Beginning drama with very young children can be a daunting prospect, but the benefits for children performing to an audience are endless. Developing speaking and listening skills, boosting self-confidence and self-esteem, developing language skills and using expressive arts are all specified as both prime and specific areas of learning in the EYFS 2012. Early Years performances need to be approached in the correct way and include lots of repetitive movements, actions, rhymes, songs and music. They need to be highly interactive, incredibly simple and above all fun for all concerned! This Little Book is a toolbox of techniques and ideas, which can be used within any Early Years drama activity including mime, facial expression and gesture, clapping and rhythms, statues and tableaux, creation and use of props and dressing up.

There are endless benefits to taking outdoor learning to a natural or woodland setting. The Little Book of Woodland Challenges can be used in collaboration with Forest School, or as a stand alone book of activities that can take place outdoors in woodland or forest settings. Each activity provides alternative ideas if your setting does not have a woodland space. This book provides a wide range of mathematical, scientific and creative based challenges suitable for all children, including those with SEN and EAL, and addresses all areas of learning in Development Matters and the EYFS.