_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Introducing mindfulness in Early Years settings equips young children with life-long skills that develop as they mature. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Mindfulness features a range of activities that enable children to build awareness of their emotions, focus on the present and empathise more easily with others. From ideas to manage distractions to games for independence, this collection of ideas includes colourful photographs and easy-to-follow instructions, making it a fantastic resources to bring mindfulness into the Early Years.

'This app has been incredible helpful in helping me navigate the minefield that is being a new mother' - Praise for the My First Five Years app If you’re looking for fresh, playful ideas to spark your baby’s curiosity, build their confidence and support their development, look no further! Written by the renowned childcare experts at My First Five Years, the popular app designed to help parents support their child's physical, cognitive and emotional development, this unique book of 60 activities explains the why behind different types of play, and shows you how to make the most of short, daily moments together. You might be wondering why your baby loves to show you objects they’ve found, or why they prefer some toys to others. Have you questioned why they can roll from their back onto their tummy, but not the other way around? This book breaks down the science of early childhood development into concise summaries, and includes easy, realistic ideas for play that make the most of development opportunities. The activities are clearly set out with step-by-step instructions, lists of equipment, and benefits for your baby. The book is split into six streams of development – social and emotional, gross motor, fine motor, sensory, language and cognitive – and each chapter includes a summary of the underlying science followed by simple, fun play ideas you can do at home with your baby. From tasty finger paint to egg box puzzles, the ideas fit neatly into daily life and focus on enhancing play into pivotal learning moments. There are also QR codes featured throughout, linking to additional related content. Beautifully colour illustrated and full of tips and advice, this book is perfect for building the foundations for your baby’s lifelong learning, development, health and wellbeing.

Helping children make the transition between Reception and Year One is a challenge. When done well it can have a significant impact on children's emotional and academic development, but when done badly it can set some children's development back by up to a year. Alistair Bryce-Clegg is determined to help practitioners conquer this challenge. Having been involved in a number of transition projects that specifically focus on children's emotional, social and academic development throughout this period, Alistair's draws upon his experience in this new book. Packed full of practical ideas to help practitioners to plan for and create an effective learning environment that promotes high levels of attainment in Year One based on the effective principles of EYFS practice, this book should be an essential in any Reception and Year One teacher's library.

Transform your play area with these environmentally friendly DIY projects for the Early Years! This one-of-a-kind book contains everything you need to build exciting, sustainable outdoor play spaces that can be adapted for any setting, big or small. There are 36 projects ranging from smaller designs such as the Bird Box Bookshelf and the Table-Top Ramp to larger structures such as the Hobbit Hole Door and the Wonky Stage that children can help build, using recycled pallet wood. Authors Alistair Bryce-Clegg and Oliver Wotherspoon are experts in Early Years play and have been instrumental in designing some of the very best outdoor play settings. With their helpful illustrations, full-colour photographs, step-by-step instructions and advice on how the play spaces link to the EYFS Framework and support early learning, you don’t need to be a DIY expert to build these simple and effective natural play areas.

This book builds upon Alistair Bryce-Clegg's previous title Continuous Provision in the Early Years. Continuous Provision: The Skills is designed to show practitioners what effective continuous provision should look like and how practitioners can link their provision directly to assessment. It has an emphasis on skill-based learning. Alistair Bryce-Clegg shows the difference between 'pure skills', skills related to specific areas of continuous provision like sand, water and role play, and 'facilitative skills' that children can experience throughout a setting, in many different areas and activities. This book looks at all areas of continuous provision with a view to helping practitioners to identify, assess and teach different 'pure' and 'facilitative' skills. The other essential element for really good continuous provision is a measure of open-ended experience, to allow children to use their own creativity and curiosity to interpret and use what they see around them. This book provides plenty of suggestions to make activities interesting and engaging for children, to encourage them to challenge themselves and learn new skills.

