Owl Babies

Three baby owls, Sarah, Percy and Bill, wake up one night in their hole in a tree to find that their mother has gone. So they sit on a branch and wait. Darkness gathers and the owls grow anxious, wondering when their mother will return. But, at last, she does, and they bounce up and down with joy, welcoming her home.

Book Author: Martin Waddell

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Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• The story has lots of different types of punctuation in it. Try to find each type and explain why it is there.
• The author uses capital letters at different points in the story. Why did he decided to do this?
• Read the story and describe the personalities of each of the baby owls. How do we know what each owl baby is like?
• Describe the wood where the owls live. How is it different at day time and night time?
• Before reading to the end, ask children to predict where the owls' mum has gone to. Why did she leave them? Could you rewrite the story from her point of view?
• Write a similar story which includes different creatures.
• Act out the story and discuss the feelings of the babies and their mum at different points in the story?
• Write a note from the owls' mum telling them not to worry while she has gone.
• Look at pictures (see Resources below), using these to think of words to describe them.
• Watch the film 'Legend of the Guardians' and compare it with this story:

Science

• Find out about the babies of different types of creatures. How quickly do they grow? How do their parents look after them?
• Find out about the habitats of different creatures.
• Make a food chain which includes owls. What do they eat? What creatures might eat them?
• Learn about owls and how they hunt, using videos like this:

Art

• Draw your own picture of an owl family.
• Draw pictures of other baby creatures.
• Use items found in your school grounds (e.g. leaves, twigs, feathers) to create a picture of an owl outdoors.

Geography

• Can you find places in your local areas where owls might live? What can we do to protect those habitats?

PSHE

• Discuss how the owls are feeling at different points in the story. How could the mum owl have stopped the babies from worrying?