Looking back on some of our favourite spring play ideas

Hoping they might prove useful over the coming weeks

Spring Garden Bookish Play

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Getting all the spring books out for Edie to read and to inspire some small world play. We love creating small worlds and Pippa and Pelle in the Spring Garden is perfect inspiration. Lots of bright colours, cute characters and you can incorporate plants from the garden as well as toys. Pippa and Pelle plant seeds and help their garden to grow. They are friends with ladybirds and butterflies and snails too. The pair make soup and salads using the fruits and vegetables that they grow. So much playful learning can come from this one book. #somanywaystoplay

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Mar 16, 2020 at 2:00am PDT

Planting A Rainbow Bookish Play

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Mary, Mary, Quite contrary, How does your garden grow? We are loving this sunny weather and being able to spend long lazy days in the garden. Edie had lots of garden themed gifts for her second birthday last week including this beautiful wooden flower bed from @tenderleaftoys @threadbear.design The wooden flowers can be planted by slotting them into the brown earth base. Children can arrange the flowers in different ways and then water them with the cute little watering can. The flowers can be picked and arranged as a posy or bouquet. This toy is perfect for playing gardening, florists and garden centres. All my girls adore this toy and it has been played with non stop since it was unwrapped. It is also perfect for #bookishplay and a great complement for one of our favourite books Planting a Rainbow 🌈 Taking our flower bed outside offered another way to play with this colourful cute flower garden toy #somanywaystoplay #woodentoys #toddlertoys #bringbooksalive #bookinspiredplay #imaginativeplay #creativeplay #roleplay #playandlearn #playfullearning #preschoolplay #toddlerplay #natureplay #toysattwo #ecotoys #slowtoys #playtime #playathome #learningthroughplay #gardenplay

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on May 15, 2019 at 1:42pm PDT

Petal Potions and Stem Stew

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After collecting the flowers from Baby Tilda’s garden yesterday we added them to our water play. Making petal potions and stem stew is an old favourite activity of ours. Edie loved separating the flowers from the stems and peeling off the petals. She loved adding the ingredients to the water and stirring and scooping her soup. She loves pouring the mixture from one container to another. As a child I loved making perfume with flowers and it gives me all the feels to see my own children engaged in this play too. A lovely water table activity for a warm spring day. #somanywaystoplay #waterplay #sensoryplay #playinmay #welovespringplay #watertablefun #flowerplay #play #timetoplay #hurrahforplay #playtime #letthemplay #playathome #invitationtoexplore #natureplay #invitationtoplay #toddlerplay #preschoolactivities #homeeducation #learningthroughplay #playislearning

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on May 22, 2019 at 2:40am PDT

Lemon and Daisy Water Play

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Today we had a lovely afternoon in the garden. We did some potion making. With water, frozen lemons and fresh daisies we made some wonderful sunshine potions. All four children loved this activity. Squeezing the juice out of the lemons, pulling the petals off the daisies to make sprinkles, measuring using non standard measures, scooping and pouring, it was wonderful and everyone was chatting away happily about their magical lemonade, noticing together how wonderful the water smelt and how it changed colour as the lemon juice was squeezed out. A whole lot of learning and #somanywaystoplay

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on May 13, 2019 at 11:54am PDT

Decorate An Easter Tree

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Set up a super simple seasonal #invitationtoplay This is an old favourite of ours … mug tree and curtain rings with added Easter eggs on ribbons to encourage the children to make an Easter Mug Tree. The curtain rings also make lovely nests for the eggs and encourage children to count and make patterns. I set this up with Edie in mind but Bea has loved it too. Great for developing fine motor skills and practising the pincer grip. Super for counting and one to one correspondence and just a lovely way to make a simple Easter tree that can be decorated and redecorated over and over again. Can’t wait to see what Esther gets up to when she discovers this set up! #somanywaystoplay #oursensoryeaster #manywaystoplay #playfullearning #eyfsideas #playandlearn #easterplay #springplay #welovespringplay #easter #sensoryplay #learningthroughplay #eastereggs #betterthananytoy #playmatters #timetoplay #preschoolplay #toddlerplay #toddlerfun #homeeducation #playideas

