“Turn One Ocean Theme into Multiple Lessons for All Ages” 🐠🐬

1. Introduction ✨

One theme can open the door to many different lessons 📚! The ocean 🌊 is perfect for this: it offers vocabulary 📝, stories 📖, games 🎲, creative projects 🎨, and science facts 🐙. You can adapt activities for different age groups 👶👧🧒🧑, from preschoolers to older students.

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2. Story-Based Learning: The Light is Gone 🎭

Turn one of my custom classroom stories into a fun play 🎬! (If you want to find out more visit my account on Wattpad!)

• For younger kids 👶🧒: simple roleplay – everyone can be whatever they want: a shark 🦈, a mermaid 🧜‍♀️, or even a dinosaur 🦖. The light has mysteriously disappeared under the sea 🌊, and the children set off on an exciting adventure to find it.

• For older kids 🧑‍🏫: full dialogue practice 🗣️ and reading comprehension 📖.

• Hidden printables 📄 (available on my homepage, when you find the hidden clues on Pinterest) let students follow the story step by step – free resources to expand the adventure!

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3. Interactive Rallies & Games 🏛️🧩

• Create a “Lost Atlantis Rally”:

  • Stations with challenges 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

  • Vocabulary tasks 📚

  • Fun ocean facts 🐟🐙

• Adjust difficulty by age:

• Younger kids: matching pictures to words 🖼️✏️

• Older kids: puzzles, riddles, creative problem-solving 🧠

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4. Creative Projects & Arts 🎨🖌️

• Crafts: make your own ocean creatures 🐙🐠

• Drawing or modeling waves 🌊

• Older students: build an Atlantis diorama 🏛️

• Can include writing prompts ✏️ for storytelling

• Picture Dictionary

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5. Vocabulary & Fun Facts 📝🐚

• Collect key words for each lesson: fish 🐟, dolphin 🐬, starfish ⭐, shell 🐚

• Add fun facts for engagement:

  • Octopuses have three hearts ❤️❤️❤️

  • The ocean’s deepest point is deeper than Mount Everest 🏔️

  • Starfish can regrow their arms ✋

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6. Experiments 🧪

• Bring different objects and let them float in water 🌊 – can they sink or float?
• Fill two glasses with water 🌊, add salt to one 🧂, then drop an egg 🥚 in each – which one floats?
• Add a little oil 🛢️ to a glass of water 💧 and watch how it floats on top – just like pollutants in the ocean, affecting sea life 🐠.

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6. Badges & Rewards 🏅🎯

• Track progress with badges for:

  • Vocabulary learned 🐠

  • Stories acted out 🎭

  • Rally challenges completed 🏛️

• Great motivator for all ages 🌟

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✨ Conclusion

One theme, like the ocean 🌊, can be the starting point for weeks of lessons, each tailored to different ages and skill levels. By mixing storytelling, games, creativity, and fun facts, your students learn English, science, and critical thinking skills while having fun 🧒👧🧑.

📌 Using Pinterest to Share and Organize My Teaching Materials

Pinterest has quickly become one of my favorite tools for sharing the educational materials I create. Honestly, apart from Eduki (and my blog), Pinterest is pretty much my only other “audience.” But that’s part of the fun! Not only does it help me reach other teachers and parents, it’s also a fantastic way to reflect on my own lessons, see what works best, and feel slightly less like I’m talking into the void.

🎯 Planning Ahead: Scheduling Pins

One of the things I love about Pinterest is that I can plan pins in advance. Before going on vacation, I scheduled one pin per day so my content keeps reaching people automatically. Afterwards, I plan to post one or two pins per day. This way, my teaching materials stay visible without me having to constantly manage the system.

🖼️ Visual Storytelling: Making Pins Stand Out

Pins aren’t just images—they’re a way to tell a story. For example, my “Leopold’s Bubblegum Camera” pin shows how each lesson has a creative side, with visual snapshots of what the kids have made or explored. Other pins, like “Counting with Leopold” or “Shapes,” highlight interactive activities. Testing different images and text allows me to see what grabs attention most.

✏️ Reflection and Recap

Creating pins is more than just marketing—it’s a tool for reflection. As I design them, I think about what stood out in my lessons, which activities were most engaging, and which vocabulary or concepts children remembered best. It’s a helpful way to recap and improve my teaching.

📊 Testing and Optimizing

I love that Pinterest gives instant feedback. I can see which pins are getting clicks and saves, and adjust my approach—changing pictures, wording, or titles—to maximize engagement. It’s like a mini-experiment for each lesson!

