Play Trays - Inspiring Ember

ROAD WORKS 🚦// Ember and I were lucky enough to be gifted this beautiful wooden ‘balls in cups’ sorting toy recently from @ulanik_uk and we have had soo much fun playing with it! It’s been amazing for Ember’s colour sorting skills, colour recognition, stacking skills and fine motor development. But, more than this, I’ve found that it’s also been amazing for small world plays and set ups, even down to the wooden tray that it comes in! And it really added another dimension to our roads works play as it created a really engaging traffic light system and brought to life our wrecking ball. This play was also so much fun to explore a range of different texture, including this chocolate moon sand which not only smelt amazing, but was super satisfying 😂 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Enjoys playing with small-world models. DETAILS Construction Worker - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Construction Flashcards, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Sensory Road Base - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Bricks and Blocks - @inspiremyplay Wooden Tray, Bowl, Scoop and Ball Sorts - @ulanik_uk (gifted) #ConstructionPlay #BallSort #SensoryPlay #LearningThroughPlay #smallworldplay

FIREFIGHTER 🔥// This Occupations themed play is in collaboration with @theplaycollab If you’d like to join in on our next collab too, please follow @theplaycollab and send a DM Everyone is welcome! ❤️🧡💛 #FireFighterPlay #OccupationsPlay #ThePlayCollab #LearningThroughPlay #EarlyYearsLearning

TREASURE DIG 🏴‍☠️ // Taking inspiration from both @mooandsonnytoo , @our_sensory_play_nest and @our_play_days recent dried oobleck plays, we made our own 🙌 Such a fun and easy activity to set up and one that really kept Ember engaged for a while, whilst also bringing some fun to our counting practice. Note: surprisingly easy to clean up after too 😂 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Sometimes matches numeral and quantity correctly. DETAILS Treasure Chest, Gold Coins, Parrot, Treasure Dinky - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Tens Frame, Barrels, Magic Alphabet Coins- @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) #Oobleck #SensoryPlay #MessyPlay #CountingPlay #TreasureDigPlay

GEOLOGY DIG 🦴 // This Our World themed play is in collaboration with @theplaycollab If you’d like to join in on our next collab too, please follow @theplaycollab and send a DM Everyone is welcome! 🤎🩶🖤 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Enjoys the sensory experience of making marks in damp sand. DETAILS Archeologist Peg and Fossil Disc - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Dinosaur Bones, Puzzle, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Brown Hoops, Pasta Bones - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Wooden Bowl and Scoop - @ulanik_uk (gifted - use code TOYS10 for 10% discount) #SensoryPlay #ThePlayCollab #LearningThroughPlay #MarkMaking #DinosaurDigPlay

COLOUR MONSTER 🌈 // Recently, Ember has taken such an interest in emotions and is working really hard at the moment to label his and other’s so, this play was fully inspired by this and it’s safe to say that he absolutely loved it 🙌 He has managed to learn each and every emotion shown on both the flashcards and play dough stamp and mimic their faces 😂 He also colour matched our rainbow hoops to each of the flashcards and practiced his motor skills throughout this play. EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Can express their own feelings such as happy, sad, cross, scared, worried. DETAILS Rainbow Monster - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Monster Tray, Play-Dough Stamp Cube, Flashcards, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Rainbow Hoops - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Resin Rainbow Potion Bowl - @not.so.tuff.trays #ChildrensMentalHealth #EmotionsPlay #ColourMonster #ColourMonsterPlay #LearningThroughPlay

EASTER ELIXIR 🌸 // Embers new obsession is definitely fizz plays! He is absolutely giddy every time bless him, and by every time I mean the 20 times he asked me to reset the potion before finally ran out 😂 He was really able to practice his pouring skills also took the time to feed our Easter bunnies some chocolate carrots 🥹 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Show control in holding and using jugs to pour. DETAILS Crystal Witch, Brown Bunny, Pink Bunny, Easter Egg Dinky - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Potion Flashcard, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Rainbow Hoops, Easter Egg Base, Cauldron - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) #EasterPlay #PotionPlay #FizzPlay #LearningThroughPlay #EasterActivities

EGG HUNT 🪺 // To celebrate Easter this year we had two sorts of Easter egg hunts, one real life and one small world 🙌 Ember spent a large proportion of both plays saying “chocolate”, even stopping to feed his already chocolate covered pegs some too 😂 He absolutely loved using his little torch to reveal the hidden images behind the larger eggs, explore this beautiful sensory base and has taken a real interest in letters recently, quickly learning several of them. He was able to recognise “y” within this play. We hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend 🩷 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Links sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letter of the alphabet. DETAILS Bunny, Child Sized Spring Pegs, Easter Egg Basket Dinky - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Magic Alphabet Coins, 3D Printed Basket, Hidden Image Eggs and Torch - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Egg Hunt Sensory Base, Pasta Eggs - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) #EasterEggHunt #EasterActivities #EasterPlay #smallworldplay #LearningThroughPlay

