Early years blog

Environmental Print Activity – Scavenger Hunt

A walk in your local community can be a fun and engaging way of identifying a range of environmental print that children see and use in their daily lives.

Key things to consider when growing your day nursery business via acquisitions

Are you a day nursery owner looking to expand your business by buying another nursery? Whether you’re planning to buy one additional nursery or develop a small group of two, three, four or more settings, preparation is paramount.

Best baby beginnings: Supporting babies in nurseries

Babies need as many quality interactions with caring adults as possible. Find out how to support babies in your nursery.

Embedding mark making across your provision

Mark making is the foundation of early writing, creativity and communication – and it should be happening everywhere, every day. As leaders, it’s our job to inspire our teams to create rich environments and champion mark making across the whole provision – indoors and out. Here are our top tips put mark making at the heart of play and learning.

Early years activity: Big marks, little hands

Mark making starts long before children pick up a pencil – and sand is the perfect sensory surface to explore it. This simple and engaging activity invites curious children to make their mark, build those early writing muscles and express themselves creatively and playfully.

Developing empathy in children: Empathy in early years

Explore what empathy is, supporting children to empathise with others and the role of the word ‘sorry’.

Empathy in early years - supporting children to empathise children hugging

Shape hunt: Early years activity

A shape hunt helps children develop mathematical concepts, language and motor skills through playful exploration. As they find and name shapes, they build confidence, problem-solving abilities, and curiosity in a fun, hands-on way.

Top tips: Managing local outings

Local outings enrich learning by helping children explore their community, develop social skills, and build confidence. They encourage physical activity, language growth, and real-world understanding while making learning fun and memorable. Here are some tips for managing local outings.

Safe recruitment in nurseries: your responsibilities

Find out about your key responsibilities to ensure safe recruitment in nurseries, from interviewing staff to inductions.

safe recruitment for nurseries - child thumbs up

Flexible working in early years settings: how to make it a success for your organisation

Flexible working isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’ anymore – it’s an expectation. And for early years settings where recruitment and retention are major challenges, building flexible working into your culture can give you a crucial edge in attracting and keeping great people. But how do you make it work in a busy early years environment?

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