Early Years
You can access information specifically produced for the Early Years Foundation Stage through the links below.
You will also find a lot of helpful information in other areas of the website. Places to Visit, will help you find interesting venues near you, and Support provides key arguments to help you make the case for outdoor learning, as well as giving practical ideas for funding and guidance on health and safety.
Get growing!
Involving children in early years settings in growing activities
Download the new Get growing! guide to growing in the Early Years setting.
All about food
Brand new Growing Schools resource for Early Years practitioners, packed with information and ideas for activities and visits for young children, all linked to growing, eating and exploring food.
Download All About food.
Case studies
Using partnerships. A Montessori nursery in a rural setting uses links with local business, the local countryside management project, and an SEN school to help develop its grounds
Understanding growing. Children at a community pre-school in an urban setting learn to understand growing through practical activities and imaginative play.
Growing food in small spaces. A private nursery in an urban setting makes the most of the small amount of available space to introduce children to growing food
Childminders experiences. Childminders from different areas share their experiences of using outdoor spaces within and beyond the school grounds for a range of activities.
Learning though growing projects.
A chart showing how exploration of the outdoor environment and real experiences of growing things outdoors supports all six areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Download the chart.
Other resources
Association of Play Industries Website of the trade association for manufacturers of play equipment. Includes members’ directory and archive of relevant magazine articles that includes lots of health and safety information.
www.api-play.org
Bulb planting How children at Bents Green Pre-school helped to plant bulbs in their garden, encouraging them to work as a team and to use mathematical language.
Go to the resource.
Enabling environments Article about one teacher's experience of taking her early-years group out to local places of interest all year round.
www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/login/775622
Growing beans Introducing children to the concept of planting beans and watching them grow
Go the the resource.
Outdoor play: Babes in the woods (and everywhere else) Article summarizing the benefits of learning outdoors for small children.
www.cypnow.co.uk/archive
Plan for outdoor learning From using tools safely to experimenting with movement, this plan helps to introduce children to working outdoors, using imagination and creativity.
Go to the resource.