Autumn Exploratory Jelly…

Alistair Bryce-CleggCreativity, Malleable Materials, Messy Play, Texture Kitchen19 Comments

It is time to get your Autumn Jelly ingredients ready! If you make some Autumn Jelly, don’t forget to share the results. This is a really simple activity that gives you lots of opportunities to explore many aspects of the EYFS. If you involve the children from the very beginning then not only will they be able to talk about and name the resources that they have collected, they will also be able to explore how the gelatine changes the water from a liquid to a solid. You can talk about how the mixture goes from hot to cold and what the final jelly feels like in their hands. There should be lots of opportunities for a variety of experiences, talking … Read More

(At Least) 50 Fantastic Ideas To Try At Home…Can You Help?

Alistair Bryce-CleggBoys Learning, Child Initiated Learning, construction, Continuous Provision, Creativity, Environment, Malleable Materials, Mark Making, mathematics, Messy Play, Mud Kitchen, Music, Outdoors, Play, Water Play44 Comments

As more people are self-isolating and schools and childcare settings across the world are closing, we thought we would contribute to easing the burden by providing another place you can direct parent’s /carers to for support. We are part of a wonderful, international community of Early Years practitioners who have a wealth of knowledge and a HUGE bank of ideas and activities. So, let’s gather together and share them! As a starting point I am going to use my blog to share activities that can fairly easily be done at home. I’ll gather a collection of ideas each week and post them on the website – with links from social media. If you would like to contribute please email me … Read More

Ice Cream Dough

Alistair Bryce-CleggDough Gym, Malleable Materials, Texture Kitchen9 Comments

Here is a nice weekend project that will really get you in the mood for summer! Once you have got the hang of it, it is really easy to do. It took me a couple of attempts to get it just how I wanted it so I would have a practice at home before I did it with the children. ‘Ice Cream Play Dough’. It doesn’t have any ice cream in it, but it looks like ice cream, smells like ice cream and you can even put it in the fridge/freezer so that it feels like ice cream. But, it is dough so stays solid! This is how you make it… You need  1 1/2 cups of cornflour 3/4 cup … Read More

How to Make Coloured Porridge Oats…

Alistair Bryce-CleggCreativity, Malleable Materials, Mark Making, Texture Kitchen2 Comments

This is a really simple and easy one to do. You can use your coloured oats as a sensory experience, not to mention as an addition to Small World, Creative play and many, many more areas of provision. You will need: Porridge Oats – I have found that the LARGE porridge oats work best. Measuring cup Measuring spoons Small container (like and egg cup) Zip Lock freezer bags Water Food colouring or liquid water colour What to do: Put one cup of porridge oats into a Zip Lock freezer bag Mix 2 tablespoons of water with a few drops of food colouring in your small container. I used this cake decorators gel colour Pour a SMALL amount of the coloured liquid into … Read More