Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman: Book-Based Activities & Printables

Some picture books make children laugh.

Some make them want to read the story again immediately.

And then there are books that make children laugh so much that they start shouting out the next line before you can finish it.

Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Ben Cort, is one of those books.

This wonderfully silly picture book takes something completely ordinary—underpant

What Is Aliens Love Underpants About?

Aliens love underpants.

Not just one kind.

They love underpants of every shape and size.

Unfortunately, there aren't any underpants in space.

So the aliens come to Earth looking for them.

And once they discover a clothesline full of underwear, the fun begins.

They collect them, play with them, and even have Upside-Down-Pants races. The aliens are completely fascinated by their unusual discovery.

The combination of ridiculous humor, rhyme, colorful illustrations, and a very silly premise makes this a wonderful read-aloud for young children.s—and turns it into an out-of-this-world adventure.

The aliens have discovered that there are no underpants in space, so they travel to Earth to find some. Soon, they are collecting underpants of every shape and size, playing games with them, and creating all kinds of hilarious chaos. The story is written in lively rhyme and filled with bright, energetic illustrations.

And while children are busy laughing about aliens and underwear, there are actually so many wonderful learning opportunities hiding inside the silliness.

Why Children Connect with This Story

Let's be honest.

Underpants are funny.

Children usually don't need much encouragement to giggle when underwear appears in a story.

But that's part of what makes this book such an effective classroom read-aloud.

The humor immediately captures children's attention.

Then the rhyming text gives them opportunities to listen carefully, anticipate sounds, join in, and notice patterns in language.

The story can open conversations about:

• rhyming words
• colors
• patterns
• shapes
• clothing
• sorting
• counting
• space
• aliens
• imagination
• movement
• sequencing
• descriptive language
• storytelling

And because the story is so silly, children are often much more willing to participate.

A Book That Makes Children Want to Join In

One of the best ways to read this story is to let children become part of the rhyme.

Pause before a rhyming word and see if they can predict what comes next.

You can also invite them to create their own silly rhymes.

For example:

Aliens love pants...

What rhymes with pants?

dance!

Now turn it into a movement:

"Aliens love pants... so let's DANCE!"

Children can stomp, wiggle, spin, jump, or freeze.

Suddenly, phonological awareness becomes a game.

Try These Book-Based Activities

Design Your Own Alien Underpants

This one is almost impossible to resist.

Invite children to design their very own pair of alien underpants.

What would they look like?

Would they have:

- stars?

- planets?

- aliens?

- rockets?

- stripes?

- polka dots?

- squiggly lines?

Let children draw, paint, stamp, collage, or decorate a simple underpants template.

Then invite them to describe their design:

My underpants are...

They have...

I chose...

My alien would wear them because...

You can display all the designs together as:

The Alien Underpants Collection

Create Underpants Patterns

The illustrations are a wonderful starting point for early math and patterning.

Create simple patterns:

⭐ 🟢 ⭐ 🟢 ⭐

Then ask:

What comes next?

Once children understand the idea, let them create their own.

You can use:

• buttons
• stickers
• blocks
• stamps
• paper shapes
• crayons
• pom-poms

And, of course, they can make underpants patterns.

Sort the Alien Underpants

Create paper underpants in different:

colors

sizes

patterns

shapes

Invite children to sort them.

Can they make a group of all the blue ones?

All the striped ones?

All the small ones?

All the ones with stars?

Then make it a little trickier:

Can you sort them in two different ways?

For example:

blue + striped

or

large + stars

This is a simple way to bring classification and descriptive language into a very silly context.

An Alien Underpants Clothesline

This could make the cutest classroom display.

Create a little clothesline using string and clothespins.

Children can hang their paper underpants on the line.

You can turn it into a literacy activity by adding:

• names
• letters
• sight words
• rhyming words
• numbers
• colors

For example:

A — alien pants

B — blue pants

C — colorful pants

Or simply let children decorate and hang their own designs.

The finished clothesline becomes part of the classroom environment.

What Happened to the Underpants?

The story is perfect for prediction.

Before revealing what happens, stop and ask:

Where do you think the aliens are going?

Why do they want the underpants?

What might they do with them?

Do you think they will give them back?

What would YOU do if an alien took your clothes?

Children can draw their predictions or share them orally.

Then revisit their ideas after reading.

Were you right?

What surprised you?

Alien Underpants Memory Game

Make pairs of cards featuring different underpants designs.

Children turn two cards over at a time and try to find matching pairs.

You can make the game more challenging by including:

• colors
• patterns
• shapes
• numbers
• letters

For younger children, simply matching identical designs is perfect.

For older children, you could make cards where children have to match according to a specific attribute.

Find two that are both blue.

Find two with stripes.

Find two with stars.

Go on an Alien Hunt

Turn your classroom into an alien planet.

Hide little alien pictures around the room.

Give children clues:

Find an alien under the table.

Find an alien next to the bookshelf.

Find an alien behind the chair.

This is a wonderful way to practice positional language:

• under
• over
• behind
• beside
• next to
• between
• near
• far

And children will be too busy hunting for aliens to realize they're practicing vocabulary.

Alien Movement Game

What does an alien walk like?

Nobody knows!

And that's exactly why this activity is so much fun.

Call out different movements:

Walk like a tiny alien.

Walk like a giant alien.

Wiggle like an alien.

Jump like an alien.

Fly like an alien.

Freeze like an alien statue.

Then add the story:

"Oh no! The aliens see a clothesline!"

Children pretend to sneak toward it.

"The aliens found the underpants!"

Everyone celebrates.

"RUN!"

