EYFS

A Complete Classroom Set Up Guide

Posted by EYR Team on 2nd Feb 2026

Creating a well-planned classroom environment is crucial in supporting children’s learning, development and wellbeing. A thoughtfully designed classroom doesn’t just look inviting, it can … read more

The New Ofsted Inspection Framework: Your Questions Answered

Posted by EYR Team on 5th Jan 2026

Understanding the new Ofsted inspection framework can feel overwhelming for Early Years practitioners and setting leaders. With changes in what inspectors focus on and how they evaluate your provision … read more

How to celebrate Black History Month in the early years

Posted by EYR Team on 20th Oct 2025

Black History Month presents an opportunity to introduce children to the importance of diversity, inclusion and the celebration of different cultures. In this blog we dive deeper into the importan … read more

Traditional Tales & Fairy Tales: What are the benefits in the EYFS?

Posted by EYR Team on 7th Jul 2025

Traditional tales and fairy tales have been used to support literacy development in the Early Years Foundation Stages (EYFS) for many years. Sometimes referred to as folk tales, these short stories … read more

7 Winter Activity Ideas for Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 2nd Dec 2024

The changing seasons bring many new and exciting opportunities for children to learn more about the world around them by spending time outdoors in nature. Winter is also a wonderful time to try si … read more

How to Pick the Right Early Years Furniture

Posted by EYR Team on 22nd Jul 2024

The importance of choosing furniture for your nursery or early years classroom Choosing the right classroom furniture or library furniture for your nursery or early years setting … read more

Art and Craft Essentials For Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 15th Jul 2024

Check out our handy art & craft essentials guide and get ready for fun and messy hands-on activities in your learning setting (perfect for those dreary rainy days!) In this blog, we bre … read more

15 Simple Minibeast Art and Craft Ideas for Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 24th Jun 2024

Explore the amazing world of minibeasts found in habitats and ecosystems around the world with these 15 simple minibeast art and craft ideas to try in your early years setting. These activities are … read more

What are the benefits of Art and Crafts for Children?

Posted by EYR Team on 10th Jun 2024

Art & Crafts have tremendous developmental benefits for young children. They are, of course, great for incorporating the Expressive Arts & Design element of the EYFS, but are also vital in al … read more

Top 30 EYFS Outdoor Activities

Posted by EYR Team on 22nd Apr 2024

As we approach summer and the weather becomes warmer, you might start to hear, “Can we have class outside today?” more and more often. However we can appreciate that it can be difficult t … read more

9 Outdoor Classroom Ideas for Preschoolers

Posted by EYR Team on 8th Apr 2024

Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement to inspire and celebrate outdoor learning and play. It is more than simply moving your traditional classroom lessons outdoors but instead learning from the … read more

10 Windy Day Activities For Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 1st Apr 2024

Make playtime a breeze with these 10 windy day activities to try in your early years settings. Explore wind power with these simple low-cost activities to entertain children of all ages. Man … read more

Promoting Literacy in the Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 12th Feb 2024

Literacy is one of the key areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage and therefore understanding effective ways of promoting literacy in the early years is vital as it sets children up for success in … read more

What Is Mathematics in Early Years?

Posted by EYR Team on 29th Jan 2024

Early Years Education is defined by the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stages). This EYFS curriculum is split into 7 areas of learning: Communication & Language, Literacy, Expressive Arts and Desig … read more

EYFS Literacy Activities: 10 Engaging Ideas for Early Language Development

Posted by EYR Team on 22nd Jan 2024

The Early Years Foundation Stage, or EYFS, covers children’s education between the ages of 0 and 5. It is therefore a crucial stage in any child’s development. The EYFS is split into 7 ke … read more

The Importance of Reading in the Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 8th Jan 2024

There are few things in a child’s early years (birth to 5) more important than reading. Not only is it a fundamental skill for early education, but is required multiple times a day. In this blo … read more

How to promote environmental awareness using the 7 areas of EYFS

Posted by EYR Team on 1st Jan 2024

As early years practitioners, you play a pivotal role in shaping young minds, and what better way to do so than by nurturing a love for the environment from an early age? In this blog, we dive into h … read more

Eco-friendly Activity Ideas for Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 18th Dec 2023

Fostering eco-friendly practices in the classroom is essential to instil a sense of responsibility and care for the environment from a young age. But what does eco-friendly mean? Being eco-friendly m … read more

How to use music in your early years and classroom settings.

