With the wonderfully warm weather here in the U.K this week the challenge is to keep everyone nice and cool. What not better than embracing some simple water play! 

It doesn't have to be fancy to be effective and create opportunities for high levels of engagement. Young children find water truly fascinating. From watching the shape rain makes as it lands in a puddle to the flow of water down stream. 

Over in my Rewilding Your Wanderlust Nature Study Programme I offer a whole module on the wonderful elements of water and the natural ways we can explore this safely with young children. From visiting bubbling becks, splashing in puddles and reviewing your water provision.

Here is a handy getting started list for water play taken from my Rewiding Your Wanderlust Audit. 

• Pipes and Guttering Connectors for the pipes Measuring jugs in different sizes
• Watering can
• Funnels
• Brushes
• Paint roller
• Plant pots with holes in Jerry cans
• Spray bottles
• Bubble blowing set
• Sponges of di...

I see some of the beautiful nature sand play going on in Australia and they’re so dreamy. Here in the U.K I have to make do with our fixed sand pit from @plumplayuk . Our canopy was never very good so we removed it and now it makes an excellent structure for adding in den building covers and the beautiful @the.wonderie cloths.

I’ve added some loose part baskets of nature; sticks, sea glass, shells, pebbles. There are buckets, spades, spoons, pots, dishes, masher and colander.

I need to add to the small world here but we have some wheeled vehicles and I have plans to add the following wildlife; camel, donkey, snakes, lizards, sea birds,

I would love deeper sand to really build on the upper body strength but sometimes we have to make do with what we have. We can do lots of digging in the soil in the garden.

I’ve added a plank of wood that can be used as a surface to work on or spark some imaginative play as a bridge.

I would also love a water pump but instead I added a source of water so we...

Are there areas where your children are not playing? Stand back and watch for 10 minutes. How are the environments being used? Look at the areas that are not in use and be curious about why. Ask yourself would you want to play there? How could the area be improved?

Our mud kitchen was in a need of a spring clean and a refresh.

Here are some ideas of what to include in your mud kitchen;

-Oven
-Pizza oven
-Weighing scales
-Tea pot
-Pots
-Pans
-Plates
-Cups
-Casserole dish with lid
-Ice cream scoop
-Potato masher
-Garlic press
-Ravioli cutters 
-Pestle and mortar 
-Different sized scoops 
-Mixing bowls of different sizes
-Spices 
-Empty food packages 
-Moss
-Herbs
-Perfume bottles 
-Washing lines and pegs to hold up their nature finds 

For more ideas on nature play check out my Rewilding Your Wanderlust Nature Study Programme.

#hyggeintheearlyyears #mudkitchen #mudkitchenplay #eyfsoutdoors #earlyyearsideas #earlyyearsoutdoors #natureplay #naturecurriculum #naturekindergarten #naturepreschool #springplayalong #plum...

This guest blog has been written by Colette Hearity a mixed EYFS KS1 teacher. Colette completed her PGCE at Edge Hill University and has worked across key stages throughout her teaching career, although her true passion is within the Early Years Foundation Stage.  
She recently completed the NaSENCO Award and currently leads Early years SEND, Science, History and Spanish in her school.
You can follow her @eyfsearlyyearsideas

The Truth behind Transition

As us teachers are dragging ourselves through the final few weeks of term the thought of transitions should be at the forefront of all our minds.

It is vital that we make this time in children’s academic journey as smooth as possible, especially as lots of children find the step up from Early Years into Key Stage 1 so daunting.

But why is this?

Whether it’s due to the jump in expectations, the more formalised learning or just no longer believing they are, ‘playing all day’ children’s wellbeing after joining KS1 and beginning the rigo...

The blossom is in full bloom here and so I wanted to share some of the best ways you can bring it into the children's play.

'The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It's a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short. '

Homaro Cantu

Don't be too busy to rush past the blossom trees but instead let them be a remind that life is short but beautiful and to look up and notice them. 

1. Look up

Look up at the blossom and see all of it's beauty. If possible go and lay under a blossom tree with the children and practice a moment of stillness. What do the children see, smell, hear and feel? Why not place a perspex mirror under the tree or some water play (always supervise) to reflect the blossom and provide an interesting perspective in the play. 

It's also a wonderful sensory experience to take your shoe...

his is a question I get asked by parents and teachers often. How do I enthuse my child with a love for nature? How can I get my child to enjoy being outside.

These are lots of suggestions I offer; How do we grow a wildling?

- Sharing our own enthusiasm and passion for nature. Our brains mirror (mirror neurons)those around us so our love for nature can be truly infectious for young children.
- Invite children to join you in the every day nature tasks you do. For example watering the plants, picking herbs to cook with and feeding the birds.
- Embrace the mud, the wet and the cold.  Yes children will get muddy but they will wash. If we show our worries or concerns about them getting muddy they will pick up on this.
- Teach children how to get ready for the right weather. If children are cold or wet they will soon change their enthusiasm for being outdoors
- Join in with their play. Point out nature to them and be excited by the child’s innate curiosity in nature.
- Model curiosity in nature and ...

Easter is big in Denmark. It kicks off the summer season after a long, dull Nordic winter, and the Danes go all in for it.  a

For Danes Easter means being together with loved ones, relaxing and having fun making new memories.

Here are a few ways Danes celebrate Easter.

Decorate the Home

Like everywhere else in the world, the egg is a major symbol of Easter, also in Denmark. It symbolizes new life and a new beginning. For decoration using egg shells, you can blow out your own egg by making a tiny hole at the bottom and top with a needle. You might decorate some hard boiled eggs and have them on the side to admire. You could collect some twigs from your garden and hang home made salt dough decorations on them too.

Spring flowers are also collected and displayed inside the home to embrace the element of nature.

Get Together

During Easter, Danes celebrate mostly the arrival of springtime and with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday being national holida...

With Easter upon us shortly it's easy to get back into the habit of dressing each area of provision for the celebration. 

Instead focus on leaving a few hooks in your adult initiated sessions that will grab your children's interest and lead them curious to know more. It could be sharing an Easter story for instance and then having one or two areas of your provision with provocations in linked to this. This then invites the child to explore and learn more. It also means that children that don't want to explore this can still head into the areas of provision to develop their own lines of enquiry or take the lead on their own child led play. 

Taking this approach also frees you as an adult up from spending so much time filling every area of provision with resources and instead can really prioritise your time and focus your efforts on the things that will make the biggest impact. 

With this in mind I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the provocations and hooks that I h...