Environment and materials – Indoors

Children need to know what is available and where to find it. It’s equally important that they know where to put it away when they’ve finished with it.

The variety of what is provided should encourage children to work out different ways of exploring and solving problems. The most valuable resources allow the children to use their imagination as much as possible. Materials that can be transformed in lots of ways inspire children to work out what they can do or be. New books and images can be added frequently depending on particular interests at the time. Observation of how children use particular spaces can be valuable to inform the way the space is organised and stocked. The children themselves can have input into what their nursery looks like based on how they want to use it.