🌟 Popular Pins

Some of my pins so far include:

• Counting, Colors, Feeling and Shapes with Leopold

• Games like 2 Words Trouble

• Storytelling with Leopold’s Bubblegum Camera or How Leopold Came to Earth

• Blogposts like “Flashcards: More Than Just Show & Repeat”

Using Pinterest has become a creative, reflective, and practical part of my teaching practice. I enjoy seeing what works and sharing ideas with others around the world!

Creative Building Bricks in the Classroom: Boost Imagination🧱✨

👐🎲 Hands-On Fun for Young Minds 🧱✨

Building bricks aren’t just a toy – they're a powerful tool to inspire creativity 🎨 and imagination ✨ in the classroom. By letting children build their own worlds 🌍, reenact stories 📖, and create unique scenarios, bricks encourage critical thinking 🧠, problem-solving 🛠️, and teamwork 🤝.

Using building bricks in lessons can make abstract concepts tangible. Students can explore subjects like history 🏰, science 🔬, or literature 📚 by physically constructing scenes or models. This hands-on approach not only engages young minds but also strengthens concentration 👀 and fine motor skills ✋.

In addition, collaborative brick activities foster communication 🗣️ and cooperation 🤗. Children learn to share ideas 💡, negotiate roles 📝, and solve challenges together – all while having fun 🎉 and feeling proud 🏆 of their creations.

Whether it’s a short class activity ⏱️ or a larger project 🏗️, integrating building bricks into your lessons offers endless opportunities for playful learning 🧩 and imagination.

🏁Racing course

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this blog post.

🔹 Example Vocabulary List (Kid-Friendly)

🌸 flower, 🏠 house, 🐶 dog, 🐱 cat, 🚗 car, 🍎 apple, ⚽ ball, 👜 bag, 👧 friend, 🛒 shop, 🥤 juice, 🍪 cookie, 🌈 rainbow, 🗝️ key, 🎩 hat, 🌳 tree, 🪑 chair, 💰 money, 🎁 gift, 🎉 surprise

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🔹 How to use them for storytelling

1. Pick 3–5 words from the list.

2. Set the scene: “You are walking through the supermarket 🛒…”

3. Make a story: Children create short sentences or a story using the words ✏️.

4. Add a small challenge: “Try to include a surprise 🎉 or a funny problem 🤪!”

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🔹 Example Prompt

• Words: 🍎 apple, 🐶 dog, 🌈 rainbow

• Prompt: “You see a rainbow 🌈 in the supermarket 🛒! Your dog 🐶 suddenly runs after an apple 🍎… What happens next?”

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🎨 Try these hands-on building brick storytelling activities in your classroom today!

New Courses, New Adventures with Leopold 👽🚀

Hello there,

I’m starting my courses again – and I’m so excited! Over the past weeks, I’ve printed and prepared everything with my own uploaded courses, and now that everything is fully organized, the work feels smoother, quicker, and simply better.

This year I’ll be running two courses with Leopold from Bubblegum – 1st year material:

• A completely new preschool group with 7 children

• An “old” group that has been with me for 2 years already - 5 children

With the second group, I had to decide whether to repeat the course or not. In the end, I chose to go through it again – because so much has changed since the first time two years ago! The songs are all new, the storyline is more rounded, and this time Leopold plays a much bigger role. Repetition is such an important part of language learning, and since enough time has passed, it feels fresh and exciting again. Plus, there’s a new child joining, which always brings new energy to the group.

From my own experience with my son, I’ve learned that repetition can actually be a big advantage: when you already know the story, you can dive deeper into the language and enjoy it even more. That’s exactly what I’m hoping for with my students this year.

So – let the fun begin! I can’t wait to share all the new material and adventures with the kids.

With lots of excitement,
Denise and Leopold 👽💙

These materials are for classroom use only and not for commercial purposes. All content is created for educational use with students.

Get Moving – Let Your Ideas Come Alive! 🚀✨

We all carry a treasure chest full of ideas 💡, creativity 🎨, and unique talents 🌟 inside us. Often these treasures stay hidden because we get stuck in our heads 🤯, wait ⏳, or doubt ourselves 🤔. But real change only happens when we get moving 💪.

I know this well myself: My mind is bursting with ideas, visions, and plans — like translating my course 🌍 and offering it for German as a foreign language 🇩🇪 and Spanish 🇪🇸, developing more exciting courses 📚, and even creating an app 📱 that helps learners playfully improve their English.

