywhere, and it lends itself beautifully to all kinds of activities once the book is closed.

Whether you’re looking for craft ideas, sensory play, or simple activities to extend the story, here are some lovely Room on the Broom activities to try at home.

Before You Start: Getting the Most From the Book Itself

Before diving into activities, it’s worth spending time with the book itself in a way that builds vocabulary and comprehension. As you read, pause to talk about what’s happening — why does the witch keep losing things? How does she feel when the dragon appears? What do you think will happen next?

Preschoolers who are given space to predict, question, and respond to stories develop much stronger language and comprehension skills than those who simply listen passively. Room on the Broom is particularly good for this because the repetitive structure makes prediction easy and satisfying.

Room on the Broom Craft: Make a Witch’s Hat

A simple craft that preschoolers can mostly do independently with a little help.

Roll a large sheet of black card into a cone shape and secure with tape. Cut a circle of black card for the brim, make small cuts around the bottom of the cone, and fold them out to attach to the brim. Decorate with star stickers, glitter, or painted details.

Once it’s made, wear it for the rest of the activities. Everything is more fun in a witch’s hat.

Broom Painting

Cut a simple broom shape from card — a long handle with a bundle of bristles at the bottom. Glue lengths of dried spaghetti, straw, or strips of yellow card to the bristle end. Use it to paint across a large sheet of paper, dragging the bristles through paint to create sweeping marks.

This is a lovely open-ended creative activity and the resulting artwork makes a great display piece. Talk about what shapes and marks the broom makes as you go.

Tuff Tray: Witch’s Cauldron Sensory Play

Fill a tray or large bowl with black water — add a generous squeeze of black food colouring — and set out a selection of natural loose parts: leaves, sticks, pebbles, pine cones, and flowers. Add a ladle or large spoon and let your child stir up their own witch’s brew.

Encourage them to name their ingredients as they add them, just like the witch in the story. This is brilliant for imaginative language and vocabulary, and the dark water looks wonderfully atmospheric.

Room on the Broom Small World

Set up a simple small world scene inspired by the book. Use green tissue paper or crinkled paper as a base, add small plastic or paper figures for the witch and her animal friends, and make a simple broom from a twig with a few strands of raffia or wool tied at the bottom.

If you have a toy dragon or can make one from playdough, add it to the scene. Let your child retell the story using the figures, or create their own version of what happens next.

Playdough Characters

Make or buy playdough in black, green, orange, and brown and let your child create the characters from the story — the witch, the cat, the dog, the bird, the frog, and the dragon.

This kind of character-making is wonderful for story comprehension. Children who can recreate a character in three dimensions have usually understood something significant about who that character is.

The Witch’s Potions: Colour Mixing Activity

Set out small clear bottles or jars of water coloured with food colouring in red, blue, and yellow. Give your child droppers or pipettes and let them mix colours together to make new ones — just like a witch mixing potions.

Talk about what colours they’re making and whether they can predict what will happen when they mix two colours together. This is a brilliant early science activity wrapped up in imaginative play.

Broom Obstacle Course

Set up a simple outdoor obstacle course and give your child a child-sized broom or a stick to carry as they go — they’re flying on their broom, of course. Over the stepping stones, under the washing line, around the tree, and back again.

Physical play tied to a story narrative is one of the most engaging things you can offer a preschooler. The story gives the movement a purpose and keeps the energy focused.

Story Sequencing Cards

Draw or print simple pictures of the key events in Room on the Broom — the witch on her broom, losing her hat, the cat joining, the dog joining, the bird joining, the frog joining, the dragon appearing, the broom breaking, the new broom at the end.

Muddle them up and ask your child to put them back in the right order. Story sequencing is a key early literacy skill and this kind of hands-on version is far more engaging for preschoolers than a worksheet.

Room on the Broom Biscuits

Make simple round biscuits and decorate them with black and orange icing to look like witch’s hats, broomsticks, or cat faces. Getting children involved in the making — rolling, cutting, decorating — is the point as much as the eating.

Baking alongside a book theme is one of those activities that connects so many different kinds of learning: following instructions, measuring, fine motor skills, and the sheer pleasure of making something yourself.

Tips for Book-Based Activities

You don’t need to do all of these. Pick one or two that suit your child’s interests and the time you have. One well-chosen activity that your child is genuinely engaged in is worth more than five that are rushed.

Come back to the book between activities. Re-reading the story after doing an activity based on it often leads to richer engagement with the text. Children notice new details and make new connections when the story feels familiar and personal.

Let them lead. If your child takes a Room on the Broom activity in a completely different direction — if the small world becomes something entirely their own — that’s a good sign, not a problem. Follow their lead and see where it goes.