The Little Book Of Small World Play

Small world play activities provide opportunities for learning both indoors and outdoors. Play activities help children learn with both enjoyment and challenge. All the activities in this book can be adapted to suit your setting and the topics you are covering. Collecting your own resources for the activities and exploring them with your children will give as much pleasure as using them in adult directed activities.

Fully updated to reflect the current status and understandings regarding outdoor provision within early childhood education frameworks across the UK, this new edition shows early years practitioners how to get the very best from outdoor play and learning for the enjoyment, health and education of young children up to age seven. This invaluable resource gives sound practical guidance for providing: play with water, sand and other natural materials; experiences with plants, growing and living things; movement and physical play; construction, imaginative and creative play; and explorations into the locality and community just beyond your garden. This full-colour third edition has been further developed to act as a comprehensive source book of relevant materials, books and resources supporting the core ingredients of high-quality outdoor provision, while each chapter also includes extensive collections of children’s picture books relating to the themes within each chapter. Playing and Learning Outdoors has become the essential practical guide to excellence in outdoor provision and pedagogy for all early years services. This lively, inspiring and accessible book will help every educator to develop truly successful and satisfying approach to learning through play outdoors for every child.

Identified as one of the three prime areas of learning in the EYFS 2014, communication and language is high on the agenda of head teachers and leaders in all Early Years and school settings. Speech and 'talk' are at the centre of this requirement, and children are required to meet an expected level in order to be identified as having reached a 'good level of development'. Talk is the precursor to both reading and writing. Essentially, if children have nothing to speak about, they have nothing to write about! The best way for children to enhance their receptive vocabulary (the words they understand) and their expressive vocabulary (the words they use) is by being surrounded by adults who talk and listen to them! Adults should engage children by observing them, tuning into their passions, getting involved in their play and using their interests to trigger their curiosity and therefore form a springboard for learning. This Little Book is packed with lots of low-budget ideas, activities and experiences that will enhance and enrich children's learning journeys through talk!

A huge range of ideas for outdoor games and activities.

Hundreds of ideas for role play, grouped so you and the children can incorporate linked themes into your setting and develop role play in more than one place. Resources, vocabulary lists, literacy and numeracy links are provided for each situation.

Hundreds of ideas for using home-made or commercially produced parachutes with young children. All the games have been tried with Foundation Stage groups and there are even simple instructions for making your own parachute.

This Little Book offers practitioners step-by-step activities for clay and other malleable materials with children in the Foundation Stage. All the activities make use of materials and equipment that can be found in the setting or bought easily and cheaply and will need little preparation.

The Little Book of Role Play Windows provides a range of fun role play activities, in which scenarios are acted out through a window made using just a cardboard box. Playing with pedal cars can transform into a car park scenario with car park attendant; dressing up play can be extended by creating a fancy dress hire shop; and playing with soft toy animals can lead on to a trip to the vets!