How Glow and Light Supports Learning and Development

Glow and light can spark curiosity in children and resources can be a powerful tool to use in early years settings, to support learning and development.

Catherine Jewkes, Head of Curriculum and Product Content at TTS, explores a few of the different ways that Glow and Light supports learning and development in early years settings.

Attention and Concentration

Light catches the eye like nothing else. Whether it’s the colour shift on the Giant Light and Sound Spinning Top or gentle glow of a Light Up Lantern, glowing resources capture and hold children’s attention. For children still learning how to focus, these moments offer intrigue and wonder, helping them to pay attention and practise tuning in. Each time they return to the resource, they’re building their ability to concentrate just that little bit longer.

Emotional Regulation

Sometimes, children need a space that helps them feel safe and soothed. A cosy illuminated sensory space can offer just that. The sensory feedback such as the press of a button or a familiar change of colour can give children a sense of control when emotions feel big and overwhelming. For some, watching the lights gently change or tracing shadows with their fingers becomes a calming ritual, a quiet moment to find balance again.

Sensory Exploration

Light and glow resources offer a feast for the senses and can gently awaken a child’s sensory system. Whether children are watching lights flicker in the dark, feeling the textured edges on a Glow Disc, or listening to the soft sounds from the Giant Light and Sound Spinning Top, they’re learning how to process and respond to different stimuli. For some children, especially those who seek out sensory input, glow resources can be reassuring and engaging. For others, they can offer just the right balance of stimulation and calm.

Communication and Language

Long before children speak their first words, they’re communicating. A shared look at a glowing object, a finger pointed as a colour changes, a giggle when lights flash – these are all early steps into the world of language. As children grow, glow resources become brilliant prompts for conversation. They encourage noticing, wondering, comparing and storytelling. Whether it’s describing what they see on a light panel or weaving a tale around a shadow created with a light projector, children are naturally drawn into rich language experiences.

Motor Skills

The best kind of motor skill practice doesn’t feel like practice at all. Glow resources invite children to twist, press, turn, pour and build – all through play. There’s a wide mix to suit every stage of development. Babies might reach for a Light-Up Glow Cylinder; toddlers might thread Glow Discs onto a pole; older children might build a glowing tower or transport the Early Years Projector to explore shadows in a den. Every action, no matter how small, helps to strengthen hands, coordinate movement and build control.

Visual Tracking

Light is brilliant for helping children track movement with their eyes. A glowing ball that rolls across the floor, a spinning top that changes colour, or a pebble that lights up and fades – all encourage children to follow with focus. These small visual journeys are more than just mesmerising to watch; they’re helping children develop the tracking skills they’ll later use for reading, writing and navigating the world around them.

Cause and Effect

There’s a lovely moment when a child presses a button, sees the light change, and realises they made it happen. Cause and effect is a big concept for young children, but glow resources make it wonderfully simple and immediate. With every action and reaction – a tap, a spin, a squeeze – they start to understand that what they do has an impact. It’s a gateway into early thinking skills: predicting, testing and wondering ‘what if?’

Social Skills

Light often draws more than one child to the same space, and that’s where the magic of collaboration begins. A shared interest in a glowing resource becomes a reason to take turns, share ideas, build something together, or act out a little story. Whether they’re constructing with Glow Bricks or exploring shadows with a friend, children are practising the small social steps that build early friendships.

Memory

Children remember what sparks their interest. A colour sequence repeated on Glow Bricks, a Glowing Arch used to make a pattern, a familiar set of lights used in a calming routine – all of these help children build associations and recall experiences. Glow resources support memory by offering consistency, repetition and sensory richness – and when learning is wrapped in awe and wonder, it tends to stick.

STEAM

Glow and light resources are perfect for early STEAM exploration. As they notice how colours mix, shadows shift, or how different materials behave in the light, they’re beginning to think like little scientists and engineers. They might test how to make a tower stable using Light Up Construction Materials, observe how the projectors image changes when an object is moved, use the wall as their canvas for shadow art, or ask questions about why something acts in the way it does. These small moments of wonder encourage children to explore, hypothesise, experiment and create – bringing science, technology, engineering, arts and maths together.

Early Mathematical Thinking

Light and glow resources lend themselves to mathematical thinking in a number of ways. Children might notice patterns in light sequences, sort glowing objects by colour or size, or count how many times the Giant Spinning Top changes colour. They begin to use everyday maths language as they describe what they see – longer, taller, more than, fewer. Building with Glow Construction can be used to introduced concepts like symmetry and balance, while creating sequences encourages children to recognise patterns and helps form the foundations of early algebraic thinking. With the right support, glow and light resources can become a springboard for exploring numbers, shapes, measures and spatial awareness – all in a way that is meaningful and memorable.