A2 Flyers expects children to tell you what happened yesterday, and that means the past simple. This page practises the -ed ending, the irregular verbs children need most, and the did questions and negatives where the past marker moves off the main verb.
Five at a time, grouped by sound: buy and bought, bring and brought, think and thought. Long alphabetical lists are forgotten by Friday.
Three sentences about what the child did yesterday. It is the fastest daily drill there is and every sentence is true.
Did you go, not did you went. Make the rule physical: only one word carries the past.
Give a mixed pile of verbs and two boxes. Sorting teaches the child which ones need learning by heart.
Walked, played and wanted end differently. Children who hear all three as -ed struggle later with listening.
Retell a Movers-style picture story in the past tense. Same pictures, harder language, visible progress.
The child writes the irregular verbs they actually use. Twenty personal verbs beat two hundred printed ones.
Be does not use did. Teach was and were on their own day so the pattern does not contaminate the rest.
What did you eat for breakfast? Where did you go at the weekend? The answers are true and the form is practised.
Point at the offending word and wait. Children self-correct the past tense far more often than they are given credit for.
Not thisHe buyed a new bike.
ThisHe bought a new bike.
Buy is irregular. Learn irregular verbs in small sound groups, not as one long list.
Not thisDid you saw the film?
ThisDid you see the film?
After did the verb goes back to its base form. Only one word carries the past.
Not thisI didn't went to school.
ThisI didn't go to school.
Didn't already shows the past. The main verb stays in the base form.
Not thisWe was at the park.
ThisWe were at the park.
Was goes with I, he, she and it; were goes with you, we and they.
Not thisYesterday I go to my grandma's house.
ThisYesterday I went to my grandma's house.
Yesterday forces the past. Train the child to notice the time phrase before choosing the verb.
Not thisShe stoped playing.
ThisShe stopped playing.
Short verbs with one vowel double the final consonant before -ed.
Not thisHe goed home early.
ThisHe went home early.
Go is the most frequent irregular verb in children's speech, so it deserves the most practice.
Not thisI played football and then I eat dinner.
ThisI played football and then I ate dinner.
Children start in the past and drift into the present. Ask them to check every verb in the sentence.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
1Complete the sentence.
3Complete with the past simple of see.
5Complete the sentence.
7Complete the sentence.
8What did you do yesterday after school?
One good answer
Yesterday I did my homework and then I played outside with my friend.
10Complete with the past simple of find.
12Complete with the past simple of play.
14Complete with the past simple of catch.
16Complete the sentence.
19Complete with the past simple of make.
20Tell me about a day out you enjoyed.
One good answer
Last summer we went to the zoo. I saw the elephants and we ate ice cream.
21Complete with the past simple of take.
23Complete with the past simple of win.
25Complete with the past simple of have.
27Complete with the past simple of bring.
29Complete the sentence.
31Complete with the past simple of give.
33Complete with the past simple of want.
35Complete with the past simple of write.
36What was the best thing you did last weekend?
One good answer
The best thing was that I rode my new bike in the park with my dad.
38Complete with the past simple of stay.
40Ask a friend a question about yesterday.
One good answer
What did you have for dinner yesterday?
Note
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The thirty or so they actually use: go, see, eat, drink, have, make, take, come, get, give, run, win, buy, bring, find, sit, stand, write, read and a few more. Depth beats breadth.
Small groups by sound pattern, practised in true sentences about the child's own week. Isolated lists are learned and forgotten in equal measure.
Because the past feels like it should be marked everywhere. Show the rule as a physical one: only one word in the sentence carries the past.
Lightly, but yes. Children who hear walked, played and wanted as three different endings find listening tasks much easier.
Yes. Be behaves differently from every other verb in the past, and mixing it into a did lesson causes confusion that lasts for months.
Ask the child to underline every verb in what they wrote and check each one. Self-checking catches far more than your corrections do.