Array ( [article_id] => 14562 [company_id] => 1 [user_id] => 0 [article_type_id] => 58 [article_seo_url] => mfr2021 [details] => Array ( [Title] => My First Riddle 2021 [Age] => EYFS [Description] => Introduce your reception class to poetry with My First Riddle... [Extended] => 1 [RR Ontraport ID] => 376 [DL Ontraport ID] => 375 [Post Class] => EYFS [Priority] => 3 [Country] => UK [Opens] => 2021-04-07 [Closes] => 2021-06-11 [Layout] => main-comp [Type] => poetry [Subheading] => Get imaginations fired up in no time! [Intro] =>

This fun competition encourages younger pupils to use their senses and imagination to create their own original riddle. Your class can write riddles on any theme, from the current class topic to people, places or animals.

It's a fun activity to do in the classroom or that parents can do with their children at home either by using the downloadable worksheet or by writing / typing their work.

There's different themed templates available to download to inspire even the most reluctant writers!

Also... Share a photo of your class taking part in My First Riddle on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram and you’ll be entered into our free prize draw to win a book bundle for your class! (T&Cs apply.)

[YouTube] => [Thumbnail] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle-2020/3011-thumbnail.png [Background] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle-2020/8998-background.png [Logo] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle-2020/3063-logo.png [Icon] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle-2020/3011-thumbnail.png [School Prizes] =>

1st Prize

The Young Writers' Award of Excellence and a bundle of books for their school library for the school with the best selection of entries overall.

2 x Runners-Up

Each receives a framed certificate and a bundle of books for their school library!

(Winners will be chosen from entries received in the 2020/2021 academic year.)

PLUS

Every participating school receives a complimentary copy of the book their pupils feature in.

[Student Prizes] =>

Our 10 favourite published little poets will each win £20 National Book Token! 

Winners are chosen from entries received in the Spring & Summer Term 2021 and announced in the Autumn Term 2021.

[Winners Subheading] => We're delighted to announce the winners... [Winners Intro] =>

My First Riddle encouraged younger pupils to use their senses and imagination to create their own original riddle - we love how creative all the entries were!

Congratulations to our school winners and a huge thank you to everyone who took part.

School Winners

1st Place - £250 Book Bundle & The Young Writers' Award of Excellence

Haxby Road Primary School, North Yorkshire
Published in "My First Riddle 2021 - Little Laureates"

2 x Runners-Up - £100 Book Bundle and Framed Certificate

Spinney Hill Primary School, Leicestershire
Published in "My First Riddle 2021 - Rhyming Treasures"

Kentisbeare CE Primary School, Devon
Published in "My First Riddle 2021 - A Collection Of Poetry"

 

[Rules] =>

Ask your pupils to write/type their poem, ensuring their name, age and school name are included.

Only one entry per pupil, there is no limit to the number of entries per school.

Where possible, the school to send / upload / email all their pupils' entries to us.

Poems can be on the worksheet or an A4 sheet of paper or typed.

Poems must be your pupils' own work.

Independent entrants are welcome, please provide your full postal address rather than the school's details.

[Tips] =>

Let’s make word clouds!

Provide your pupils with a word (or they can choose their own). This is the answer to their riddle. E.g. Doctor

Pupils can work together or alone to create a word cloud – so any words that are associated with their riddle answer. For example, a doctor might have words such as: caring, lifesaver, stethoscope, hospital, white coat etc

Creating word clouds generates lots of ideas which leads to exciting clues for your pupils’ riddles.

This is a class activity – ask your pupils to describe you. If someone said, “Tall” pop that into an online thesaurus and then write on the board two synonyms. Repeat until you have a selection of words to describe you. Then work together to write a class riddle about you using the exciting, new vocabulary!

Let’s get the senses involved! Pick an animal to create a class riddle about.

What does it look like?
What does it sound like?
What does it smell like?
What does it feel like?

And what do your pupils imagine it would taste like... E.g. a cat could taste like a hairy tongue, yuck!

Using senses helps create descriptive clues and the taste clue gives your pupils the chance to get imaginative too!

Let’s play the riddle game...

It’s a fun way to learn to write a riddle is to read and guess some!

Can your pupils guess the answers to these 3 riddles? Remind them that the poem’s title is a clue...

The Magical Horse
Rainbows beam out of me,
I am shimmery like a heatwave,
I am as magic as a fairy,
My horn looks like a wonderful helter-skelter,
I am as cool as winter
I am kind and beautiful.
What am I?
Answer: A Unicorn

Tasty Italian Tea
I am wiggly like a worm,
I can be brown or white,
I snap when dry but bend when wet,
I am smooth,
I bathe in tomato sauce.
What am I?
Answer: Spaghetti

The Foot Cover
I am waterproof,
I can be lots of different colours,
I like it when my owner runs fast,
I’m bouncy like a spring,
I am soft and comfy like a pillow,
I get muddy but I don’t mind.
What am I?
Answer: Trainers

Did anyone guess the answers? It's a fun way to engage with riddle poems and now your pupils can have a go at writing their own.

