Meet the Maker!
I am Sacha, the founder of Early Years Play Ideas. I am SENCo of a nursery federation and I specialise in the early years. I have worked with young children for the past 20 years in a variety of settings and am passionate about children learning through play.
I have been an Early Years Lead and have taught in the Early years for most of my career. My experiences over the years have led me to develop a thorough understanding of how children learn and how best to engage young children in learning through play. At a young age it is important to keep learning fun and open ended, allowing children to explore their own ideas and sensory play is the perfect way to do this. The aim of my business is to allow parents to buy play packs that support this type of play and provide resources that are ready to use and can be played with many times whilst still supporting children's learning and development across many key areas.
Sensory and Messy Play
What is sensory/ messy play? Sensory and messy play are phrases that are often used interchangeably. Sensory play is play that encourages children to use their 5 senses and is often very 'hands on'. Messy play is play that often involves materials that can cause a mess such as paint, mud, sand, water ,cornflour and grains/pasta. Whilst many parents dread hearing the words messy play and some actively discourage their child to get messy it is important that we understand the huge benefits from children engaging in this play. Why is messy play important? "Messy play can make an enormous contribution to babies' and young children's cognitive and creative development...This sort of play is important because its lack of a focus on making or producing something leaves the child free to explore all sorts of possibilities. It taps into children's innate curiosity about the world around them and their strong desire to explore and find out more."* Messy play supports children's developments across all areas of the curriculum and can support development in the following areas: Fine and Gross Motor Skills Hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness and body control and balance. Creativity Problem Solving Language Development Building Relationships ( when playing with others at the same tray). Cognitive Development
Contact Me
Please reach out to me if you have any questions or queries. If you don't see a colour you would like in the rice or chickpeas, or there is a themed tray you think should be added, let me know!
Also if an item is out of stock please message as I may be able to make one for you as I sometimes have the stock but haven't managed to update the site.