Posted by EYR Team on 20th Nov 2023

It has been proven that music plays a key role in brain development as it contributes to learning language, motor, emotional intelligence and collaboration skills. With early years educators constant … read more

Exploring Music Therapy in an Early Years Context

Posted by EYR Team on 16th Oct 2023

As an early years educator, you may have heard about or witnessed first-hand, the benefits that music can have in educational settings. But have you considered music therapy? In the last few yea … read more

Introducing the topic of Pride into your early years setting

Posted by EYR Team on 9th Oct 2023

What is Pride Month? The annual celebration of Pride month began back in June 1970. This is when the first Pride parade was organised to celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Thi … read more

Messy Play Ideas for Babies

Posted by EYR Team on 4th Sep 2023

Messy play is an open-ended way of exploration that allows babies and children to take the lead and independently explore different textures and materials through various senses. Messy play … read more

STEAM in Early Years - What is it?

Posted by EYR Team on 31st Jul 2023

What is STEAM? STEAM is an acronym that stands for Science Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths. Rather than addressing each of these areas individually, STEAM is an integrated approach th … read more

Getting the best start in life: A summary of Ofsted's research review for early years

Posted by EYR Team on 12th Dec 2022

Ofsted recently published part 1 of its "Best start in life: A research review for early years". A series of subject-based curriculum research reviews focused on early years education. In this brief … read more

Teaching Fire Safety to Children in the Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 31st Oct 2022

Fire safety is a serious matter for any early years setting as the EYFS specifically states: “Providers must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of children, staff and others o … read more

Transitions: The big move. Advice for Early Years Practitioners

Posted by EYR Team on 25th Jul 2022

This transitions blog has been supplied by EYR partner PACEY. In this blog, former childminders and PACEY advisors Pat and Anne discuss their experiences of children in their care transitioning to pr … read more

Transition series 3: Getting School Ready - A Parent's Advice

Posted by EYR Team on 19th Jul 2022

This blog has been written by Poppy Stokes, an EYR Brand ambassador and mum of two. In this blog she shares her super simple tips and tricks to help get your little ones "school ready" as she herself … read more

EYFS Pirate Activities: 5 Easy Outdoor Play Ideas

Posted by EYR Team on 13th Jun 2022

A-Hoy me hearties! Looking for some new Pirate activities for your little ones to get hooked on? This blog brings you a treasure trove of EYFS pirate activities & ideas using simple outdoor loose … read more

Transition series 1: Understanding Transitions

Posted by EYR Team on 6th Jun 2022

This series has been written with the help of EYR industry experts from the University of Cambridge, University of Birmingham, and Manchester Metropolitan University. With the input of these three ex … read more

Celebrating Father's day with Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 30th May 2022

Traditional awareness days such as Father’s day can often present issues for carers and early years practitioners. As we know, all families are unique, and sometimes communicating this to child … read more

5 Fine Motor Activities For EYFS

Posted by EYR Team on 16th May 2022

What are fine motor skills? Fine motor skills refer to the coordination of small muscles in the brain and nervous system responsible for controlling precise movements in key areas such as ha … read more

The Two Year Health Check - What to Expect

Posted by EYR Team on 25th Apr 2022

This blog has been written with the help of EYR industry expert Emily Hanson. A qualified EYFS teacher with an M.Ed in Education from the University of Cambridge. To learn more about Emily, visit her … read more

3 Easy Dinosaur Tuff Tray Ideas To Teach EYFS

Posted by EYR Team on 3rd Mar 2022

Tuff trays are a great tool for teaching toddlers about the basics of life. The tuff tray helps children learn through play. It can be used in an infinite number of ways to teach children. From colo … read more

