The nursery teacher’s guide to essential pre-school supplies
Make sure the young children in your care are getting the right experiences to help them develop. Simply head to any nursery supplier, such as Hope Education (www.hope-education.co.uk), and compile your essentials list. Here are some pointers to get you started.
Art & Crafts
Painting affords one of the most instantly gratifying ways for children to create and express themselves. They can experiment with finger-painting, using different objects to make marks on card or paper, mixing powder paint with different amounts of water to explore paint thickness, decorate models and simply paint whatever comes into their heads.
It’ll also help to develop the skills needed for handwriting and the language for describing colours, shapes and ideas.
Essential Items
Tables or easels
Washable aprons and protective table coverings
Water pots with wide bases so they are harder to knock over
Power paint jars
Paint mixing palettes or shallow plastic trays
Drying racks
Paints, including powder paints, water colour blocks and ready-mixed paints
Paper, of various weights and textures and sizes
Brushes in various sizes and foam rollers
Miscellaneous items to make paint pads from: sponges, wood, bristly brushes and so on
Musical instruments
Much like painting and art in general, music is a fundamental element of creative culture. And, like painting, it provides instant sensory feedback: strike a bell and it rings. Children will enjoy experimenting with the sounds different instruments make, listening to music, associating sounds with particular instruments, playing in a ‘band’, dancing or clapping hands in rhythm and so much more.
Essential Items
Instruments: drums, bells, sleigh bells, glockenspiels, tambourines, maracas, cymbals, recorders, whistles, keyboards, guitars, sound pads and chimes. Also everyday objects including coconut shells, rattles, even bunches of keys
Headphones and stereo equipment
A variety of recorded music that reflects different cultures
Song books
Make-believe/Role play
Most obviously, children will love playing, pretending and interacting with other children. They’ll also love to engage with grown-ups, and incorporating them into narratives. Make-believe helps children to develop language skills, try out new toys, improvise, engage in role-play, gain a sense of time and place and play co-operatively.
Essential Items
Different costumes: fire brigade, paramedic, doctor, police officer
Medical sets
Play money and tills for shop-keeping
Counters of varying heights
Seating
Shopping baskets
Pretend home appliances
A range of items you might find for sale in a shop
Mechanic’s tool set
Toy telephones, computers
Dolls
Kitchens, playhouses
Construction
By letting children play around with construction sets, building blocks and components, you help them work out how things fit together – and come apart. They get a sense of purpose, of having an ambition and building their way towards it. They forge an understanding of giving and receiving instructions. And they include their creations in their own stories – a painted box becomes a fire station, for instance. Construction play can vary from very basic games – stacking blocks, building a ‘house’ – for early years, through to more advanced projects involving wheels and cogs.
Essential Items
Kits that include interlocking bricks, cogs, wheels and connectors – and don’t forget, they should stand up to the rigours of young hands
Wooden blocks of varying sizes
Rulers, tape measures, perhaps toy tools and construction costumes
Maps, architects blueprints, images of famous buildings
Pencils and paper for children’s own plans
For more pointers on getting your classroom just right, head over to tes.co.uk, where you can find a new teacher’s classroom guide and a full list of classroom resources which will give you a good idea of the equipment you’ll need.