Go off template if you want to! Let your pupils write their own riddle poem without a template. They can still be inspired by the template themes, but why not adapt them...

Here are some sentence ideas...
I look like...
I have...
I am...
I feel...
I live...
I eat...

This is a great tip for linking topic work with poetry. Playing this game helps your pupils with description, which is the basis for a riddle poem.

•  Put your pupils in groups
• Provide each group a picture/photo related to your current topic
•  Each group keeps their picture a secret from the other groups!
•  Work with each group in turn to help them describe their picture
•  Once all the groups have descriptions, bring the class together
•  Each group takes it in turns to describe their photo...

Can the rest of the class guess what/who they are describing?

Using themes... A theme helps focus writing!

My First Riddle has 5 different templates to help:

 What could it be?
 What animal am I?
 What is it?
 What vehicle is it?
 Who is it?

From friends, favourite things or seasons to under the sea, transport and history, there are lots of themes you can use alongside the template to focus and structure your reception pupils’ writing!

Have a poetry tea party!

Gather toys and objects associated with nursery rhymes, e.g.
'Tiny Tim'
'Five Little Ducks'
'Old MacDonald'
'The Wheels on the Bus'

Layout a tea party and invite children to come and role play. At this tea party, everyone has to sing their favourite nursery rhymes...

Encourage your pupils to make up their own silly songs and rhymes – this will help them when it comes to writing their riddle as they’ll be familiar with poetry and having fun with it.

Sounds like... FUN!

Onomatopoeia is a fantastic poetry technique that your pupils will love!

To play “what does it sound like?” have a selection of objects/pictures
e.g. a toy, a leaf, a raindrop, a food wrapper, a musical instrument, an animal etc.

Hold up each item and ask your pupils “what does it sound like?” E.g.
A food wrapper – crinkly, rustling, crispy, crackly
A toy rocket – whooshing, roaring, rumbling, popping
A musical instrument – tooting, honking, banging, crashing, tinkling

Onomatopoeia will help your pupils use the sense of sound when writing their riddle poems. 

Teamwork Time!

Write a class riddle...

- Decide what theme you'd like to write about

- (You can use on of our templates or freestyle!)

- Work as a team to create each line of your class riddle poem 

- Once finished, discuss - could anything be made better?

- Invite the head teacher to read the poem... Can they guess the answer?

Your pupils can now write their own riddle poems or work in groups (max of 6) and co-write their My First Riddle entry!

[Orion ID] => 478,492 [Independent Intro] =>

This fun competition encourages younger pupils to use their senses and imagination to create their own original riddle. Your child can write their riddle on any theme, from their favourite book to people, places or animals.

If your child is creative they don't have to use a template, they can write their own freestyle riddle poem! There are also 5 templates to choose from, should you prefer to give your young writer one of these.

If you haven't got a printer, don't panic! You're welcome to help your child write out their poem and send us a photo instead!

[Independent Prizes] =>

Our 10 favourite published little poets will each win £20 National Book Token! 

Winners will be chosen from entries received in the Spring Term 2021.

[Independent Rules] =>

Only one entry per person.

Please include your child's name, age and full postal address on their entry.

Independent entrants must have a UK address to enter.

Independent entries are still eligible for pupil prizes.

Your child's poem must be their own work.

Your child's poem can be on the worksheet or an A4 sheet of paper or typed.

[Category] => eyfs [Meta Title] => My First Riddle Poetry Competition [Meta Keywords] => young writers, writing competition, poetry competition, children's poetry competition, children's writing, creative writing, children's writing competition, KS3, key stage 3 [Meta Description] => Introduce your reception class to poetry and build their love for writing with My First Riddle poetry competition and our free teacher resources. [Share Title] => My First Riddle Poetry Competition [Share Description] => Introduce your reception class to poetry and build their love for writing with My First Riddle poetry competition and our free teacher resources. [Video Placeholder] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle/5043-intro-alt.png [School Prize] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle/9001-school-prize.jpg [Student Prize] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle/4765-student-prize.jpg [Banner Background] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle-2020/6728-banner-background.png [Banner Logo] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/competitions/my-first-riddle-2020/2744-banner-logo.png [Share Image] => https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/bonacia-sites/young-writers/images/page-content/8514-share-image.png ) [date_created] => 2021-04-07 00:00:00 [last_updated] => 2021-04-07 00:00:00 [sort_order] => 126 [incoming] => 0 [live] => 1 [archived] => 0 [deleted] => 0 )