Created for Book Week 2026
Celebrate Once I Was a Giant by Zeno Sworder with this cross-curricular activity pack, designed to inspire reflection, environmental awareness and imaginative writing in primary classrooms.
This resource is packed with craft, literacy and maths activities inspired by the giant tree's transformation into a humble pencil. Perfect for planning a whole-day Symphony of Stories experience or weaving into your Book Week celebrations!
What's included:
Book Craft
3D Growing Pencil Craft - students colour, cut and curve a 3D pencil with sprouting leaves and branches, glued onto a sky and soil background (colour and black & white versions included)
Differentiated Literacy Activities
Open-ended writing prompts - respond to prompts inspired by themes of growth, memory and the natural world, with matching lined writing templates
Cause & effect: deforestation - explore the causes and effects of deforestation using a facts page and graphic organiser
Circular tale - plan and write an original circular narrative that finishes back where it started
Text to text comparison - compare Once I Was a Giant with another book about the changing natural world, using a Venn diagram or comparison table
Hunting for onomatopoeia - imagine standing in the forest, list the sounds you'd hear, and write them as onomatopoeia words in speech bubbles or a short sound poem
Save the forest (persuasive text) - write a persuasive text convincing readers to save the forest, with an opening position, three reasons and a call to action
Differentiated Mathematics Activities
Exploring numbers - use deforestation facts to complete Number of the Day style questions across a range of number sizes
Forest word problems - 2-digit addition & subtraction, multiplication & division level 1, 3-digit addition & subtraction, and multiplication & division level 2
Data: what would you keep? - survey classmates on which wooden item they'd most like to keep and graph the results
Design Activities
Design a poster: reduce, reuse, replant - design a poster teaching people why it's important to care for trees, with a slogan, pictures and a fact
Wooden item - design a new wooden item that could be made from the tree, labelling its features
Design a brochure - inform readers about the impacts of deforestation
Want it all?
Grab the matching Once I Was a Giant slide deck to bring the story to life. Includes writing prompts and maths tasks (linked to the worksheets), as well as additional design prompts.
Hive Members Bonus
Enjoy exclusive artwork and themed slide backgrounds to level-up your Book Week experience!
Not a member? Try The Hive for free with our 14 day free trial!