Stories that carry on off the screen
Story trails in real woods and parks, adventure books that ask questions the next morning, and print packs that put the characters back on paper.
What we believe
The screen is the start, not the end
The best stories don't stay on the screen. They send children outside, back to the paper and into conversations at the dinner table.
So everything we make has a way off the screen: a walk to go on, a question to answer in the morning or a picture to colour in.
How it works with us
Ways off the screen
Pick whichever suits your family this week.
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Story trails
Walk a story stop by stop along real paths in woods and parks.
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Morning questions
After a bedtime adventure book, a few gentle questions the next morning help children remember and retell it.
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Print packs
Pages of the characters to print, colour and draw on.
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Video cards
Turn a drawing into a card for grandparents, with your photos and a message.
Why stories should spill off the screen
A story that stays on the screen is over when the screen goes off. A story that spills into the garden, the kitchen table or the walk to school keeps going for days.
That's why everything we make has a way off the screen: somewhere to walk, something to remember, something to make.
Story trails: a story you walk
Story trails take a story outdoors, stop by stop along real paths in woods and parks. Families walk, explore and choose what happens next. After a trail, children can hear the day's adventure told again as a calm bedtime story, with their own choices in it.
Adventure books and morning questions
Our adventure books let the reader choose what happens next. After a bedtime read, a few gentle questions the next morning (never at bedtime) help children remember the story and retell it in their own words.
Print packs and making things
Print packs put the characters back on paper, ready to colour, cut out and draw on. They're a lovely way to end a story: switch off the screen and pick up the pens.
Video cards for family far away
Video cards turn a child's drawing, a few photos and a message into a little film for grandparents, aunts and uncles. It's a creative project in itself, and it ends with someone they love smiling.
Out in the woods
A story you can walk through
Muddy boots, a story waiting at the next stop, and children racing ahead to find out what happens.
Story trails turn a walk into an adventure, and the adventure into a story they'll want to hear again at bedtime.
Age by age
Off-screen ideas, age by age
Ways to carry a story on after the screen goes off.
Ages 2 to 4
Act it out
Use toys to play the story again, and let them change the ending.
Ages 5 to 7
Story walks
Pick a path and make up what's waiting round each corner.
Ages 8 to 10
Comic strips
Draw their favourite moment in four boxes, with speech bubbles.
Ages 11 to 12
Make a map
Map the story's world, then plan a new adventure in it.
Try it at home: after the story
A story is a great starting point for something else.
- Draw the next scene. What happens after the ending?
- Act it out with toys, with everyone playing a character.
- Go on a story walk: pick a path and make up what's round each corner.
- Make a comic strip of their favourite moment, in four boxes.
Then, if they've made something they're proud of, it might just be the start of their own story.
Questions about trails, books and print packs
Where are the story trails?
In woods and parks. Find one near you on the story trails page.
What are print packs?
Pages with the characters from a story, ready to print, colour and draw on.
What are morning questions?
After a bedtime adventure book, a few gentle questions the next morning (never at bedtime) help children remember and retell the story.
Can we send a video card to grandparents?
Yes. Add photos, a message and a drawing, and share it with a private link.
What happens after a story trail?
Children can hear the day's adventure told again as a calm bedtime story, with their own choices in it.
What are adventure books?
Stories where the reader chooses what happens next, with a calm bedtime route and gentle questions about the story the next morning.
Our approach
More about how we make screen time count
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They create first
Every Clever Cookie story starts with something your child drew, said or dreamed up.
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They learn how stories work
When children shape their own story they practise the building blocks of reading and writing: characters, problems, beginnings, middles and endings.
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Learning hidden in the fun
Story games where every chapter is a mini-game built around a real skill: times tables, spelling, reading and logic.
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Screen time with an end
Short stories, no adverts and nothing that plays on its own.
Take the story outside
Find a trail near you, or start an adventure book tonight.