Of course, it takes time and patience 🕰️. A course often needs a whole year 📆 to really grow and make an impact. But that shouldn’t stop us. Every small step 👣, every idea we bring to life, brings us closer to our goals 🎯 and to what truly fulfills us ❤️.

Your individuality and creativity are gifts 🎁 the world needs. Dare to bring your ideas out, make them visible, and live them. No matter if big or small — it all counts ✅.

Don’t Let Anyone Stop You – Your Vision Matters! 🚫⛔

Don’t let others limit you just because they conform to existing systems. My vision is clear: in the future, we will all be freelancers – or at least embrace concepts of self, creating and working for ourselves.

✨ It should be possible to grow freely and share our unique ideas without others taking the credit. Together we can enrich each other with our visions. 💡🤝

Too often, though, teachers and educators don’t see fair pay for the time and love they put into their lessons. Parents may pay a lot, but only a small part reaches the teacher. Educators deserve better. 🌱📚

💪 Be brave — create your own path! Find an affordable space, invest in the basics, and just start. Children are eager to learn with you — and your ideas matter. 🧒💕

Let’s shape new ways of learning: self-determined, creative, and fair. 🚀🌟

Quality over Quantity: How to Teach Vocabulary Effectively

📚 How Many New Words Are Enough?

Sustainable Vocabulary Learning in the Classroom

How many new words should we teach at once? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?

Honestly, I often include more than just 10 in my materials – but that doesn’t mean you have to teach them all at once. The key is: Words need time. A baby doesn’t get to choose how many words it hears a day – it just hears them over and over.
Research suggests that a child needs to hear and use a word around 14 times before it sticks.

✅ Why 6–10 flashcards per session are still ideal:

• Limited attention span: Too many new words at once can be overwhelming.

• Time for repetition: Children shouldn’t just see new words – they should use them: show, move, hide, sing, play.

• Flexible use: With just 6–10 cards, you can already do a lot –
  from memory games and movement activities to hide-and-seek, songs, and storytelling.

💡 My materials usually include a wider range of vocabulary, so you can pick and choose what suits your group. Some words are repeated across games, songs, or craft ideas – which means they’re practiced more deeply, without feeling repetitive.

📝 For older kids, I often bring the words back in written homework – giving them a chance to repeat and anchor vocabulary through spelling practice, short writing tasks, or mini-dialogues.

📦 Repetition happens naturally – if you plan for it

It’s not just about “learning” the words once – it’s about encountering them again and again, in different ways.
In my lessons, I plan intentional repetition, but make it feel natural:

• A song today,

• a movement game tomorrow,

• a story next week – with the same words popping up again.

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🌀 Spiral learning – not a straight line

Vocabulary doesn’t need to be "finished" after one session. I like to spiral back to important words again and again – each time in a new context. This way, children build confidence and fluency without getting bored.

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🎨 Depth over quantity

It’s not about how many words children are exposed to – it’s about how well they get to know them.
I’d rather teach 8 words really well, giving plenty of time to use them creatively, than rush through 20 without depth.
I do show more words, yes, but only once, then we focus on one or two key words at a time to really embed them.

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💬 Active vocabulary vs. passive vocabulary

Not every word needs to be spoken by the child immediately. Some words are fine as “passive vocabulary” at first – they can understand it, point to it, react to it. Over time, with repeated exposure, passive words often become active.

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🔁 Words come back – on purpose

I make sure that key vocabulary returns again and again throughout the year – not just in review lessons, but in new games, new songs, and new stories. This gives learners a feeling of familiarity and success. Additionally, they get the "2 words trouble" games to practice words at home. 

Foto Challenge for Teens and Adults

📸✨ The Photo Challenge: See the World Differently

A super simple and powerful activity for teens and adults: The Photo Challenge.

🔑 How it works:
1️⃣ Everyone gets a list of words (objects, colors, moods, shapes, actions).

Flower 🌸

Sand castle 🏰

Sand grain 🪨

   Sun 🌞

Water 💧

Fotos © Misdy Black

2️⃣ You have a set time ⏳ to find and photograph them.
3️⃣ Share and explain your photos 🎤 – in small groups or with the whole class.

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🌟 Why it works so well:

• 🎨 Creativity boost – Everyone interprets words differently (a “circle” might be a clock, a pizza, or a Ferris wheel).

• 👀 New perspectives – You start noticing details in your environment you’d normally ignore.

• 💬 Language practice – Perfect for describing, comparing, and explaining in English.