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Apr 6, 2019 at 10:52am PDT

Poppy and Sam’s Easter Egg Hunt Bookish Play

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We set up an Easter egg hunt today, down on the farm with #poppyandsam Inspired by the new festive Farmyard tale from @usborne_books that we have been sent to review. We hid eggs in the hay loft, in the tractor’s trailer, in the feed troughs, in the meadow, in the duck pond, in, on, under, behind, between, opposite, all around the farm! Esther and Edie has great fun finding all the eggs together, counting them up and hiding them again. Lots of rich language and mathematical thinking in this #tufftrayplay If you are looking for a chocolate alternative this Easter then this fab fun Poppy and Sam book would make the perfect treat for your little one. Maybe they could find it as part of their very own Easter Egg hunt! #somanywaystoplay #bookishplay #usbornebooks #gifted

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Apr 2, 2019 at 1:33pm PDT

Who’s In The Garden Bookish Play

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Yesterday our bookish play featured our lovely new bugs from @lankakade I made a play tray with lentils and rice and lots of insects and other minibeasts hidden inside. Using some of our favourite spring books we tried to ask and answer questions. Who is in the garden? Where is the snail hiding? How many bugs? Can you find the biggest frog? This was such a lovely way to play and through our play extend vocabulary and practice asking questions Bea and Esther enjoyed this just as much as Edie did. Esther also loved teaching Edie about the different mini beasts and why we need them all in our garden. Together Esther and Edie used our measuring worms from @learningresourcesuk to dig and turn the soil, to tunnel underground. #somanywaystoplay #invitationtoplay #invitationtolearn #bookishplay @usborne_books @barefootbooks #lankakade #sensoryplay #playandlearn #learningthroughplay #welovespringplay #springplay #preschooldays #preschoolplay #toddlerplay #toddlerfun

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Mar 27, 2019 at 7:21am PDT

Flower and Plant Lifecycles

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We are learning about plant life cycles and what plants need to survive as part of our home education. We have been using these beautiful @usborne_books and some of our favourite toys for some #playfullearning The wooden flower bed is from @threadbear.design @tenderleaftoys You can plant and arrange the wooden flowers and water them with a cute wooden watering can. Tender Leaf Toys also make the wooden wheelbarrow in the pictures. It comes with plants and plant pots and pretend packets of seeds. The flower arranging set from @bigjigstoys is made with environmentally friendly plastic #greentoys and is a lovely toy. The garden themed tray puzzle is beautiful quality and can be used in imaginative play pretending to be a garden planner. #somanywaystoplay #bookishplay #usbornebooks #woodentoys #invitationtoplay #invitationtolearn #bookinspiredplay #playfullittlelearners #homeeducation #homeeducationuk

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Sep 14, 2019 at 6:00am PDT

Count With Maisy Bookish Play

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Bea and I had great fun this morning using fluffy chicks and mini eggs to do our maths. We first read Count With Maisy Cheep Cheep Cheep a delightful counting to 10 books with flaps. We realised that our muffin tray nests held more than 10 chicks. 2 more made 12. We put all the chicks in their nest and I then modelled the maths game for Bea. We had to roll two dice and find the total by using the chicks, placing them in the muffin tray and counting them all up. So, I rolled 4 and 2. I put 4 chicks in the tray, then two more, adding them all up to find the total. Bea then had to write out her calculation. We played 7 rounds where the highest number of chicks was the winner. Bea beat me and William calculated her winning margin! There are so #somanywaystoplay and learn with the set up. You can explore step counting, arrays for multiplication, division as sharing and grouping. SO #manywaystoplay #playislearning #playandlearn #learningthroughplay #eyfsideas #eyfsmaths #mathsideas #earlylearning #homeeducation #homeeducationuk @bigpicturebooks #invitationtoplay #invitationtolearn #earlyyearsideas #welovespringplay #springplay #play #earlychildhoodeducation

