Early Years News
Jasmin Reynolds
Early Learning Matters Week 2025: Building Bright Futures!
Early Learning Matters Week 2025 is August 18th to 24th. This annual event is a fantastic opportunity to shine a spotlight on the incredible importance of early learning in a child's development.
The early years of a child's life are absolutely crucial. 90% of brain development occurs before a child even starts school, as a result, we know that the first few years are vital for development. High-quality early learning experiences, especially those focused on learning through play, provide the foundational building blocks for a child's future success. Through well planned play experiences, children develop essential cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills, fostering creativity, problem-solving, language proficiency, and a lifelong love of learning. It's where they learn to make friends, build confidence, and prepare for school and beyond.
We encourage all families to engage with their children in enriching play-based activities and to recognise the vital role that early childhood educators play in nurturing the next generation.
Here are some easy at-home early learning play ideas for young children:
Sensory Bins: Fill a container with rice, pasta, or dried beans and hide small toys or letters inside. Add a scoop or spoon for digging and exploring. (Supervise closely with very young children to prevent ingestion of small items).
Cardboard Box Creations: A large cardboard box can transform into anything a child imagines – a car, a house, a rocket ship! Encourage them to decorate it and act out stories.
Homemade Musical Instruments: Use everyday items like plastic bottles filled with rice or beans to make shakers, or pots and pans with wooden spoons for drums.
Water Play: A tub of water with some plastic cups, spoons, and small toys offers endless opportunities for pouring, scooping, and exploring concepts like full and empty. (Always supervise water play).
Nature Scavenger Hunt: Head out to the backyard or a local park with a simple list of natural items to find, like a specific leaf, a smooth rock, or a colourful flower.
Playdough Fun: Make your own playdough or use store-bought. Add cookie cutters (including alphabet and number shapes), beads, or pasta for extra sensory exploration and fine motor skill development.
Story Time and Role Play: Read books together and then encourage your child to act out parts of the story, or simply dress up with old clothes and invent their own imaginative scenarios.
What is one new activity you plan to try with your child during Early Learning Matters Week to encourage play-based learning?