A curriculum does not always mean what you imagine with set subjects and planned classes.

In the early years a curriculum takes on a different approach, especially at Blossoming Buddies.

The children are our curriculum.

This mean as a child led setting we follow the children likes, interests and needs to plan.

We are a flexible setting which means a lot of our planning is, in the moment planning, depending on what children we have, what they are into on a day to day basis and what is going to spark their interest right there and then.

In the Moment Planning is one of the most effective ways of introducing child led learning. By allowing children the freedom to explore their own interests, it increases their engagement as they are allowed to participate in activities they have chosen themselves.

We refer to the developmental matters and birth to 5 years to help keep track of children’s progress.

We do offer adult led activities as well. Always keeping in mind these need to be flexible allowing us to adapt to children’s abilities and needs that day.

Planning in the early years is about meeting young children’s needs so that they can play and learn happily in ways which will help them develop skills and knowledge across the Prime and Specific areas of learning in the EYFS.

And our curriculum consists of play play and more play!

“All children and young people need to play. The impulse to play is innate”.

We recognise that:-

  • Play is fundamental to every child’s development.
  • All children have a right to play and that play is important for children.
  • Children’s play needs should be continually considered and catered for.
  • Children need access to safe quality play both indoors and outdoors in a child centred environment.
  • Children need choice.
  • Play opportunities enable children to develop as individuals and play activities must be specific to the age and stage of development for all children.
  • Children’s views are listened to, valued and taken into account
  • Play should enable children to develop confidence and empower them.
  • Good practice should be celebrated and shared.
  • An adequate amount of well-equipped space should be allocated for children’s own directed play.
  • There needs to be adequate resources of good quality for children’s play.

In order to achieve this we ensure children have opportunities to play which enables them to:

  • Explore and use all their senses
  • Practise motor skills
  • Be creative
  • Experience new things
  • Share
  • Act out
  • Have fun
  • Build
  • Observe and copy
  • Explore and take risks
  • Practise activities and situations
  • Pretend.

We provide the space, time, activities and resources for the children to play with e.g. dressing up clothes, games, sticks, stones, mud, water, boxes, balls and bikes.

Child and adult led play:

We use a mixture of child led and adult led play to provide a balanced learning experience. Both adult and child led learning supports the seven areas of the learning and development of the EYFS, some activities will be more child led and other adult led.

We provide opportunities for Physical, Creative, Imaginary, Sensory and Heuristic play.

We support the children to play themselves to enable the children to explore their world and their place within it and to develop at their own pace.We do this by:

  1. Providing a child centred play area:
  2. Make sure it is childproof and clean
  3. Avoid over-stimulation
  4. Allow children to leave constructions up for awhile so they come back and engage in new adventures in the world they created
  5. Store play items safely but make them easily accessible
  6. Providing toys with play value that:
  7. Can be used in many ways
  8. Allow children to determine the play
  9. Appeal to children at more than one age or level of development
  10. Can be used with other toys for new and more complete play
  11. Will stand the test of time and continue to be part of play as develop new interest and skills
  12. Help children develop skills important for further learning and a sense of mastery
  13. Encouraging a balance in play activities:
  14. Encourage outdoor play that uses large muscles – running, jumping, climbing and playing games is cool
  15. Curtail time spent in adult-organized activities – child directed play is important
  16. Do not allow the children to become over-scheduled – self-directed play should be encouraged
  17. Encourage new activities such as art, music, building or science – I make the introduction then leave the children to play and explore on their own

Enabling environment:

We meet the rights for the children to play by implementing the EYFS (2017) principle that children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.

We provide an enabling environment which promotes play by:

  • providing a safe environment for the child to explore and test out their ideas.
  • We may use the child’s interests or next steps to develop play through offering a breadth of opportunities or resources for the child to use in a variety of ways.
  • We understand the needs of the child and work towards providing opportunities for child-initiated play. This can be achieved through observations and building a solid relationship with the child, in order to learn about their likes and dislikes.
  • We create play areas to meet the different needs of play to enable children to participate in child initiated activities and use the space to build on their ideas and experiences. For example quiet areas to allow children to observe others and gives them time and space to reflect on their learning, an outdoor environment to help nurture the minds of children and encourage child led play. The large open spaces and the breadth of natural resources enable children to use their imagination and problem-solving skills to develop their play.
  • We provide children with a variety of play equipment and toys to allow the children to choose what that play with and for how long.
  • We provide the parents with information on the importance of play and ideas to support and encourage it (The importance of play parents guide)

Inclusive play:

We provide inclusive play by ensuring all children have the same access to play opportunities, regardless of their specific abilities, needs and backgrounds. Inclusive play bridges the divide between mainstream and special needs children. Both groups can benefit from these play methods and learn a lot from mixing with those different to themselves. Children at all ages learn in all aspects of development through play: emotional, social, physical and mental.

Inclusive play offers children a richer play environment and evolves according to their changing needs and interests. It offers a sense of place and is supported through observation-led planning.

Inclusive play provides respect for the culture of children’s play and recognises that all individuals are welcomed and valued.

We support inclusive play by

  • Ensure the layout of the room is not too cluttered.
  • there is a clear pathway from one activity to another and to the toilet etc,
  • Make sure that each child has the adult support they require whilst promoting independence
  • make sure the activities are presented in a way that promotes the child’s independence, for example accessible to all children.
  • All toy boxes are labelled with works and pictures so that all children can decided what to play with.
  • work in partnership with the parents and other professionals to understand the best way to provide inclusive play to each child.
  • Observe the children and how they interact with the toys, environment and determine if their needs are being met to enable them to develop, I adapt as necessary.
  • Provide a wide range of activities, both child led and adult led based on children’s learning needs
  • Provide a wide range of opportunities to motivate, support and develop children and help them to be involved, concentrate and learn effectively
  • Plan for each child’s individual care and learning requirements including additional or different provision required to meet particular individual needs
  • Enable children to be consulted effectively to ensure they are gaining the most benefit from the setting.

Our curriculum truly allows children to flourish