The aliens race away.

This is perfect for listening skills, following directions, and dramatic play.

Create an Alien

What would YOUR alien look like?

Invite children to draw their own alien.

Ask:

• How many eyes does it have?
• How many arms?
• What color is it?
• Does it have wings?
• Does it have antennae?
• Where does it live?
• What does it eat?
• What kind of underpants does it wear?

Then give the alien a name.

This can become a wonderful oral language activity.

"Tell me about your alien."

Children can describe their creations while you record their words.

Alien Name Generator

Give children a chance to invent ridiculous alien names.

Combine silly words:

Zippy + Zoom = Zippy Zoom

Bloop + Star = Bloop Star

Wiggle + Moon = Wiggle Moon

Then invite children to introduce themselves:

"Hello! My name is Captain Bloop Star!"

This is such a simple way to encourage imaginative language and confidence in speaking.

Build a Space Vocabulary

The story naturally opens the door to talking about space.

Children can explore words such as:

• alien
• space
• planet
• moon
• stars
• rocket
• astronaut
• spaceship
• Earth
• galaxy

You can create a classroom Alien Space Station and add these words to your dramatic play area.

Children can pretend to be astronauts, aliens, scientists, or spaceship captains.

Make an Alien Spaceship

Give children cardboard boxes, paper plates, recycled materials, or blocks and challenge them to build a spaceship.

Ask:

Where does it go?

Who lives inside?

How does it fly?

What happens if it lands on Earth?

And, naturally:

Where does the alien keep the underpants?

The last question may be the one they enjoy the most.

Rhyming Alien Words

Because the book is written in rhyme, it provides a natural opportunity to play with sounds. The author and illustrator describe it as a lively, rhyming story, and the rhythmic language is one of its defining features.

Try a simple Alien Rhyming Challenge.

Say a word and invite children to think of a rhyming word.

star → car

moon → spoon

space → face

light → night

Then make the words silly:

"The alien landed on the MOON..."

"and brought a giant SPOON!"

Children can invent the next line.

It doesn't have to make sense.

Actually, the sillier, the better.

Underpants Around the World

This can become a fun conversation about clothing.

Ask children:

Do people everywhere wear the same clothes?

Talk about different kinds of clothing people wear in different places, climates, and situations.

You can sort clothing pictures into categories:

hot weather

cold weather

rainy weather

sleeping

playing

This gives the silly story a natural bridge into a broader conversation about clothing and everyday life.

Write a Note to the Aliens

Imagine the aliens have come back.

What would you tell them?

Children can write or dictate a message:

Dear Aliens,

Please don't take my ________.

or

Dear Aliens,

You can have these underpants because ________.

or simply:

Dear Aliens,

Come visit our classroom!

This is a fun way to encourage purposeful writing without making the activity feel too formal.

Create an Alien Underpants Shop

Set up a pretend shop in the classroom.

Children can become:

- customers
- shopkeepers
- alien visitors
- cashiers

Create different underpants designs and give them pretend prices.

Blue pants — 2 coins

Star pants — 5 coins

Striped pants — 3 coins

Now children can practice:

• counting
• number recognition
• comparing quantities
• simple addition
• pretend play
• conversational language

And yes, it is exactly as silly as it sounds.

Picture Detectives

Ben Cort's colorful illustrations give children lots to notice, and the book's visual humor is a big part of its appeal. His official site describes the illustrations as part of the book's deliberately funny and original world.

Before reading the words on a page, pause.

Ask:

What do you notice?

Where are the aliens?

What are they doing?

Which underpants can you find?

What colors do you see?

What makes this picture funny?

What do you think will happen next?

This encourages children to look carefully, make predictions, and explain their thinking.

Make a Giant Classroom Clothesline

For a collaborative project, make one enormous clothesline across a wall.

Every child creates one pair of alien underpants.

But give them one challenge:

Every pair must be different.

Children can experiment with:

• patterns
• colors
• shapes
• lines
• textures
• numbers
• letters

Once they're finished, hang them all together.

Add a sign:

WARNING! ALIENS HAVE VISITED OUR CLASSROOM!

It's guaranteed to become a conversation starter.

Extend the Learning with a Book Companion

One silly picture book can become the starting point for so much learning.

A Aliens Love Underpants book companion could include:

• reading comprehension
• sequencing
• rhyming activities
• vocabulary
• patterning
• sorting
• counting
• colors and shapes
• space vocabulary
• writing prompts
• speaking activities
• fine-motor activities
• creative art
• dramatic play
• beginning sounds
• prediction activities

The goal isn't simply to complete activities about the book.

It's to help children read, laugh, talk, imagine, create, move, and play with language.

A Story That Makes Learning Feel Like Play

At first glance, Aliens Love Underpants is simply a wonderfully ridiculous story about aliens who are obsessed with underwear.

And that's exactly its charm.

Children don't need a complicated reason to love it.

They see the colorful aliens.

They notice the funny underpants.

They hear the rhyme.

They laugh.

And then they want to join in.

That's where the learning begins.

A silly pair of underpants becomes a patterning activity.

An alien becomes a writing prompt.

A clothesline becomes a sorting game.

A rhyme becomes a phonological awareness lesson.

A spaceship becomes dramatic play.

And a funny story becomes the beginning of an entire little world of learning.

Sometimes the best classroom invitations are the ones that make children giggle first.

And Aliens Love Underpants certainly does that. 

About the Book

Aliens Love Underpants is written by Claire Freedman and illustrated by Ben Cort. It is the first book in their Underpants series, and the publisher currently lists it for ages 4–7 / Pre-K–2