'The Rainbow Fish' Activities

Using props and activities to bring a story to life can not only help to instill a love of reading and excitement around a book, but it also helps little minds to understand and follow a storyline better.  This blog post provides some ideas and resources for learning all about Marcus Pfister's 'The Rainbow Fish' story through play, including digital downloads.

  In the year when we saw Niall from Love Island 2018 talk about his ‘rainbow fish’ and seemingly describe a completely different moral to the story, here are a few activities that should hopefully help your little ones pick out the right message and also retain the plot of the book!

57 EYFS Tuff Tray Ideas

I love our tuff tray, (probably even more than the children do), and thinking up tuff tray ideas - and although it can be a challenge to set them up sometimes - I love the wow factor a new tray play activity brings to young children and how excited and enthusiastic they are to go and explore straight away! I know that my carefully laid resources will be scattered around within minutes, but honestly, that's the beauty of it. A well played with EYFS tuff tray, where learning opportunities arise, does not come from children feeling like they can't touch, move, reorder or explore. A day without some 'mess' has usually been an unproductive one...

 I've picked out 57 tuff tray ideas (originally 19 but I keep updating!) of our current favourite EYFS tuff tray ideas here for you to enjoy and feel inspired! I also have a post showcasing our best sensory tray play ideas here.  If you want to learn more about tuff trays first - have a read of our complete guide to tuff trays here. 

You can find many of the resources mentioned over in my Amazon affiliate ideas list here (click here for USA version).

What is EYFS?

What is the EYFS? If you have children, or work alongside children, then the chances are you have seen the letters ‘EYFS’ quite a few times already – perhaps in reference to EYFS play, EYFS activities or even EYFS outcomes…but what is EYFS??

To give its most literal meaning, EYFS stands for the Early Years Foundation Stage – the period of time from birth to 5 years old. During this time, there are certain developmental milestones that children are expected to achieve. All adults who work with children in England are expected to follow these standards for learning, development and care, so that by the end of the EYFS children are meeting their ‘Early Learning Goals’ (ELGs) and are therefore ‘school ready’.

Music and Movement for Preschoolers and Babies

Did you know that movement helps us to hear music in detail and enhances our understanding not just of rhythm, but also of pitch and tune?  Experts believe that it can also be good for the brain, especially parts that deal with spatial and temporal reasoning. Learning to play an instrument may even increase your child's ability to do maths (Livingstone, 2005).

In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of music for young children, discuss music classes for babies and provide you with some musical activity ideas for babies and preschoolers.