How We Use Twinkl for UK Home Education | A Review

Editor's Note: This post shares our genuine experience using Twinkl as a home educating family in the UK. It includes affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend resources we truly love and use ourselves!

When we first started our home education journey, one of our biggest challenges was finding quality resources that were both educational and engaging for our three children. We spent hours searching for worksheets and activities online. Then we discovered Twinkl, and it completely transformed our approach to lesson planning. Here’s a look at how our family uses Twinkl and why it’s become such a valuable tool in our home education toolkit.

What is Twinkl?

Twinkl is a UK-based online educational platform founded by teachers. It offers a massive library of downloadable teaching resources, from printable worksheets and lesson plans to interactive games and display materials. While it’s popular in schools, we’ve found it’s equally fantastic for home educating families like ours.

Why Our Family Loves Twinkl

It Saves Us So Much Time: As a home educating mum, planning lessons for multiple children can be overwhelming. Twinkl’s ready-made resources mean I don’t have to create everything from scratch. I can quickly find a worksheet or a full lesson plan on almost any topic, which frees up my time to actually teach.

Perfect for the UK Curriculum: The National Curriculum is what we follow for our children's education, and it’s reassuring to know that Twinkl’s resources are meticulously aligned with it. Whether we’re covering Key Stage 1 maths or exploring a science topic, I can trust that the content is relevant, accurate, and age-appropriate.

Engaging for the Kids: Our children love the colourful, visually appealing worksheets and activities. Twinkl goes beyond boring black-and-white handouts—their resources include games, puzzles, and craft ideas that make learning fun. Our kids actually get excited when I print out a new activity!

Differentiation is a Breeze: With children of different ages and learning styles, Twinkl makes it easy to adapt lessons. I can often find the same topic presented at different difficulty levels, so each child is challenged appropriately.

More Than Just Worksheets: Twinkl isn’t just about printables. We use their interactive PowerPoints for group lessons, their display packs to decorate our learning space, and even their themed craft activities for hands-on fun.

Our Favourite Twinkl Features for Home Education

Twinkl Go!: This is a game-changer! It offers interactive games and activities that our kids can do on a tablet. It’s perfect for independent learning or for mixing up our routine with something digital and fun.

Twinkl Create: On days when I want to get creative, I use Twinkl Create to design my own custom resources. I’ve made personalised word searches, fact files, and even certificates for the kids. It’s incredibly easy to use, even for someone who isn’t tech-savvy.

The Planning and Assessment Tools: Twinkl provides fantastic curriculum overviews and assessment trackers. These help me ensure we’re on track with our learning goals and make record-keeping much simpler.

How We Use Twinkl in Our Daily Routine

Morning Work: We often start the day with a Twinkl handwriting or mental maths worksheet to get their brains warmed up.

Themed Learning: When we’re exploring a new topic—like the Romans or plants—I’ll use Twinkl’s topic packs, which include everything from reading comprehensions to art projects.

Seasonal Fun: We love using Twinkl’s holiday-themed resources. Whether it’s Christmas crafts, Easter maths, or Halloween writing prompts, it helps us celebrate the seasons while still learning.

Is Twinkl Affordable for Home Educators?

Twinkl can be as budget-friendly as you make it. They offer a free membership with access to a generous selection of resources, which is a great way to try it out. We eventually upgraded to a paid subscription because we found we were using it almost daily. Compared to the cost of workbooks and other resources, we’ve found it to be excellent value for money.

Our Top Tips for Getting Started with Twinkl

1. Start with a Free Account: Explore the free resources first to see if you like it.

2. Use the Search Filters: You can filter by age, subject, and resource type to find exactly what you need.

3. Follow Twinkl on Social Media: They often share free resource highlights and useful tips.

4. Save Your Favourites: When you find resources you like, save them to your account so you can easily find them again later.
   
   

Final Thoughts

Twinkl has been a game-changer for our home education journey. It’s helped me become a more confident educator and has made learning more enjoyable for our children. If you’re looking for a one-stop shop for high-quality, engaging educational resources, we highly recommend giving Twinkl a try.

Ready to Explore Twinkl?

• Browse their free resources: Twinkl Free Resources

• Create your own materials: Twinkl Create

• Check out their apps: Twinkl Apps
  
  

We hope this helps you discover how Twinkl can support your home education journey!

The Uwah Family

P.S. Do you use Twinkl in your home education? We’d love to hear your favourite resources or tips! Share them in the comments below.