5 Must-Have Early Years Resources (for every classroom)

As an early years practitioner, you understand the importance of creating a stimulating and supportive learning environment that encourages your young learners to explore, experiment, and grow. 

One of the key ways to achieve this is by having the right resources in your classroom. By providing your young learners with a variety of engaging and educational materials, you can help them develop their creativity, problem-solving skills, and social-emotional abilities. 

In this blog post, we will explore 5 must-have early years resources that every classroom should have to promote your young learners' development and learning. 

So, let's dive in and discover how these resources can enhance your classroom and support your young learners' growth!

Visit Small World Play - Click Here.

Small world play resources are miniature figures and vehicles that are designed to provide a rich and imaginative play experience for young learners. 

This type of play allows children to act out stories and scenarios, which helps them develop their creativity, communication, and social skills.

Here are some of the benefits of using small world play resources in your early years classroom:

● Encourages imaginative play and storytelling: Small world play encourages children to use their imagination and create their own stories and scenarios. This type of play allows them to explore different roles and perspectives, which helps them develop their creativity and imagination.

● Develops communication and social skills: Small world play involves working with others, which helps children develop their communication and social skills. Through play, children learn how to negotiate, share ideas, and work together to create something.

● Fosters creativity and problem-solving skills: Small world play allows children to explore different possibilities and scenarios, which helps them develop their problem-solving skills.

Here are some ideas for using small world play resources in your early years classroom:

● Set up a small world scene based on a familiar storybook, such as "The Three Little Pigs". This will encourage children to explore the story and act out their own versions of it. 

● Provide children with a variety of small world figures and vehicles and let them create their scenarios. This will allow them to explore their ideas and interests, and develop their creativity. 

● Use small world play as a way to introduce different cultures and communities to young learners. You can set up small world scenes based on different cultures or communities, which will allow children to explore and learn about different ways of life.

By creating their own stories and scenarios, children can learn how to think creatively and come up with new ideas expanding their imaginations further.

Visit Messy Play - Click Here.

Messy play resources are an essential component of early years classrooms. 

These resources, such as sand, water, and playdough, offer children a tactile, hands-on experience that engages their senses and promotes their exploration and experimentation. 

This type of play allows children to learn about cause and effect, develop fine motor skills, and express their creativity. 

Here are some benefits of using messy play resources:

● Engages the senses: Messy play resources engage multiple senses, such as touch, sight, and sound, which can help children better understand the world around them. 

● Promotes exploration and experimentation: Children can experiment with different materials and textures, and explore cause-and-effect relationships. 

● Develops fine motor skills: Using tools such as spoons, cups, and rollers helps children develop their fine motor skills. 

● Encourages creativity and self-expression: Messy play allows children to express themselves freely and creatively without the constraints of structured activities.

Here are some ideas for using messy play resources in your classroom: 

● Set up a sensory table or tray: A sensory table is a great way to provide children with a variety of materials to explore, such as sand, water, rice, or shredded paper. You can also add objects such as shells, rocks, or toys to add to the sensory experience. 

● Provide a variety of tools: Provide children with a variety of tools, such as spoons, cups, funnels, and rollers, to use with the messy play resources. This allows them to experiment with different ways of manipulating the materials. 

● Use messy play to introduce scientific concepts: Messy play can be a fun and engaging way to introduce scientific concepts such as water displacement and mixing colours. For example, children can experiment with mixing primary colours to create new colours.

Incorporating messy play resources into your classroom can provide endless opportunities for exploration, experimentation, and creativity.

Visit Construction - Click Here.

Construction resources, such as blocks and building materials, offer children a chance to engage in hands-on, open-ended play that encourages them to think creatively and problem-solve. 

By building structures with different shapes and materials, children develop their spatial awareness and learn to understand the relationships between objects. 

Here are some benefits of using construction play resources:

● Develops spatial awareness and problem-solving skills: As children construct buildings, bridges, and other structures, they learn to visualize spatial relationships and develop problem-solving skills as they figure out how to make their creations stand up and stay balanced. 

● Encourages experimentation and creativity: With no predetermined outcome or instructions, construction play encourages children to experiment and explore different ways of building and creating. 

● Helps children understand cause and effect: By testing out different building techniques, children learn how different materials behave and how their choices affect the stability and structure of their creations.

Here are some ideas for using construction play resources in your classroom:

● Provide children with a variety of building materials, such as blocks, cardboard boxes, and plastic pipes, and let them create their structures. Encourage them to experiment with different shapes and sizes, and ask open-ended questions to prompt their thinking. 

