Childhood should be a magical time, filled with wonderful events and activities which then become treasured memories. To celebrate this we have put together a few ideas, including small mementoes that are fun to make and special to look back on for years to come. Read more

An autistic pupil once explained to me that autistic people were like Apple technology products - they had an IOS operating system - whilst the rest of the world, the neurotypicals, ran on Windows. I thought that this was brilliant. In my opinion both IOS and Windows operating systems are fantastic but different. Read more

Open-ended play is nothing new, but these Crates are our new staple for play, fun and developing engaging scenes to spark curiosity! Read more

Recognising that a huge range of computing technology is available, we have put together a guide to help you choose which resources you might use at each stage of the programming journey. Read more

Zentangle© is a method of drawing that was developed by Maria and Rick Thomas. It is a way of drawing structured patterns that is focused, meditative and calming. If you can write your own name then you can do Zentangle© drawing. The aim is to focus on the line you are drawing and nothing else. A lot of people use Zentangle© as a form of mindfulness and some claim it helps with relieving stress and anxiety. Read more

Following on from our Crumble controller 'How to' blog post, here is a step by step guide on how to make a coloured spinner using the Crumble controller and class kit. Read more

Now Alfie is at secondary school, he wants more age appropriate resources. Below, he discusses his new favourite and why. Read more

Can you recall the joy you experienced as a child blowing bubbles? That childhood fascination, marvelling at the swirling, iridescent spheres as they float, twist and turn, trying to catch and pop them. It’s a lovely experience but it can also be a fantastic learning opportunity. Take time to observe children’s reactions to bubbles. It can be a relaxing therapeutic activity or a lively energetic time. It can be collaborative or solitary. It can be a catalyst for streams of enquiry and investigations to emerge. Read more

There is so much more to handwriting than just holding a pen. Once children have developed their gross motor skills, they also need to develop their fine motor skills. Read more

With phonics learning being a key building block for early reading, children need lots of opportunities to practise their phonics in lots of different ways. Read more

Every child will have had such a different experience of reading during the last few months. It is going to be important to give all children lots of opportunities to read and talk about their reading. Read more

Both children and adults sometimes need support in identifying and understanding emotions. This blog discusses the value of sharing, discussing and dramatising emotions to support others in understanding them. Read more

Tens frames provide a very clear representation of numbers up to 10. It cannot be overstated how important the sense of ‘ten-ness’ is for children and their future progress in maths. Once bonds to 10 are second-nature, the ground is laid for the understanding of addition and subtraction and the mental pictures needed for all kinds of mathematical thinking Read more

Take a look at this blog for some engaging writing activities to inspire you in your classroom. Read more

Creating your own phonics kit of all the essential resources you need for your lessons can help save you time and means all of your resources are right where you need them, when you need them. Read more

Learning about shape is arguably the most popular part of the maths curriculum. It feels very different from the other areas and can give children who might not be as confident a chance to shine. It is full of opportunities for problem-solving, reasoning, improving higher-order thinking skills, as well as talking about and, very importantly, enjoying mathematics. Read more