If you have a preschooler, chances are Julia Donaldson’s books are already well-thumbed on your shelf. From the clever mouse in The Gruffalo to the generous witch in Room on the Broom, her stories have a quality that keeps children coming back again and again — and that makes them the perfect foundation for activities at home.

This post brings together Julia Donaldson activities for preschoolers inspired by her most beloved books, with ideas for crafts, sensory play, outdoor adventures, and creative play that bring the stories vividly to life.

Why Julia Donaldson’s Books Are So Good for Early Learning

Before diving into the activities, it’s worth understanding why Julia Donaldson’s books work so brilliantly as a starting point for play and learning.

Her stories are almost always written in rhyme, which makes them wonderful for phonological awareness — the ability to hear and play with sounds in words. Children who are regularly exposed to rhyme find learning to read significantly easier.

Her narratives are also built on repetition and predictable structure, which gives preschoolers the confidence to join in and anticipate what comes next. That sense of knowing what’s coming is deeply satisfying at this age, and it builds genuine comprehension skills.

And her characters — brave, resourceful, kind, occasionally mischievous — give children rich material for imaginative play, storytelling, and conversations about feelings and values.

The Gruffalo Activities

The Gruffalo is perhaps Julia Donaldson’s most famous story, and it’s one of the richest for follow-up activities.

A deep dark wood sensory tray — soil, sticks, pine cones, and moss with small plastic woodland creatures — makes a brilliant small world scene for retelling the story. Playdough Gruffalo characters, a paper plate mask for dramatic play, and a simple story map of the wood are all activities that preschoolers engage with deeply.

Cooking is another lovely extension — making a simple vegetable soup with ingredients linked to the Gruffalo’s features, or Gruffalo crumble inspired by the sequel, connects the story to real sensory experience in a way that makes both more memorable.

Room on the Broom Activities

Room on the Broom lends itself to some wonderfully atmospheric activities. A witch’s cauldron sensory tray using black water and natural loose parts is a particular favourite — children love stirring up their own witch’s brew and naming their ingredients.

Making a witch’s hat from black card, setting up a broom painting activity, and creating a small world scene with twig brooms and paper figures are all simple ideas that extend the story beautifully. The colour mixing potions activity — mixing red, blue, and yellow water to make new colours — is brilliant for early science alongside the imaginative play element.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Activities

Michael Rosen’s classic gets the Julia Donaldson treatment here — while it isn’t a Donaldson book, it sits beautifully alongside her work and shares the same repetitive, physical storytelling quality.

The most powerful activity is simply going on a real bear hunt — heading outside to find long grass, puddles, mud, and somewhere dark to explore, with a hidden teddy bear to discover at the end. Sensory trays representing each terrain in the story, a den for the bear’s cave, and a story map of the journey are all activities that bring the narrative to life in different ways.

Tabby McTat Activities

Tabby McTat — the singing cat who gets separated from his busker owner — is slightly less well known than The Gruffalo but equally loved by children who encounter it.

Making a simple cat mask or paper bag puppet, setting up a music-making station with homemade instruments, and acting out the story using small world figures are all lovely ways to extend this book. The theme of being lost and found makes it a gentle starting point for conversations about feelings and safety.

Tiddler Activities

Tiddler, the fish who tells tall tales about why he’s late for school, is a brilliant book for sparking imagination and conversations about honesty and storytelling.

An ocean sensory tray — blue water with shells, pebbles, and plastic sea creatures — is a natural extension. Making fish from paper plates or painted card, creating an underwater small world, and asking your child to make up their own tall tale about why they were late for something are all activities that connect well to the story’s themes.

Zog Activities

Zog, the enthusiastic young dragon who tries hard but keeps getting things wrong, resonates deeply with preschoolers who are themselves learning new skills and dealing with the frustration of not always getting it right first time.

Making a Zog dragon from a paper plate or toilet roll, setting up a dragon small world with a castle and a princess, and talking about times your child has tried hard at something even when it was difficult are all lovely ways to extend this book.

Tips for Getting the Most From Julia Donaldson Books at Home

Read the book many times before starting activities. Familiarity deepens engagement. A child who knows a story well will get far more from an activity based on it than one who has only heard it once.

Let the activities follow the child’s interest. If your child is obsessed with The Gruffalo, spend a week on Gruffalo activities. If they keep asking for Room on the Broom, follow that. The best learning happens when children are genuinely motivated by the subject.

Connect the books to real experiences. Walk through a wood and talk about the deep dark wood. Make soup and talk about Gruffalo crumble. Plant seeds and talk about the tiny seed. The more connections between the story and real life, the deeper the learning.

Use the books across the curriculum. Julia Donaldson’s stories naturally touch on science (lifecycles, habitats, weather), maths (counting, sequencing), literacy (rhyme, narrative structure), art and design, and personal and social development. You don’t need to make this explicit — simply engaging with the books and the activities covers an enormous amount of ground.

Build a Julia Donaldson collection gradually. Each new book adds to a web of familiarity with her style, her characters, and the way her stories work. Children who know several of her books start to notice patterns and make connections between them, which is a sophisticated and exciting kind of literary thinking for a preschooler.

A Simple Julia Donaldson Activity Plan

If you’d like a simple structure for working through Julia Donaldson activities over several weeks, here’s a gentle framework to follow.

Choose one book per week. Read it every day — yes, every day, repetition is the point. Do one or two activities during the week based on the story. At the end of the week, let your child retell the story in their own way using props, small world figures, or puppets.

That’s it. Simple, sustainable, and genuinely effective for early literacy and language development.