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

Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) need to feel a valued part of the setting as much as all other children. As Early Years practitioners we need to find a balance between supporting children’s individual needs and ensuring that practice remains inclusive. Read more

Using the TTS Wooden Mini Adventure Trail, children build physical capabilities, problem solving skills, team working and leadership abilities. All of this in addition to having a whole host of fun and developing a sense of achievement. Read more

Promoting positive behaviour on a daily basis is very important in all year groups, not simply at school but within the home environment too. Having a positive link between both environments is additionally special and can have a huge impact on achieving and maintaining excellent behaviour. Read more

Learn how an autism triad can help explore your pupils strengths and identify the skills that they feel that they would like to develop further in our blog. Read more

Handwriting is a complex process that requires children to use a lot of skills and strength. Watch as your child writes and think about all the things they are having to do. They have to sit up, hold their body, hold the pencil, move their shoulder, and move their arm, and all of this while they also have to think about what to write. It is understandable that it takes some children longer to master. 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

Educational Consultant Lorraine Petersen, OBE, reflects on what children have experienced during lockdown, how this might affect their return to school and what teachers can do to support them. Lorraine uses our Calming Cat as an example of new strategies which can support children and their different needs at this challenging time. Read more

We all know that learning times-tables is an essential part of the mathematics curriculum and that not knowing them can impede children’s progress as they move through school. There is a lot of pressure to learn these facts, and whilst some children pick them up quickly and with seemingly little effort, others cannot seem to recall them no matter how many times they go over them. With this in mind, teachers need a plethora of ways under their belts to engage children at all levels. 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

We know how important Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is for those working in the Early Years. We also know how difficult it can be to take time away from work, travel to venues and pay the costs involved in attending training and networking events. This is why we have decided to offer our very own FREE CPD which you can access from the comfort of your home or setting. 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