loose parts

There is no time like Spring,When life's alive in everything,Before new nestlings sing,Before cleft swallows speed their journey backAlong the trackless track - Excerpt from 'Spring' by Christina Rosetti (Public Domain) Welcome Spring! We're not sure about you but we were very much ready for some wonderful Spring sunshine. There's no time like this buzzy, bustling time of year to...

Have you tried light play in your setting? A simple concept with expansive opportunities for learning, light play can enhance all areas of the EYFS curriculum. In this post, we share our favourite ways to incorporate light play in your everyday. Create a dedicated light play area Set up a specific area within the continuous provision (indoor or outdoors) where...

If you've been around in early years for a moment, you are likely to be very familiar with the humble (or not so humble!) tuff tray, or tuff spot. Coming in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes, tuff spots (or tuff trays) are ideal for young learners, allowing plenty of space for exciting resources, movement, and messy play. We're...

Children love construction play. As they play, they are building a myriad of skills which feed into all areas of learning and development in the EYFS. Construction play, however, should never be limited just to the EYFS - it can be fantastic in Key Stage 1, and beyond! @the_playful_expert What do we mean by 'construction play'? The term is very...

Getting outdoors to explore nature is a vital part of early years education, and childhood as a whole. A well-planned learning environment, indoors and outside, is an important aspect of pedagogy. It can be as simple as grabbing your wellies and going on a bug hunt. Renowned educator Charlotte Mason shares that you should ‘never be indoors when you could...

We love tray play here at Cosy and Christmas is a fabulous time of year for doing all your festive crafts and activities in your tray. Containing the mess! We have collated all the wonderful Christmas tray play and activity ideas that we get tagged in to inspire you, along with some of our Cosy Creative's Christmas tray play ideas...

We get tagged in some wonderful ways to play with conkers and so we wanted to share these with you in this blog post. Did you know that Conkers is a traditional children's game in Great Britain and Ireland played using the seeds of horse chestnut trees—the name 'conker' is also applied to the seed and to the tree itself...

Acorns can be used in play in a variety of ways. They are perfect during the autumn months. Acorns usually drop from their trees late summer, early autumn. Acorns are the fruit of the oak tree. They contain the seeds that can grow new oak trees, and falling to the ground is part of the tree's lifecycle – this is how...

Art and Creative Expression helps the development of children’s imagination, creativity and their ability to use and explore different media and materials. Outdoor art activities encourage children to explore with nature. “Art is as natural as sunshine and as vital as nourishment.” MaryAnn Kohl Art includes a wide range of activities. From exploring colours, textures, making music, singing songs, to...

Welcome to the realm of the fairies, pixies and elves. If you're close enough you may even spot a mischievous tree troll! Below we explore creativity, imagination and share ideas on how to create a fairy garden. This is the beauty of imaginative play like that of a fairy garden - it allows children to explore their own imaginations. It’s...