How do I access Discovery Diary activities?

Download all of the activities and teaching resources for all our programmes for free by visiting the Resources page of this website, or purchase hard-copy diaries from the Shop.

You can search activities in two ways:

Chapter-by-Chapter: Explore each programme chapter-by-chapter, either online or in your printed diary
Pick-and-Mix: Use our specially designed filters to search through activities online. You can search by diary, subject area, learning methodology, key stage or a combination of any of these options!

You’ll find all accompanying teaching notes, curriculum guides and teacher resources on individual activity pages. For suggested teaching schedules, lesson plan templates and other support materials, visit the Teacher Toolkit.

Explore the activities →

Which programme should I use?

While all our teaching notes include ideas for differentiation, our programmes have been developed with particular key stages in mind.

The Space Diary is most suitable for upper KS1/lower KS2 (or equivalent), while the Mars Diary and the Deep Space Diary are perfect for KS2.

The Mars Diary takes your KS2 class on a mission to the Red Planet, where they’ll be tasked with creating a sustainable habitat. The Deep Space Diary asks students to look beyond our Solar System by introducing them to intriguing concepts like infrared, in fun and accessible ways.

Choose your space mission →

Should I register?

You don’t need to register to download the Discovery Diary activities or access any teaching resources but there are a few perks to signing up.

Benefits for registered users:

Bookmark activities, so you can find them quickly and easily in the ‘Favourites’ section of your account
Hear about free book lotteries first, so you can enter the draw to receive class sets of books for your school, completely free of charge
Exclusive access to bonus content including eBooks
Access to competitions with prizes to motivate learners
Regular newsletters with special new content, features to inspire and ideas to share.

What happens to my personal information if I register?

We will not share your information with any third parties. This is how we may use information you provide us:

Funding Reports: Occasionally, we are required to report to our partners on how educators are using these resources and various other bits of data that help us evaluate how effective a programme is. This information is anonymised by us and included in our funding reports. Your personal details are never shared.
Keep in Contact: We add new content to the website on an ongoing basis and love to share news about what schools and students are doing with their Discovery Diaries. We send a monthly newsletter with this information and to keep you informed of any opportunities that come up through us or our funding partners. Again, we never share this data with anyone. You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time and still access our resources through the website.
Delivery of Books: Occasionally, programme funding allows us to send books to schools for free. If you’ve subscribed to our newsletter, you’ll be the first to hear about these opportunities. We need you to register your details so we can deliver free books to your school, if you are selected to receive them.

Read our Privacy Policy →

How can I get free copies of the Discovery Diaries?

Every so often, funding from our partners allows us to provide copies of specific Discovery Diaries free of charge to schools. Teachers are invited to enter a draw to receive free books, typically with preference given to schools in deprived areas of the UK. Visit our Terms and Conditions for more information about receiving free books.

If you joined our mailing list when you registered, you’ll be the first to hear when free books are available. If you haven’t registered, sign up using the button below or follow Curved House Kids on social media, to hear our latest news.

If you don’t want to wait for free books to be available, you can purchase copies of the Discovery Diaries from our Bookshop, as class sets of 30, single copies or Home Educator packs designed for one child. We also have some other fun resources available for purchase –like stickers and posters – to enhance your Discovery Diary programme.

I’m not in the UK. Can I still order books?

Yes! While the Discovery Diary programmes have been tailored to support curricula in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, they’re suitable for primary school students across the globe. To place an order, simply visit the Shop.

We’re also keen to hear from any partner organisations interesting in producing local editions with us. Feel free to get in touch at info@curvedhousekids.com

Where are the answers to activities?

You can find answers and solutions in a few different places:

In Zap codes, for activities which have a specific solution e.g. Word Searches, Rover’s Discovery or First Findings
As a downloadable PDF, for schools not using Zap codes e.g. Team Work
In the teaching notes for all activities, even those where the answers are provided in another format.

What's a Zap code?

Zap codes are the little lightning bolt images that you’ll find on a lot of the Discovery Diary activities. They provide additional digital content when ‘zapped’ with a smart phone or device that has the Zappar app.

You can find our instructions for downloading the Zappar app and using Zap codes here.

We're not using Zap codes. Can we still access Zap code content?

Yes! All content that’s included in Zap codes is also provided as a downloadable file in the ‘Support Materials’ section of each activity. We’ve prepared this information as a image bundles, PowerPoint Presentations or downloadable sound or video files, depending on the content.

Who’s behind the Discovery Diaries?

Discovery Diaries are written and developed by publisher Curved House Kids, with the support of our funding partners and a team of STEM and education experts. Their goal is to engage students in science by learning about real-life STEM projects and space missions, like the Principia mission, the ExoMars mission and the James Webb Space Telescope.

Curved House Kids is a publisher, a creative partner and an arts organisation working at the intersection of books, education and academia. Our mission is to ensure that every child, everywhere in the world, is empowered to learn, create and communicate. We enrich education by making challenging subjects – like science and literacy – exciting and accessible. We do this by incorporating the arts into education and by working with like-minded partners who value learning, creativity and innovation.

We are grateful to our partners – the UK Space Agency, the Science & Technology Facilities Council and the Welsh Government – whose funding has not only made our teaching resources possible but have also provided over 80,000 diaries to schools, completely free of charge.

Thank you also to our wonderful team of authors, STEM experts and teachers who have given us their time, expertise and knowledge, to make our programmes as inspiring and informative as possible.

I have another question...

No problem! Contact Discovery Diary HQ at info@curvedhousekids.com.