Must Have Spring Resources

The days are starting to get longer and brighter and new shoots are poking through the soil. It feels so good that Spring is on it's way!

Now feels like a good time to share some of my favourite spring resources and books (as i get asked this question a lot!) to support your nature based play. All of the resources I share on here are my personal recommendations and are not advertisements.  It is also worth noting that it has taken a few years to collect the bought resources I show in the photos and nature based play can be done so effectively without any of these too! Just get outside and use the nature around you like we did when creating our Very Hungry Caterpillars out of twigs and leaves. 

I often get asked on my training around nature based play if this is something that can be done if you're in an urban area and the answer is yes! We can do nature study by opening up the curtains and watching the birds from our window, setting up a provocation on the northern lights inside to promote curiosity or by growing beans in pots on the window sill. Here is a set up below using some beans we grew when looking at the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and we simply added some wooden small world figures by Yellow Door Education.

I also find this set of bean life cycle a really wonderful resource when looking at growing. These can be purchased here and the book is A Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. 

As the weather starts to improve and get a little bit warmer I like to set up small world scenes outdoors and use natural elements as much as possible. Here is a farm set up that used to be mine as a child along with some beautiful wooden figures from Eric and Albert Crafts, Holztiger, Ostheirmer and Grimms. I have also purchased these from Babipur and Myriad Toys who both offer a fantastic service. 

I like to invest in good quality small world figures and animals and as an early years leader would spend a good amount of our resource budget on this each year. Small world can be brought into every area of learning and used alongside blocks, loose parts and books to open up every area of learning. 

Your Spring Nature Table

Set up a little seasonal nook on a table or shelf in your provision or home. This can then change in response to the elements of the seasons and the interests of the child. 

Why not include;

• Spring flowers in jam jars
• Small world figures connected to the season
• Ivy, leaf or felted pom pom garlands
• Spotter sheets 
• Sketch books
• Child voice cards
• Collectors pots and tinker trays
• Life cycle cards or stones
• Books about spring 
• Natural treasures collected by the children
• Postcards
• Wanderlust Child Nature Journal 

I absolutely love using the beautiful transient art books and postcards in my nature based play too from Ann and Claire Thompson at Naturally Creative Learning. I have just purchased their new book Rain Child and can't wait to use it!

I have also made a list of all my favourite nature based books here to support your study. It takes time to collect these (years!) so don't worry if you're only just starting. Make sure to check out your local library too. To view my favourite nature study books here

Lastly, we can make our own resources with love! Here is a bean provocation I created out of green felt and added in some wooden numbers from John Coverdale Crafts

For more ideas to support nature based learning check out the Wanderlust Child Spring Study here.