Activity and craft ideas

Your child is learning all the time when they’re with you. Everything you do together will be teaching your child a range of skills - without you even realising it! Remember that children learn best when they are having fun.

Enjoy trying some of our favourite activities here:

Crafty ideas to try at home

From improving children's fine motor skills when holding a pencil, using scissors, or peeling and placing stickers, to helping them develop their artistic flair, crafty activities provide a wide range of learning opportunities - and fun - for you and your child.

Each activity has been tried and tested, and also shows how it links to the learning and development frameworks that your childcare professional is working within.

Explore them here.

Creative ideas through the seasons

These are fun and creative ideas that you can try at home or at school with a few simple supplies. We've split the activities into seasons, but there's nothing to say you can't do these all through the year!

Mark making

It could be a simple dot or a line across a paper, all of this contributes to mark making and fundamentally is the basis of developing the writing skill. Our mark-making spotlight gives you lots of ideas and information around mark-making, including this downloadable activity card specific for children starting school.

Early Maths

Here you’ll find a handy round-up of key resources, products, blogs and activities to help you support mathematics in the early years on our spotlight. Although aimed at childcare practitioners, there is free support suitable for parents. 

Literacy in the early years

Literacy in the early years includes talking about books, print in the environment, early mark making and writing, as well as sharing books and reading. Reading with your child is a great way to bond with them, but will also have a huge impact on their learning and development. Author and childcare expert Penny Tassoni gives her top five story telling tips below.

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The power of play - GOSH

The play experts at Great Ormond Street Hospital have assembled a treasure trove of games and activities, to help children across the UK and beyond cope with today’s challenges and support your family through this challenging time.

Music and communication

ICAN have teamed up with Creative Futures to create some free resources on their website Sound Communities. The new resources aim to support music practice and speech development, providing parents and professionals with easy to use tools and methods to promote the use of music as part of learning.