Activities to Support the EYFS Using Fidget Tubes

Posted by EYR Team on 8th Dec 2021

What is the EYFS? The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is an educational stage for children aged 0-5. It sets the standard for learning and development of children in this age bracket and … read more

Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language at an Early Age

Posted by EYR Team on 7th Sep 2021

In England, learning a foreign language is statutory from the ages of 7-14. Before this, there is no compulsory requirement for children to learn another language and the uptake of older ch … read more

Supporting Transitions in the Early Years – A Parent’s Point of View

Posted by EYR Team on 2nd Jul 2021

The transition to school or nursery can be a stressful time for children, parents and practitioners. Children will encounter new challenges such as being required to concentrate for longe … read more

Wellbeing Tips for Early Years & Primary School Teachers

Posted by EYR Team on 26th Jun 2020

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge" -Albert Einstein Mental health and wellbeing has become even more of a key focus recently due to eve … read more

Understanding Loose Parts Play and the Benefits in the EYFS

Posted by EYR Team on 26th Feb 2020

This article has been written by early years consultant, Anne Rodgers, from ATR Consultancy. Anne has 36 years’ experience of working in the childcare and education sector – including tra … read more

Why Don’t All Children Learn Effectively Through Play?

Posted by EYR Team on 17th Jan 2020

This article has been written by Ellie Collar from Early Years SEN. You know the children who play like butterflies, circling the play environment but never engaging long enough to extend pl … read more

How To Record Stories & Boost a Child’s Storytelling Skills

Posted by EYR Team on 19th Dec 2019

This article has been written by storytelling specialists, Tonya and Natasha, from Little Creative Days. Tonya and Natasha are sisters and authors of a series of books about a little dog … read more

Understanding the Basics of Phonics

Posted by EYR Team on 18th Nov 2019

Phonics is the way in which children begin to understand words, and as such is one of the most important parts of a child's early education. This blog will go over the basic prin … read more

How to Ensure Play Supports Classroom Teaching

Posted by EYR Team on 11th Nov 2019

Play is one of the most important ways in which young children gain essential knowledge and skills The Lego Foundation in Support of UNICEF, 2018, Learning Through Play ‘Imaginative P … read more

How to Breathe Fresh Air into your Storytime

Posted by EYR Team on 16th Sep 2019

This article has been written by storytelling specialists, Tonya and Natasha, from Little Creative Days When the weather is lovely we all like to be outside to make the most of it and … read more

Sensory Play in the Early Years: Activities, Ideas and Planning Tips

Posted by EYR Team on 26th Aug 2019

This article has been written by early years consultant, Anne Rodgers, from ATR Consultancy. Anne has 36 years’ experience of working in the childcare and education sector – including tra … read more

Supporting development: how to boost children’s vocabulary

Posted by EYR Team on 12th Aug 2019

This article has been written by storytelling specialists, Tonya and Natasha, from Little Creative Days A child speaking their first words is a magical time and once they s … read more

The Benefits of Messy Play for Little Learners

Posted by EYR Team on 29th Jul 2019

This blog has been written by Holly at Little Learners Southport. Little Learners is a multi award winning messy play and mark making company with over 30 franchises across the country. Mark making … read more

Risky Play In The Early Years: How To Encourage Safe Exploration And Growth

Posted by EYR Team on 15th Jul 2019

This article has been written by early years consultant, Anne Rodgers, from ATR Consultancy. Anne has 36 years’ experience of working in the childcare and education sector. This inclu … read more

The Importance of Literacy in the Early Years

Posted by EYR Team on 15th Jul 2019

Once upon a time… We all know the famous words, but can you remember the first time you heard them? From an early age, kids and parents tell stories for many reasons; to bon … read more

Exploring the Characteristics of Effective Learning

Posted by EYR Team on 17th Jun 2019

This article has been written by early years consultant, Anne Rodgers, from ATR Consultancy. Anne has 36 years’ experience of working in the childcare and education sector. This inclu … read more

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