Silkysteps early years forum - planning ideas for play

Hi, a useful way to look at providing an appropriate environment may be to think of how you would layout & design a nursery room or play room at home .. for a baby / toddler or older .. what sort of toys/resources you'd put in, furniture & where it would be placed.

How you would check that everything is suitable for age and is safe. What you would do if the Children appear to 'out grow or show little interest in the toys - possibly exchanging, swapping out the resources or allowing Children free access to choose their own items to play with. Who you would ask in a professional capacity about providing resources that are suitable for development - investigating manufacturers recommendations, refering to your own development charts, contacting health professionals or browsing notice board areas, liasing with colleagues, parents and the Children ...

The way Children's needs change can depend on the opportunities that they have made available to them. Experiencing these help to explore themselves, likes, dislikes, skills, accomplishments and interests that further own development ..

Needs may change by 'moving on - judging if they are positive changes, negative or maybe readjusted needs can be based on personal knowledge & professional judgements / evaluations ..

These are a few sites can help identify patterns in the type of resources & toys produced for age ranges:

Fisherprice.com : Early Learning Centre : Mothercare.co.uk : Toys R Us : you can also use your prefered search engine to look for: Outdoor play : Sensory play

For older you could search for gaming : RC - Radio controlled Car : Sport : Music : The BBC's Slink : pinball : skateboard, ball games : card games : fashion / sport / motor .. magazines : table football :

Hope this helps a little

xx