PADDY’S HOUSE 🍀 // Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone! Here’s our play to celebrate. This was a difficult one to set up as Ember was playing with each element before I’d even placed it down 😂 But he absolutely loved it, the magnetic shamrocks especially, these got actually belly laughs 🥹 My favourite bit though, has to be when Ember made a snuggly bed for our Mucky Ducky Paddy Explorer haha. This play was fantastic for continuing to learn Ember’s colours and pre-writing skills, as well as counting our gold coins and endless sensory exploration with the various textures available 🌈 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Recognises and describes special times or events for family or friends. DETAILS Paddy Explorer, Gold Coins, Treasure Dinky - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount Rainbow, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount Rainbow Hoops, Pasta Flowers, Spring Meadow Sensory Base - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Resin Shamrocks - @not.so.tuff.trays #StPatricksDay #StPatricksDayPlay #LearningThroughPlay #SensoryPlay #TinkerTray

ORGANS 🧠 // It’s science week and this is our first play in celebration of this! Now I’m not delusional, Ember is only 2 so I didn’t actually expect him to come away from this play having learned his organs and their functions 😂 However, I was inspired by all of the beautiful resources that were made by the amazing small businesses that I am lucky enough to rep for and made this themed sensory exploration play for him 🙌 This play incorporated numerous different textures for him to explore and gave him the opportunity to further develop his fine motor skills by using the tools available to pick up some of the ‘organs’. He also used our beloved rainbow hoops to practice some threading onto a pipe cleaner that he himself retrieved. He loved our organ play dough stamps and used each to make prints in the dough, he was then able to match each one up to their illustrated flashcards! Although perhaps a gory one, I think it’s safe to say both Ember and I loved this set up 🫀 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Matches objects and parts that fit together. DETAILS Scientist Peg Doll - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Flashcards, Organ InfiniPlay, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) B+ Sensory Base, Rainbow Hoops - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) #LearningThroughPlay #ScienceWeek #ScienceActivity #LearningAboutTheBody #finemotorskills

LETS BAKE 🥞 // DETAILS Pancake Discs, Pancake Ingredients, Pancake Toppings, Patisserie Chef - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Magic Alphabet Coins, Flashcards (Collab With Mucky Ducky) - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) #PancakeDayPlay #PancakePlay #BakingPlay #LearningThroughPlay #LifecyclePlay

BAO HOUSE 🧧 // Inspired by so many of your own beautiful and vibrant plays in celebration or Chinese New Year 🥰 Our play included opportunities for Ember to post and thread various different materials working on his fine motor skill development, which he loves. He made marks in the play dough, transported many of the resources available and even stopped to feed our peg doll some black beans and bao buns 😂 His imagination is really coming in to play and it’s absolutely amazing to watch! EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Enjoys filling and emptying containers. DETAILS Peg Doll, Orange Bum, Fire Bum, Big and Little Bao Bun Bums - @muckyduckydesigns (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Bao Bun Counters, Dragon, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Rainbow Hoops, Dragon/Fire Sensory Base - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) #ChineseNewYearPlay #LunarNewYearPlay #CNYPlay #LearningThroughPlay #FineMotorSkills

NUMBER BLOCKS 🌈 // This play was entirely inspired by @mooandsonnytoo and all of the beautiful accounts that took part in @theplaycollab ‘s first collab! Before having seen all of their amazing invitations to play, we had never watched, listened to or played with number blocks. But now, it’s safe to say that they are a firm favourite for Ember, even coming to the shops and nursery with us! This play helped tremendously with Ember’s number recognition from 1-5, he was able to match the written numbers to those written in either the flashcards or blocks themselves. He was able to correctly line them up in numerical/size order and when asked, tell me which numbers were which! This play also continued to help us learning his colours and allowed for great colour matching and sensory opportunities 🙌 EYFS LEARNING INTENTION Recognises numerals 1-5. DETAILS Flashcards, Magic Alphabet Coins - @play_craftgrow (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) Rainbow Hoops - @mayas_play_tray (use code ‘EMBER10’ for 10% discount) #LearningThroughPlay #NumberBlocks #NumberBlocksPlay #NumberRecognition #LearningColours