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Exploring Shape and Pattern features activities and games filled with rich contexts for learning and discussion, as well as fun opportunities for consolidation and problem-solving. Alison Hutchison draws on her wealth of experience to present ideas in line with the Early Learning Goals for investigating shape and pattern in the world around us. She focuses on helping young children to make connections and develop language, knowledge and understanding of shape and pattern. Whether children build with fabric blocks to create patterns or explore symmetry while playing with natural materials, the easy-to-prepare activities in this book facilitate engaging learning opportunities for children's ideas and interests to be explored.

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Circle time stimulates learning in all areas of development - from the improvement of social skills and positive relationships to encouraging children to listen to each other within a caring and respectful environment. Judith Harries brings together creative ideas for circle time where learning can be shared and music and drama can be enjoyed. The book includes circle time activities and games that cover all of the Early Learning Goals through the sharing of thoughts, feelings and experiences. It can also be used across the curriculum, including helping children with literacy and mathematics through phonics and number games. This timeless collection of ideas featuring colourful and fun photography is a fantastic resource with many new activities for circle time, as well as some old favourites.

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Developing a secure understanding of number in the Early Years is key to ensuring number confidence for future stages of learning. A wide variety of meaningful hands-on experiences are required to develop a child's deep understanding of number. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Exploring Number presents ideas that are all about doing - to not only stimulate the senses, but to also provoke thinking and talking, allow questions to be asked, and ensure that links are made between number concepts and the real world. The ideas require little preparation beforehand, can be used by practitioners without any specific expertise in teaching early number, and include easy-to-source materials. Each area of early number sense is covered from adding on and taking away to number stories, identifying and writing numbers. Alison Hutchison draws on her wealth of experience to present 50 ideas and experiences that make numbers fun and accessible so that, as they explore and investigate, children are fully engaged partners in their learning at this crucial early stage of their number journey.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. The tuff tray is a staple resource that is often abandoned or underused in early years settings. However, when used effectively, a tuff tray can enhance a child's learning through its versatile usage, such as messy play or as enhancements to support themes and ideas that are being explored. A simple tuff tray provocation can offer many learning opportunities to help a child progress and develop, as its sensory play approach promotes open-ended investigations and problem solving. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Tuff Trays is packed full of exciting activities that are not only simple and easy to prepare and manage, but that also use materials and tools found in most settings and at very low cost. With ideas for tuff trays that support books, promote mathematics and are ideal for celebrations and festivals, this book creates inviting opportunities for learning objectives to be met in an exciting and creative way.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Early Years expert Judit Horvath presents 50 fun and thoroughly creative ideas in this book designed to get children experimenting and investigating the properties of mud and clay. When given soil, clay or mud to play with, most children are instinctively motivated to explore and experiment. Mud, soil and clay are naturally open-ended, stimulating children to investigate possibilities, look for reasons and think of ideas. They are cheap and easy to source or access, simple to transform to suit any age group or activity, can be mixed with other materials, given a rich sensory experience via visual texture, deep colour, rich smell and tactile feel.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. 50 Fantastic Ideas Inspired by Famous Artists uses well-known art as a visual inspiration to develop expressive art and design skills in the Early Years. It is much easier now to access art online and to bring inspirational pieces into a setting without having to buy postcards or visit an art gallery. Drawing on these readily available online sources, Judith Harries presents 50 ideas featuring a range of diverse artists from Lubaina Himid and Friedensreich Hundertwasser to Mary Delany and Picasso, and famous art including pop and street art, sculpture and portraiture. Using art supplies easily found in and outside the classroom such as paints, clay, pipe cleaners and natural resources like leaves and flowers, the interactive activities found in this book are ideal for inspiring creativity and fun at the same time!

