Welcome to your November newsletter
Welcome to the monthly newsletter for tickit Play Professionals.
Every month, we share ideas, experiences and practical tips on a particular topic. This month, we’re exploring intelligent play materials, and how open-ended resources with endless possibilities can inspire curiosity, creativity and rich learning experiences.
In this month's newsletter
What makes a great intelligent play material?
What makes a great intelligent play material?
Intelligent play materials don't have to be expensive or specialist. Wooden blocks, clay, paint, cardboard tubes, paper and everyday household objects can all offer rich opportunities for play and learning.
Look for materials that invite children to explore different textures, shapes, colours, sounds and ways of using them. The best resources offer multiple possibilities rather than one fixed purpose or outcome.
Take a simple sheet of paper - it offers so many opportunities to experiment, create and discover.
It can be ripped, cut, folded, crumpled, layered, arranged or combined with other materials.
When choosing materials, think about what children might do with them, the questions they could inspire and how they might be combined with other resources. Could they spark curiosity, encourage problem-solving or lead to something entirely unexpected?
Sometimes, the simplest materials offer the richest possibilities.
4 ways to make the most of intelligent materials
4 ways to make the most of intelligent materials
1. Keep possibilities open: Present materials without a set activity or finished outcome, encouraging children to decide what to create, explore and discover.
2. Give children time and space: Step back and observe, allowing children to experiment, make mistakes, problem-solve, and try again.
3. Less is more: Curate a small, carefully chosen collection of quality, durable materials that offer lots of possibilities for play.
4. Celebrate the process: Recognise children’s creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking, rather than focusing solely on the finished result.
Have your say! What would you like to read about?
Have your say! What would you like to read about?
We're planning next year's newsletters and would love your input. Which topics would you most like us to explore, including insights and experiences from our Community Voices?
We'd love to hear from you!
A little something for your setting!
A little something for your setting!
Our tickit Play Professionals activity sheets have been a big hit with practitioners, so we're sharing a selection for everyone to enjoy!
Packed with simple, practical play ideas, they're designed to inspire learning and exploration in your setting.
Whether you're exploring feelings, discovering the natural world or getting creative with colour, there's something to inspire every setting.
Community Voices
Community Voices
This month, Charlotte Longworth, Reception Teacher, English Lead and member of the Senior Leadership Team, considers “Beautiful provision, purposeful play”, looking at how intelligent play materials can nurture children’s curiosity, independence, creativity and problem-solving skills.
Beautiful provision, purposeful play: seeing the possibilities in our materials
For me, intelligent play materials are resources that encourage children to explore, experiment and use their imaginations. They don't need one fixed purpose or a particular finished product. Instead, they offer possibilities, allowing children to follow their ideas, make discoveries and take their play in unexpected directions.
Since moving into Reception, I've been reflecting on the provision I create and the resources I choose. I love creating inviting environments, but I'm learning that purposeful provision isn't always about how a setup looks. Some of the enhancements my children have returned to most enthusiastically haven't been the ones I've spent hours planning. They've been the spontaneous additions that grow from noticing children's interests and responding in the moment.
Following children's curiosity
One example was our conker races. The children had started rolling conkers along the floor and dropping them from a cable reel. I noticed their interest, so I introduced cardboard tubes and guttering to extend their exploration.
From there, the play developed in ways I hadn't planned. The children investigated different lengths of tubes and guttering, exploring how these affected the conkers' speed. They compared larger and smaller conkers, predicting whether the bigger ones would travel more slowly, and tested what happened when they added water. Tyres and cable reels helped them adjust the height of their tracks and see whether the conkers travelled faster or slower.
What started as simple rolling and dropping became an opportunity to make predictions, test ideas and explore cause and effect. The materials didn't dictate what the children had to do; they gave them a starting point for their own questions and investigations.
When children's imaginations take over
I see this just as much in small-world and construction play. Children's imaginations are powerful. What looks like an ordinary stick to us might become a magic wand or a sparkler, while leaves collected outside might become boats or roofs for a magical fairy town.
I've also had a bear's cave created from sticks and leaves, with tiny red seeds becoming mushrooms for the bear to eat. It wasn't what I'd intended my light table to be used for that day, but I loved seeing where the children's ideas took them. Their creation sparked conversation, storytelling and oracy as they developed their own little world.
It's a reminder that we don't always need to decide what children should make or how they should use a resource. Giving them freedom to interpret materials in their own way can create rich opportunities for language and collaborative storytelling.
The same thinking applies across my provision. In a mark-making tuff tray, children explored making different marks with paintbrushes and their fingers, including zigzags and patterns. Outside, sticks, acorns, conkers and leaves can be used for counting, pattern-making and mark-making. The same materials offer different possibilities depending on the ideas children bring to them.
Three tips for making materials work harder
1. Start by observing. Look at what children are already interested in before deciding what to add. Their play can give you a meaningful starting point for extending their exploration.
2. Choose materials with possibilities. Think about how resources might be used in different ways. Everyday objects, natural materials and purpose-designed resources can all offer opportunities for investigation, creativity and problem-solving.
3. Know when to step back. Sometimes a small addition or an open question can extend play. At other times, children need space to experiment, change their ideas and take play in their own direction.
I'm still learning and reflecting on my practice, and that's one of the things I'm enjoying about working in EYFS. Thinking about intelligent play materials has encouraged me to look beyond the resources themselves and consider the possibilities they offer.
For me, beautiful provision and purposeful play can go hand in hand. It's about being thoughtful in the materials we choose, while leaving room for children's curiosity and imagination to take us somewhere we hadn't planned.
Visit Charlottes Instagram page for inspiring EYFS classroom ideas!
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for reading and for being part of our tickit Play Professionals community 💞
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The tickit team x