● Use construction play as a way to introduce mathematical concepts, such as symmetry and measurement. Ask children to build symmetrical structures or to use blocks to measure different distances. 

● Set up a construction area based on a familiar theme, such as a city or a farm. Provide materials that match the theme and encourage children to build structures that relate to the theme.

By providing a variety of building materials and encouraging children to explore and create their own structures, you can promote a sense of ownership and independence in their learning.

Visit Mark Making - Click Here.

Mark making is an essential part of early years learning and is important for children's development. 

It allows your children to explore their creativity, improve their fine motor skills, and develop their cognitive abilities. 

Here are some of the benefits of mark-making:

● Encourages creativity and self-expression: Mark-making provides children with a creative outlet and allows them to express themselves in a variety of ways. 

● Improves fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination: Mark-making activities require children to use their hands and fingers to manipulate various tools, which helps develop their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. 

● Helps develop pre-writing skills: Mark-making activities prepare children for writing by developing their hand strength, coordination, and control. 

● Promotes language development: Drawing and writing about experiences, feelings, and ideas can help develop children's language and communication skills.

Here are some ideas for using mark-making resources in the classroom:

● Offer a variety of mark-making tools such as pens, pencils, crayons, and chalk to encourage children to explore different textures and materials. This can include unconventional items like sticks, feathers, and sponges. 

● Provide a range of surfaces to draw on, such as paper, card, and chalkboards, to offer different experiences and challenges. This can also include different colors and types of paper or surfaces that are vertical, slanted, or textured. 

● Encourage children to draw and write about their experiences, feelings, and ideas to develop their language and communication skills. This can include creating a class journal or a storytelling activity where children draw pictures and narrate stories based on their illustrations.

Overall, mark-making is a versatile and valuable tool for early years practitioners to help children develop various skills and encourage their creativity and self-expression.

Visit Sensory - Click Here.

Sensory play is an essential aspect of early childhood learning that helps children explore and discover the world around them through their senses and not just for those children who need it most. 

Here are some of the benefits of sensory play:

● Develops children's curiosity and exploration skills: Sensory play encourages children to investigate and discover the properties of different materials, textures, and shapes. This helps them develop their natural curiosity and exploration skills, which are essential for their overall development. 

● Encourages children to use their senses to explore the world around them: Sensory play engages all of the senses, including touch, sight, smell, sound, and taste. By using their senses, children can explore and understand the world around them in a fun and interactive way. 

● Enhances children's cognitive, language, and social-emotional development: Sensory play can help children develop their cognitive abilities, such as problem-solving and critical thinking. It can also promote language development by encouraging children to describe their experiences and communicate with others. Additionally, sensory play can help children develop their social-emotional skills, such as empathy and cooperation. 

● Improves fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination: Many sensory play activities involve manipulating small objects or materials, which can help children improve their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Ideas for using sensory resources:

● Offer a range of sensory experiences, such as sand, water, playdough, and sensory bins, to encourage children to explore different textures and materials. 

● Encourage children to use their senses to explore and discover the properties of different materials. For example, you can encourage them to feel the texture of sand, smell the aroma of flowers, or listen to the sound of rain. 

● Use sensory play as a way to promote language development by encouraging children to describe their experiences and talk about what they are doing. For example, you can ask them to describe the texture of the playdough or the smell of the flowers.

By incorporating sensory play into your classroom, you can provide children with a fun and engaging way to learn and develop their senses, cognitive abilities, and social-emotional skills.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the resources and activities we offer to children in their early years are vital in shaping their learning and development. 

By providing engaging and stimulating resources such as small world play, messy play, construction, mark-making, and sensory play, we can inspire children's curiosity and creativity, helping them to build important skills and knowledge for the future. 

But we mustn't forget… 

The most important thing for children is to feel loved, supported, and cared for. As long as we keep that at the heart of everything we do, we can be sure we're doing a smashing job. 

So let's continue to explore and discover new ways to make early years education exciting and enjoyable for all! 

If you're an early years practitioner looking to enhance your classroom and support your children's learning, be sure to check out our early years resources and toys here > https://www.talkingturtle.co.uk/

And to help out even further we give you 
● Free Next Day Delivery (on all orders over £25) 
● Flexible Payment Terms (when you create an account) 
● 100% Played With 12 Month Warranty 

So, with a variety of early years resources to choose from, you're sure to find something that will inspire and engage your young learners.