Autumn Tinker Tray Ideas

What is a tinker tray?

Tinker trays are filled with open ended loose part materials that will spark curiosity, problem solving, critical thinking and imaginative play. The objects in the tray can be used in any way the child chooses and there is no set way that they should be used.  It is commonly used in the Reggio Emilia Approach to learning and can be adapted for a range of different ages and stages of development. 

Materials for a tinker tray

Any tray with compartments can be used to display and store the loose parts to be used in play. I quite like using trays made out of natural materials like wood and seagrass as i always think we can display our materials in a beautiful way in these. Here are some ideas of what you could use or re-use:

• A cutlery tray insert
• A chocolate box or biscuit box insert
• Bun trays
• Tie box
• Jewellery tray insert
• Desk drawer dividers
• Tool boxes
• Crafting boxes
• Ice cube trays
• A tea bag caddy

Items ideas for your tinker tray:

We can create themed trays around a particular season, theme or interest. It might be around the colours we see in the Autumn with natural and man made objects in the shades of red, oranges and browns. Or perhaps a themed tray on trees after a woodland walk. Here you might have bark, leaves, sticks, leaf tiles and add it into your clay area to see how the children respond to the materials. I might also add a leaf identification sheet and a book around the theme. 

We can use a range of natural and man-made materials to spark curiosity.

Here are some ideas I have for Autumn time:

• Leaves

• Sticks

• Conkers

• Acorns

• Pinecones

• Wooden Autumn shapes

• Peg people

• Felt pieces in Autumn colours

• Autumn foliage 

• Seeds

• Bark

• Pumpkin and squash

• Buttons

• Pom poms

• Cellophane pieces

• Pipe cleaners

• Tree cookies

How can we use the objects?

• Use them in crafting

• In the playdough or clay

• In the sand or kinetic sand

• Create transient art on a mirror

• Create transient art on a tree stump

For more ideas on nature based play check out my Rewilding Wanderlust Child Nature Study Programme here.