• 🤳 Motivation – Teens love using their phones for something meaningful. Adults enjoy the fresh approach.

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💡 Variations to spice it up:

• 🏙️ City Walk Edition: Words connected to architecture, traffic, signs.

• 🏠 Indoor Edition: Great for classrooms, offices, or even Zoom sessions.

• 🎭 Mood Edition: Capture feelings like “quiet”, “chaos”, “happiness”.

• 🎲 Challenge Mode: Limit the time or add “bonus words” for extra fun.

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🗣️ Speaking activities afterwards:

• 📖 Describe your picture in 3 sentences.

• 🔄 Swap photos and let others guess the word.

• ⚖️ Compare two photos (“Mine is brighter, yours is funnier…”).

• 📝 Turn your photo set into a short story.

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After the main list is finished, the group can:

• ✍️ add extra words themselves,

• 🎲 vote on the funniest, most unusual or most difficult word,

• 📸 then everyone has to capture it in their photos.

That way, participants feel more involved and it adds an element of surprise — because the “bonus words” are unpredictable and come from the group itself.

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👉 It’s a flexible activity: You can run it in 15 minutes as a warm-up, or make it into a whole project with presentations and posters.

Unlocking English Magic: Story Adventures & Wishful Learning for Kids

🌟 Why I Love Teaching in Series – Adventures, Language & Theater in My Classroom

As a freelance teacher, one of the most powerful tools I’ve discovered is working with lesson series – or as I like to call them, little learning adventures. Whether we’re exploring the stars, diving into a mystery, or making a wish lesson with horses, building a story over time gives my students more than just vocabulary. It gives them meaning, emotion, and ownership of their English journey.

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🚀 The Great Space Mystery – Storytelling + Language = Magic

In this series, children meet Leopold, a spiky little alien who crashes on Earth and needs help finding something important. Each part of the story unfolds over multiple sessions:

• Leopold looking left and right (finding his way around town)

• A call for help at the police station

• The children become detectives - strange faces and hands, strange clues

• The mystery is solved through logic, games, songs and laughter - it all makes sense now

It’s not just a theme – it’s an interactive journey. Each part adds new vocabulary (emotions, space words, actions, etc.) and simple grammar structures like "It is gone!", "Can you help me?" or "She took it!"

These materials are for classroom use only and not for commercial purposes. All content is created for educational use with students.

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🎭 Theater Workshop – Performing with Purpose

This is where English meets performance. Children invent a character, learn to say what they want, and act it out in small role plays or full group scenes.

You find more on this in this older blog entry: „The Light Went Out“ – Wenn Kinder das Theater erfinden

The children move, speak, act, and laugh. Even shy kids find their voice when they are allowed to become someone (or something!) else.

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💫 Make a Wish Lessons – When Children Choose the Topic

Sometimes, the best lessons start with a simple question:
“What do YOU want to learn about?”

The Make a Wish series is based on exactly that. The children tell me their dream topics – and I turn them into playful, imaginative English lessons full of action, movement, and discovery.

Each topic usually is done in two sessions and is built around the vocabulary and grammar that naturally fit the topic.

Examples include:

🐴 Horses – “Is it slow or fast?” “My horse can jump!”
🌍 Plants – “I'm small like a mushroom!” “I'm small and red. I have thorns.”
🌞 Solar System – “Mars is small and red.” “I'm the hottest planet - Venus!”

These lessons mix movement, songs, games, experiments and creative tasks like drawing, acting, building or roleplay. They make English personal – because the children helped choose the topic.

These materials are for classroom use only and not for commercial purposes. All content is created for educational use with students.

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🧩 Why it works: Structure + Surprise

Here’s why I love lesson series so much:

✅ Built-in repetition – vocabulary returns naturally
✅ Progression – each session builds on the last
✅ Confidence boost – kids know the story and can join in
✅ Freedom to play – with a secure structure, we can get creative
✅ End-of-series moments – performances, mysteries solved, rewards!

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💡 Tip for Teachers: Don’t Overload – Layer It

Each session in the series focuses on just a few key words or structures you can choose from, layered with movement, visuals, songs, and story. No worksheet overload, just playful discovery.

If you're curious or want to try it yourself, feel free to check out my ready-made materials here on Eduki. 

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🌈 Final Thoughts

Teaching in themes and series is more than a method – it's a mindset. It allows the kids (and me!) to travel through ideas, characters, and worlds. And honestly, that's the kind of learning that sticks.

Let me know if you use any of the ideas – or if Leopold lands in your classroom too! 🛸