National Pet Month is all about raising awareness of responsible pet ownership through education, celebrating the benefits of pets and encouraging fundraising for the nation’s needy pets.
A rainy day in doors doesn’t have to mean a day stuck in front of the TV or computer. There are lots of activities to keep children occupied – and still learning. Painting, baking, and other arts and crafts are just some of the great ways to boost their creativity. Here are some activities that are perfect for wet weather days.
Find out how the team at Practical Pre-School Books, part of the same publisher as EYE, is staying close to all its practitioners, parents and carers at this challenging time.
Now is the perfect time to talk to children about how plants grow from seeds and the conditions they need to flourish. Let them loose outdoors with a watering can to discover the joys of caring for their very own garden.
The books of Emily Gravett provide a great focus for activities such as walking to the post box to post a letter home, going on a litter pick to clean up the environment or making and operating a finger puppet.
Activities linked to the natural environment and its wildlife will encourage children to source information from reference books, record facts in writing and use different formats such as captions, labels and speech bubbles.
Easter baking is an opportunity to practise problem solving. Do children know what to do if they take their cakes out of the oven and they are not properly baked yet? How can they tell if a cake is cooked all the way through? It's time to decide!
Maureen Lee describes how a study visit to Denmark has inspired a group of practitioners to take their forest school practice to the next level and use it as a springboard for important research.
With some children accessing technology for disproportionate amounts of time at home, how important is it for settings to try to combat the negative effects of screen-time?
Butterflies will enjoy a national day of celebration on March 14. Make it a date for children to explore their characteristics and habitats with the help of resources available from the Wildlife Trusts. It's a great excuse to get outdoors and study nature.
What could be more fun than making your own musical instruments? Start with these simple ideas using recycled objects to inspire children's love of music and appreciation of how sounds are made.
What goes on at your local recycling centre is often a subject of fascination for children. Karen Hart suggests ways to build on this curiosity with activities which will help them to understand the importance of managing waste and recycling unwanted objects.
If pitched at the right level, a trip to a historical or cultural location can be just as valuable in the early years as it is for pupils further up the school, as we found on our trip to Hampton Court Palace, says Elaine Booth, teacher at Latchmere School in Kingston-upon-Thames.
As the weather gets colder and resources become scarcer, birds have to make every minute count when it comes to finding food. Teach children how they can help them to survive during the winter and fuel their fascination for the natural world.
Air pollution is one of the most complex aspects of the environmental crisis facing our planet. It's hard not to feel overwhelmed by its seriousness; what can we do to make a difference, and how can we address such a difficult issue with young children?
While winter’s lack of daylight hours and long, dark evenings may make most of us feel like hibernating, consider ways in which you can explore the excitement of darkness with children.
The first in this ‘little scientist’ series explores the nature of chemistry and outlines some simple but exciting experiments, which will ignite children's curiosity and encourage them to make predictions based on what they see.
Ailsa Chapman re-visits that stalwart of early years resourcing – the tuff tray, and suggests ways to extend its scope, with a range of imaginative ideas that children can take in any direction.
Hilary White kicks off a new series exploring how early years settings can make practical changes to become eco-friendly, while creating a dynamic environment for children to learn about conservation.
Children are naturally inquisitive about the world and they will always be excited by hands-on science. These simple experiments devised by Claire Hewson are designed to ignite children's curiosity, wonderment and sense of discovery.
National Radio Day is celebrated in the US on 20 August 2019 and is not only a day to remember the invention of the radio but also to think about words and sound as a medium of communication.
Home-made sensory bottles will fascinate children as a way to experiment with different liquids, and how they look and react. Record how their predictions support their Understanding of the World.
Bringing old and young together for meaningful interactions is now proving to have many benefits – not just for children and the elderly, but for society as a whole. Stephen and Denise Burke explain how they are working to maximise these benefits.
Use International Museum Day as a springboard for children to explore the role of museums and think about them as a way to share knowledge and ideas, and preserve memories of the past and present.
Want to keep up-to-date with the latest pedagogical research and ideas from the experts, be challenged in your thinking and innovative in your practice? Dip into this month’s pages for a taster of EYE’s in-depth, professional coverage.