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Mar 19, 2019 at 7:15am PDT

Bug and Grub Soup Toddler Play

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Edie at 22 months likes to do what the big kids do so today when Bea was busy counting and sorting bugs, Edie wanted to do it too. I gave her a plastic dish full of bugs and an empty dish. To begin with she was very happy moving the bugs one at a time naming the ones that she knew. She then began emptying one bowl into another. I then added a spoon and a saucepan to the mix so that she could make bug soup which she loved! Super simple imaginative sensory play that helped Edie feel involved in our learning time around the table. Great for counting, identifying minibeasts, recognising colours, exploring cause and effect as well as just great fun and a perfect vehicle for storytelling. You could go this activity with anything you have at home – peas, Cheerios, pom poms, seeds … #somanywaystoplay

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Mar 20, 2019 at 3:15pm PDT

Do Fairies Bring The Spring? Bookish Play

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Today we created this spring themed small world inspired by the book Do Fairies Bring The Spring? We used a cloud muslin from @mamadesigns as the base we then added a mirror with blue glass beads to make a magical lake. Here the water fairies were guarding a swan nest filled with eggs. Through the fairy world wound a path made of beautiful wooden minibeast dominoes from @tenderleaftoys Scattered around were spring coloured pom poms. Nestled among the pom poms lay a secret pink nest belonging to the rainbow bird. Two fairies stood guarding the nest and the precious eggs. Further down the domino path lay a pink and purple cave. No one knows who lives inside. Would you be brave enough to enter and find out? Beside the cave a group of fairy friends watch over a human baby sleeping soundly in a leaf bed. All through the land fairies have their own jobs to do to help bring the spring. The fairy queen oversees the hustle and bustle from her floral throne. Adventure awaits the fairies and their animal friends as the start of spring draws near. #springstories #springplay #welovespringplay #bookishplay #storytelling #somanywaystoplay

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Mar 18, 2019 at 2:24pm PDT

We’re Going On A Bug Hunt

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We have had a minibeast morning today. We did a sensory bug hunt using insects from @learningresourcesuk hidden in trays of dried lentils and rice. The children had to find the bugs and lift them out using chopsticks. The big kids made a tally chart of their finds and then used their data to make a block graph. The children then hid all the bugs again. This time they hunted for them, found them and then sorted them using different criteria including colour, wings or no wings and number of legs. It was a lovely way to include some simple maths and science in our play. Edie loves pushing her arms into the rice and pulling out the minibeasts by hand. She loves placing bugs in different compartments of a muffin tray. She also enjoyed chewing on the worms!! We found #somanywaystoplay with this set up and lots of ways to learn. #minibeasts #bugs #minibeasthunt #bughunt #stem #science #maths #sensoryplay #invitationtoplay #learningcolors #invitationtolearn #datahandling #homeeducationuk #homeeducation #homeschool #learningthroughplay #playandlearn

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Mar 12, 2019 at 9:22am PDT

Rose Water Fairy Lagoon Tuff Tray

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A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Aug 26, 2019 at 2:57am PDT

Small World Sensory Farm

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Today we have been playing on the farm. As the weather has turned cold and wet we made our own mini farms using a cutlery tray and a large snack tray / art tray. I filled each section with a different seed or bean or cereal. We had lentils and coffee beans, corn kernels and red beans. We also used blue glass beads in a blue basket to make a duck pond. I added pots and mini tools to allow the farmers to feed their animals and work the land. I made this with Edie in mind but all the children enjoyed exploring it from ages 22 months to 9 years old. We love playing farms and have a large and growing collection of farm animals. Today we used our tiny animals and sorted them into their own pens and fields. We love using these trays for our small world play and these fillers we keep in an air tight container so we are able to use them again and again. If you like the idea of #cutlerytrayplay do follow the hashtag for lots of ideas and inspiration. #somanywaystoplay

A post shared by Family Blogger UK 😊Jennie (@edspire) on Feb 28, 2019 at 6:12am PST

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Here I share our daily play and home learning activities

This week our focus is spring flowers

Next week minibeasts and life cycles

The following week will be Easter

Then Eggs

Followed by Mummy and Baby Animals

Come and play!