Early learning

Messy play should be considered an essential part of early childhood. When children’s curiosity is invited and encouraged and if they are given the freedom to explore and discover, then play can certainly get messy.

This is an easy, accessible activity that encourages creativity, sensory exploration and expands vocabulary. In this activity children create their own dough and get to explore its properties by mixing, rolling, stretching and shaping it into various forms.

Providing equality of opportunity for all children, may incorporate differentiating aspects of your curriculum or provision to provide meaningful learning opportunities for children with SEND. Review our top tips on differentiation against your own daily practice.

Develop children’s mathematical understanding by using everyday items to sort into matching pairs. Socks are a great way to look at patterns, similarities and differences, and provide problem solving opportunities for children.  

A well designed environment promotes social interaction, removes communication barriers and builds essential learning skills. Prioritising positive communication spaces ensures every child thrives, regardless of ability or background. Explore our top tips and reflect on your daily practice.

The focus for National Gardening Week (24 May – 1 June) is on new and beginner gardeners. Develop children’s curiosity and wonder for planting and gardening with our gardening activity.

Water is an open-ended resource, meaning the provision isn’t usually intended to have a specific outcome or instructions to follow.

Montessori schools are found around the world with a distinct approach to learning and development in young children. But who is the person behind the name?

Modern early years curriculums are built around the value of play, understanding it as an unprecedented language for early learning and development. Although the importance of play within learning theory in children’s social and emotional development is something that is widely recognised today,  it has only become an established philosophy since the mid-to-late 19th century!

Play with sand is a form of messy play that offers endless possibilities for children to engage all sorts of skills for a well-rounded and healthy development. As a provocation with open-ended possibilities, sand is a resource that is sustainable and reuseable, to be used indoors and outside for all ages. Sand play offers a wide range of benefits for children in their early years, supporting their development in multiple areas. 

Scientific literacy develops a wide range of skills that can be transferred across all areas of development, making this an approach well worth implementing with children of any age.

There are many benefits to physical activity and studies show that being active in body can enable us to concentrate more and problem-solve rationally by developing our executive function skills.

With so much going on, it can be difficult to get everything done, but sometimes it’s necessary to think about what happens when we slow things down in order to appreciate the moment and fully immerse ourselves in all that an individual interaction has to offer. 

We’re going to ‘think outside the box’ and explore how we can use outdoor spaces to teach maths outdoors.

Learning theories aim to offer insight and understanding from a particular perspective, embedded in the cultural and historical context in which it evolved.

Process based activities give children an ideal opportunity to engage deeply in the processes behind their actions, supporting decision-making and developing a true sense of autonomy over their learning experiences.

One prominent schema that often presents itself early in children’s development is that of trajectory, which involves throwing and pushing and pulling.

This learning workout aims to look at some of the ways we can come to understand risky play, drawing upon some key examples of risk at play, and learn about safe ways to implement it in practice. 

We all love a nursery rhyme, and they often take us back to our own special early childhood memories. Whether it’s by audio, video or singing ourselves, think about ways in which you can use nursery rhymes to deepen knowledge and understanding, or promote social and emotional wellbeing.  

The outdoor provision is an essential ingredient for healthy, well-rounded child development.  There are so many ways we can promote a love of the outdoors with the children in our care, to  inspire them to connect with nature and sow the seed for a lifetime of confident, outdoor adventures! Here are just a few of our favourite suggestions!