Sweet Story Shop is a delightful and immersive book-tasting experience designed especially for early years students. This interactive literacy activity transforms your classroom into a whimsical Sweet Store where each genre is a “flavour” of book ready to be explored. Students sample a wide range of reading genres as they browse different stations, record their experiences on themed templates, and collect “Story Sweets” in a personal treat bag. This resource brings joy and excitement to reading while developing genre awareness, comprehension and expressive literacy skills.

The activity encourages students to engage with books in a playful and purposeful way. As they rotate between genre tables - such as fantasy, adventure, mystery, and humour - students are prompted to reflect on what they’ve read through drawing and optional simple writing. By treating reading as a sensory experience and aligning genres with sweet shop treats, this activity promotes curiosity, enjoyment and meaningful response.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Recognise and explore a variety of reading genres
• ✅ Develop comprehension and response skills through drawing and discussion
• ✅ Express personal preferences and make text-to-self connections
• ✅ Engage with books in a relaxed and enjoyable setting
• ✅ Build genre vocabulary and awareness in the early years

What’s Included:

• Genre Posters and Table Cards to label each book tasting station
• Story Sweet Templates for recording genre-based responses
• Student Bag Labels to personalise their “book tasting bag”
• Final Reflection Worksheets using a jar template to record favourite books and genres
• Name Badge Templates to enhance the shop role-play atmosphere

Materials Needed:

• Printed templates and labels
• Paper or plastic bags for students to collect their Story Sweets
• A variety of age-appropriate books, grouped by genre
• Coloured pencils, markers or crayons
• Optional: decorations such as tablecloths, bunting, jars, and counters

How to Use:

• Set up genre-themed tables around your classroom using the provided posters and decorations
• Assign each table a small book collection based on the genre
• Give each student a bag and Story Sweet templates to record their book ‘tastings’
• Students browse, sample, and draw their reactions to books at each station
• Wrap up with a whole-class reflection or independent final response task

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Launch a reading unit with this event to spark excitement about books
• 💡 Run as a literacy rotation where small groups visit different stations each day
• 💡 Create a class graph or bar chart of favourite genres after the event
• 💡 Link books to familiar treats to help students remember genres (e.g., fairy tales = cupcakes)

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Use calming background music to set a welcoming shop atmosphere
• 💛 Allow students to revisit their favourite station at the end for free-choice reading
• 💛 Encourage conversation between students as they share opinions and recommend books

Sweet Story Shop is the perfect entry point for introducing genre awareness in a fun, hands-on way. With a sprinkle of creativity and a scoop of imagination, this resource turns reading into a sweet and memorable classroom experience.