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. A quality well-made treasure basket offers children a wealth of exploration, play and learning opportunities that are not only great fun, but also match the requirements of the EYFS framework. Drawing on her years of experience and extensive knowledge of children's interaction, author and practitioner Sue Gascoyne provides 50 effective and fun ways to engage children in sensory-rich treasures that offer 'a world in a basket'. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Treasure Baskets includes the child-led stages of treasure basket play using the author's original Sensory Play Continuum as a framework, as well as adult-initiated activities for using treasure baskets with children. Its simple format supports practitioners, and ultimately the children in their care, in getting the most out of this amazing resource.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. _______________ Learning about phonics and putting that knowledge into practice is an integral part of every child's learning journey. Good phonic knowledge is essential if children are to become successful writers and readers. This complexity can often make the teaching of phonics difficult (and a little dull!). This book contains a no-nonsense bank of ideas that are all simple and effective when carried out, using readily available resources so that any Early Years setting can put in to practise Alistair's innovative paths to teaching and learning phonics.

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Fearless play is a key element in developing a child's confidence, extending their limits, and helping them learn to assess risks and manage situations. This book is full of fun and colourful ideas for facilitating fearless play in early years settings. The variety of activities means there's something for every child to enjoy, ranging from basket making to mud racing. Each idea is targeted to help children face new challenges and explore the world around them, as well as helping to establish motor skills, coordination, and body awareness. A perfect resource for busy early years practitioners who want children in their care to play safely and fearlessly.

From bestselling author Alistair Bryce-Clegg comes a book based on a fundamental truth: you can have the best teaching resources in the world at your disposal, but if you lack the engagement of the children you are working with, the potential for high level learning is minimal. For children to make progress in all aspects of their learning, the practitioners who work with them must have a good understanding of what the child already knows and can do (assessment). They should be able to create activities that will take the children forward to the next step in their learning (planning). Finally, they should measure the impact of those activities on the children's attainment (evaluation) and then the process can start again. The one crucial element that this model lacks, however, is engagement. This book will show through practical examples how early years practitioners can move away from the more traditional model of teaching to one that maintains all of the essential elements but is driven by engagement, the most powerful learning tool of all. It features advice on reflective practice, real examples to inspire, and how to make fundamental changes that will impact on children's learning in a hugely positive way.

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Children benefit from the sensitive and supportive engagement of both their parents from the earliest of ages, but involving dads can be challenging. This book is designed to provide simple and accessible activities for practitioners looking to engage dads. Both June and Alice work with dads on a daily basis, helping them to understand their contribution to their children's development and longer term educational success. Realising how they can add to what the mums or other carers do in a different but complementary way, and how simple activities can enrich their children's lives, helps strengthen the bond between father and child. Each simple but effective idea in this book has been developed and written with the intention of promoting child and family well being, helping both children and families grow together.

There are so many ways practitioners can get children ready for writing and Alistair explores these in this step by step practical guide. Starting with the theory this book takes practitioners through the developmental stages, looks at gender differences in mark making and then provides some innovative ideas for intervention such as Dough Gym and writing like a Jedi! Alistair is convinced that once practitioners understand the developmental stages of becoming a mark maker (from palm gripping to shoulder pivot) and are given the tried and tested activities to use, they will see a significant difference in progress.

A must-have guide for everyone working in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Bestselling author Alistair Bryce-Clegg is known for his original and creative ideas and witty and accessible writing style. This book does not disappoint! It is filled with brilliant ideas and practical approaches to use as an Early Years practitioner, including advice for planning sessions, setting up an engaging environment matched to children's interests and encouraging and developing outdoor learning. With a focus on child-led learning, wellbeing and creating the best environment for all young learners, Best Practice in the Early Years is the perfect tool to evaluate, refine and improve provision in your setting. Packed with detailed explanations, thought-provoking questions and inspiring new approaches, this book is a must for all Early Years practitioners eager to ensure their practice is the best it can be for every child in their care.

Thoughtfully curated by bestselling author and early years consultant Alistair Bryce-Clegg, this beautiful Pinterest-worthy book is brimming with 365 days worth of inspiration for early years practitioners. He draws on quotes, images, the thoughts of education and child development thinkers and the work of contemporary practitioners to create a picture of children's play today. Whether it's sitting down with your morning cup of coffee or as you wind down for the day, this beautifully designed full colour book is here to motivate and inspire you and your practice all year through.

