50 Fantastic Ideas For Block Play

Block play stimulates learning in all areas of development: intellectual, physical, social, emotional and communication as well as early maths and literacy. In this book, experienced author and practitioner Judit Horvath has put together a variety of exciting and challenging ideas that cover them all. Some activities include cheap, easily sourced props such as play dough, pebbles, fairy lights and flowers to capture the children's imaginations, while others prompt more challenging block play to encourage the development and understanding of complex patterns, such as classifying, sequencing, counting, fractions and problem solving. This creative collection of ideas featuring colourful and fun photography is a fantastic resource for incorporating successful and exciting block play into your setting.

Messy play is at the heart of the early years curriculum, supporting creativity and imagination, and giving children opportunities to experiment with tactile materials. This book will offer 50 ideas working with natural resources, simple household items and recycled resources for low cost inspiration. Practitioners and teachers in the early years are always looking for new ideas for messy and 'hands-on' play, and this book will give children many opportunities for exploration and investigation through sensory play.

Children benefit from the sensitive and supportive engagement of both their parents from the earliest of ages, but involving dads can be challenging. This book is designed to provide simple and accessible activities for practitioners looking to engage dads. Both June and Alice work with dads on a daily basis, helping them to understand their contribution to their children's development and longer term educational success. Realising how they can add to what the mums or other carers do in a different but complementary way, and how simple activities can enrich their children's lives, helps strengthen the bond between father and child. Each simple but effective idea in this book has been developed and written with the intention of promoting child and family well being, helping both children and families grow together.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. This dip-in-and-out guide will help practitioners to adapt their teaching style to become more inclusive of neurodivergent children, and provide meaningful and innovative ideas that can be embedded into everyday practice. Featuring activities such as mirrored play, meditation, symbol stories and treasure baskets, these ideas are expertly formulated to support and develop children's sensory regulation skills and communication skills, whilst enabling practitioners to understand and engage with non-speaking or pre-verbal children. All forms and templates can be downloaded from the companion website. This book was Highly Commended in the Happy and Healthy category at the Teach Early Years Awards 2023.

Jamie Victoria Barnes, creator of The Childcare Guru, uses her wealth of knowledge to present an invaluable resource filled with activities that spark creativity and encourage development and learning in a natural environment, perfect for helping young children enjoy a healthy and balanced lifestyle. The benefits of rich outdoor learning experiences are second to none. Outdoor learning offers holistic development for every child and in a fast-paced world heavily focussed on technology, forest schools provide a stimulating and relaxed environment to learn in, away from time pressures and electric devices. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Forest School presents full-colour photographs and easy-to-follow activities from Forest School TV to natural art self-portraits to get young children outside and reconnecting with the natural world, supporting their emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

Fearless play is a key element in developing a child's confidence, extending their limits, and helping them learn to assess risks and manage situations. This new edition to the 50 Fantastic series is full of fun and colourful ideas for facilitating fearless play in early years settings. The variety of activities means there's something for every child to enjoy, ranging from basket making to mud racing. Each idea is targeted to help children face new challenges and explore the world around them, as well as helping to establish motor skills, coordination, and body awareness. A perfect resource for busy early years practitioners who want children in their care to play safely and fearlessly.

Small world play offers a wide range of learning opportunities for young children. Acting out narrative and ideas through the manipulation of small or miniature equipment, tools, toys and objects helps children to respond to their environment. Play becomes representative of real-life situations and is a medium through which children can explore their own feelings about these events and experiences in a safe and productive way. The frequent inclusion of sensory elements in this play also deepens experiences. Small world play is rich in possibilities for specific, thematic, learning, such as gathering information about spaces, positions, colours and cultures. Small world play is entertaining, challenging, motivating and allows children to use their imaginations and decide on their own play choices. Many practitioners find it challenging to continually renew the play environment, but this book suggests ideas for how to ensure a meaningful play content that replicates environments or scenarios that children can connect to, using a large variety of resources from natural materials to specific props. Presented in the accessible, practical and flexible 50 Fantastics format, Judit Horvath's book is a compendium of ideas that will ensure you get the most out of small world play in your setting, without over stimulating and distracting the children involved.

The tuff tray is a staple resource in Early Years settings that supports many different styles of learning and play, and offers lots of opportunities to introduce early mathematics. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Tuff Tray Mathematics is filled with fun, creative and inspiring ideas for exploring mathematical concepts using tuff trays, including size, shape, capacity, quantity, distance, volume and numbers. From exploring time with ice cubes to cutting shapes out of tortilla wraps, Sally Wright presents opportunities for mathematical learning objectives to be met in an exciting and creative way. This book is endorsed by Series Editor Alistair Bryce-Clegg. 50 Fantastic Ideas books provide carefully planned activities that are ready to use in any Early Years setting. All ideas feature lists of easy-to-source equipment, step-by-step instructions, ideas for taking them further and full-colour photographs.