Before starting the reading and writing aspects of the unit the children should have had a range of experiences of minibeasts in their natural habitats. The aims of the sessions are to explore the children's attitudes to minibeasts and to ensure the children are aware how to treat animals within their natural environment. During these sessions the children should also be encouraged to describe the environment, movement and physical characteristics of the minibeast. Using Attitudes to minibeasts from the RSPCA website, the children develop a minibeast code to identify how people should behave towards minibeasts in their environment.

Establish a class collection of images, non-fiction texts and information from the internet, related to minibeasts, for the children to access before and during the unit.