Getting continuous provision right is about ensuring that everything in your environment has been created to help children to learn in the absence of an adult. Continuous Provision in the Early Years will help you understand the purpose of continuous provision, how to ensure it is effective, and how to plan and tailor your activities to meet the interests and needs of the children in your setting. The book contains a mixture of theory and practical suggestions for both indoor and outdoor continuous provision. It also includes interesting case studies based on Alistair's extensive experience in early years settings. Highly readable and based on tried and tested techniques, this is an indispensable guide for all early years practitioners looking to get continuous provision right and make a positive impact.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Packed full of inspiring activities which re-invigorate and extend traditional areas of early years provision, 50 Fantastic Things to Do with a Water Tray is a must have for pre-schools and nurseries. Each activity features easy to follow step-by-step instructions with additional ideas on how to extend the activity inside and outdoors. The learning possibilities are clearly identified and practitioners can see at a glance what the children will get out of the activity.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. In order to be able to think creatively, children have to be encouraged to use their imaginations and play autonomously. When setting up open-ended learning opportunities that stimulate children to investigate possibilities practitioners need easily accessible, cost effective resources. The rationale behind using cardboard boxes is the simple fact that they are cheap and open-ended, meaning they can be easily sourced and simply transformed by both adults and children. A cardboard box is a resource that when left alone, does nothing in particular but comes to life in the hands of children, requiring them to use their imagination or to build on their past experiences. Boxes as open-ended materials greatly enhance the play experience, as they require children to bring their thoughts into the play experience in a deeper way.

_______________ The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Outdoors is a great space to enhance and extend children's learning. There are lots of children who have a natural affinity with the outdoors and use it as their preferred learning space. As adults supporting children's learning, it is important to support the investigation of their outdoor environment, but also that learning is taken into those spaces and delivered to children in the most engaging way that it can be. What you can (almost) always guarantee is children's enthusiasm to take their learning outdoors, what you can't always guarantee is the weather! In 50 Fantastic Ideas for Outdoor All Year Round Alistair has created 50 ideas that will get children and practitioners outside and learning come rain, snow, wind or sunshine! All of the activities have got their own central skill that can then be adapted to fit the interests of the children or each setting's own particular outdoor environment. So, whether your setting's outdoor space is a back garden, a small yard or large playground there will be activities that can be used and that will inspire young learners.

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Important dates and occasions are often marked with a variety of celebrations and festivals. These occasions are also important markers for children in the passing of time and repeated experience. In Early Years education the best time to talk about a celebration or festival is often after it has occurred rather than before it happens. This is because many young children don't have a strong memory or understanding of something that occurred a year ago. So the closer they are to the experience, the richer their learning can be. In this colourful new book by Alistair Bryce-Clegg there are activities that cover: Christmas Diwali Easter Hanukkah Chinese New Year Halloween Bonfire Night Each activity encourages the children to learn about a particular celebration or festival and also to acquire new skills or techniques. Each of these skills and techniques can be taught on their own, or linked to other activity ideas that you (or the children) might have. The list of celebrations and festivals that are covered is by no means exhaustive, but the activities are flexible enough to allow practitioners to keep their core content and apply a different theme. They are limited only by your imagination...!

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting. Children are naturally drawn to making marks. Long before they pick up a pencil or a paintbrush, they will experiment with making marks using hands, fingers, feet etc. as well as various found objects that they come across in day-to-day life. For children to become really confident and secure mark makers we need to provide them with lots of different opportunities with a variety of exciting mark making resources in many different contexts. Alistair Bryce-Clegg has collected together a whole host of ideas for different mark making utensils, as well as exploring numerous substances and surfaces that children can make marks on. Some of the ideas will support children to create their own 'masterpieces' while others will encourage them to make marks with other children in a group. As with all Alistair's ideas, 'engaging children' comes top of his list as when children are engaged they make the biggest steps forward on the road to writing and have the most fun!