Bonfire Night is a uniquely British event that marks the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot against the King and Parliament in the early 17th century – fireworks, however, are fairly universal with whizz, bangs and fizzes providing the soundtrack to the bursts of rockets, waterfalls and wheels  of colour at other times of the year including when welcoming the New Year in, Chinese New Year, Diwali, weddings or in France on July 14th and in America on July 4th and at Thanksgiving.  Click print on the links below to explore the topic in a less explosive way…

For an editable poster to promote your own event or to use as an invitation for your guests try Ink Factory’s own three designs or head to ChloeClik’s crafts blog for an invite that works in two ways – “One as a standard invite pinned to the fridge. Second, when placed on a flat surface it looks like the bonfire is standing up with the base holding it level…  The two tiny bonfires are the RSVP. Pop them inside the card and your guests can choose which to send” – “I’ll be sparkling over” or “Sorry I’m staying warm indoors”.

“A collection of useful and fun Bonfire Night printables covering everything from scrapbook papers through to creative writing and acrostic poems!” is available from Activity Village which also has a section dedicated to the man himself.

“Guy Fawkes (1570 to 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes, was one of a group of Catholic plotters who planned, but failed, to blow up Parliament – now known as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605” starts the site’s introduction to the conspirator who was convicted of treason before linking to its resources including a how many words puzzle, colouring pages, maze, notebooking pages, poster, story paper, word search, worksheet, writing page and learn to draw activity.

Activity Village also has a couple of downloads specifically looking at the tradition of Penny for the Guy too.

Snapshot Science tells us that “Bonfire night gives a great opportunity to put an exciting spin on chemistry” and offers a PDF version to print of its Bonfire night bonanza lesson ideas and resource suggestions.  One of the activities that Gemma, a consultant of educational science resources, links to in her indoor fireworks post Snakes Alive is the Science Museum’s instructions on how to create your own Soda Snake Fireworks.

CBBC’s Newsround also offers printable versions of its information on fireworks – Fireworks: What are they made of?  How do fireworks work?  When were fireworks invented?  When do we have big firework displays?  Firework safety and Fireworks and the law.

On Free for kids Tummy Mummy links to Communication 4 All’s bonfire night word mat, word cards, numberlines, lotto, bordered paper, counting cards and number formation cards.

For suggestions on nature based firework activities click on the Woodland Trust’s Nature Detectives Leafy Catherine Wheel and Leaf Fireworks projects that use the rich colours of the autumnal season to reflect the colourful sights you might see in the night sky.

And, for a choice of Bonfire Night pictures to print and colour in, click on NetMums where they also have ideas for food and crafts.

Visiting a display or hosting one yourself?  To make sure that the night stays fun for everyone there’s obviously a very serious safety message that needs to be communicated to all spectators, especially children enthralled by their first displays.  Downloads on the the firework safety code and further advice can be found at Activity Village, gov.uk, Fireworks and RoSPA’s Safer Fireworks.

Do you love finding printables on the internet?  Do you have particular favourites?  Or have you featured some on your own blog?  Email karen.malpass@inkfactory.com with your links and we may be able to feature them in a future post.