Environment plan for Birth-3’s Week beginning:

Responsive adults are the most important resource.

Activities should be available for a number of days or until children are no longer interested, give young children the opportunity to watch first or return again and again.

Let children combine resources, do unexpected things with resources – observe and follow their lead.

Plan also for quiet, snuggly spaces.

Most things on offer should also be available outside, but in a different way e.g. bigger, louder, messier

Evaluate the week on the back of this sheet.

Mark making can happen anywhere and everywhere

Consider the Characteristics of Effective Learning when planning your continuous provision

Sensory exploration including Treasure baskets / Heuristic play
Shakers, instruments, things to bang. Smelly bags with essential oils.

Treasure baskets. Outside – hanging objects to bang and make sounds- biscuit tins, sticks, pots, etc. Encourage children to rub leaves and smell the rosemary & lavender

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Home corner / doll play

An adult in area at some point each day to support children, float to be aware that support may be needed here. Range of doll resources, nappies, clothes, blankets, bottles, beds. Range of home corner equipment, small bits of fabric as washing (Anna) real small tins of food, play dough and salt dough foods. Suitcases (Ben) Water in washing up bowl and J cloths(Tyrese)
Creative / Imaginative / role play
Fabric pieces, some with Velcro to fasten as capes or skirts, selection of hats, bags and shoes. – some also outside and hollow community blocks to make house/bed etc, small pillows/blankets
Big paper on floor/paint and big brushes (inside & out). Table top finger painting. Bark chips in builders’ tray with animals and people. /

Malleable / messy play

Lovely smells in soft dough, tools to make holes.

Mixing in builders tray– flour ,water, food colouring, rice (out of date)

Outside - Pulses (out of date) small scoops and small pots.

Sand / water play

Lovely smells in water. Individual washing up bowls available with range of recycled containers (Tyrese). Water tray with range of containers and jugs / small bottles to pour. Outside sand dry and next to water tray so children can mix, jugs and small bottles to pour. Both in and out put plank across water tray so children can balance containers on it. Buckets and decorators brushes (Tyrese) /

Books / props / puppets / singing

An adult at some point each day sitting in book area to read with children.
Daisy stories and little duck stories with small duck soft toys (6 so enough for everyone) Singing 3 little ducks and using soft toys and mirror as pond, make hills to go over - support children in playing with it. Play it using cushions to crawl over as hills & children being ducks
Physical play including transporting and on / off / into
Big cardboard box to crawl into and out of. Wooden box in room beside rug to encourage climbing on and jumping off. Push along wagons inside. Outside- low plank to walk along/ jump off, big mats for rough and tumble play, tunnel for into and through (Anna) Big wagon for children to push each other, buggies and small shopping baskets. Small hollow Community blocks for children to use as they wish. Fabric, rope pegs available to make dens. /

Sorting play including filling / emptying

Really large buttons, small inset trays, small pots and boxes. Baskets of pinecones, reels and corks with metal buckets/ recycled pots with lids.(Anna) Pieces of chain and zip up purses. Adult with this supporting talk.

© Islington Early Years Foundation Stage Team 2012