Children on this iPad

Each child has their own stories, garden and settings, all kept on this iPad. With more than one child, Word Garden asks "Who's writing?" when it opens. Tap a picture to change it.

Add a whole class (one first name per line)

How they're getting on

Notes kept quietly on this iPad as each child plays and writes. Children never see them. They show which words and spelling patterns need more practice.

Child

Clues while writing

Clues show the start of a word and blank spaces for the rest. They never type the word for your child.

When they tap 💡 Clue or PipYour child asks for help when they want it. Tapping again shows one more letter. Pop up by themselvesA clue appears after a short pause in the middle of a word. Wavy line under words that might need checking Animations and confetti School year Year 1Year 2Year 3 Year 4Year 5Year 6 Clues and word suggestions only use words from the list for this year and below.

Onscreen keyboard

Big keys for small fingers. While it is showing, the tablet's own keyboard stays hidden. A laptop keyboard still works.

A B C orderEasiest for younger children who are still learning where letters are. Q W E R T Y orderThe same layout as a real keyboard, good practice for older children. Colour the vowels (a e i o u) Show the keyboard when Word Garden opens

Fill the gap

Every set can be played as Match the word, Build the word or Fill the gap. Match the word shows just the picture when it plainly shows the word, and the sentence otherwise. In Fill the gap, younger children can tap one of three words instead of typing.

Choose for meWord buttons for Year 1 and 2 sets (and your own sets in Years 1 and 2), typing for the rest. Always show word buttonsTap the right word to fill the gap. Always type the wordGood spelling practice. Two gaps in a sentence for Years 3 to 6 sets

Voice

Word Garden can read words, sentences and stories aloud with this iPad's own voice.

🔊 Read-aloud buttons and spoken words

Make a fill-the-gap set

Write one sentence per line and put the missing word in [square brackets]. For older children you can put up to three words in brackets. You can start a line with an emoji as a picture clue.

Set name Sentences

Class stories

Add a story for the children on this iPad. A starter opens on a new page for them to carry on. A read-along is a whole story they read, with the voice if it's on. Children find them in 📚 My stories.

StarterThe opening lines. Children write what happens next. Read-alongA complete short story to read. Title Story

Word finder

🪄 Other words suggests different words for the one your child taps, like "enormous" for "big". It works offline. The words come from a fixed list built from WordNet and a hand-picked word bank, and they only include words on the list for your child's school year, checked against a safeguarding blocklist.

If you'd rather a word never appeared in the word finder or clues on this iPad, hide it here.

Hide a word

Grown-ups lock

To open these settings, Word Garden asks a times-table sum. You can set a PIN instead. The PIN is kept only on this iPad.

New PIN (4 to 8 numbers) Type it again

If you forget the PIN, tap Forgot PIN? when it asks. Answering a harder sum removes the PIN, and nothing else is lost.

Backup

Save every child's stories and settings, and your own word sets, to a file. Load it back if the iPad is reset, or on another iPad.

Teacher helper (AI)

Checking…

About the word sets

The spelling sets follow the spelling patterns and word lists for each year in the English National Curriculum (Appendix 1: Spelling). Topic sets use themes children meet in KS1 and KS2 English.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Word Garden is not connected to or endorsed by the Department for Education or Oak National Academy.

The word finder uses WordNet 3.0, Copyright 2006 by Princeton University, used under the WordNet licence.

Pictures by OpenMoji, the open-source emoji and icon project, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.