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I get asked all the time...'Where do you get your resources from?'

Firstly, many of the resources we use in Early Years can be collected, reclaimed or re-used for free. Some of my favourite natural Autumn loose parts are;

• Leaves from different trees and different colours
• Dried leaves and flower petals
• Leaf skeletons
• Twigs of different lengths and thickness
• Acorns
• Pine cones
• Moss
• Bark
• Tree cookies
• Tree stumps
• Pumpkins and squash
• Conkers

I also like to add items like:

• Wooden buttons
• Grapat loose parts
• Cotton reels
• Coloured sheets of felt
• Empty picture frames
• Glass beads
• Numicon

Placemats, mirrors, lightboxes and tinkertrays are all good to include alongside too.

When it comes to buying resources i have always worked in schools and settings with very little money to spend on resourcing. Any money that we did have would be spent on;

1. High quality staffing

2. Block Play resources

3. Books

4. Small world imaginative play

I feel that when we spend ...