Festive Tray Play Ideas!

First up is an ice skating themed tray which can also be used to encourage mark making. I used a mirror for the base but you could easily replace with foil as an alternative. I paired this tray with the Little People set and some natural materials to add a touch of the outdoors. 

The second tray I created was to be used as a tool to open up the discussion around colder climates such as Antarctica and the Arctic. The children had lots of great questions surrounding the topic and I encouraged them to come up with their own answers and guesses before helping them myself. We had a great time learning about a climate so different to our own!

The third small world tray I created was Woodland based, looking at foot prints and again encouraging mark making. After we decided to look at books based on the foot prints that we would be able to discover ourselves in the woods near our house.

As the festive period is now in full swing, I decided to convert shape trays available on the KCS website, and convert them into exciting presents for the children. This idea allowed them to recognise each shape, but also brought the same excitement as ripping open presents on Christmas day! We paired the trays with books and further resources to help the children explore and investigate each shape, but also recognise any similarities between them.

This tray actually turned into more than one activity as many often do. I put the tray on the floor to let my one year old have fun opening the presents. This not only was enjoyable for him but he used both fine and gross motor skills to open them. 

My three year old also had to dive in too. Once all were opened, he asked if he could use scissors to cut the paper up, allowing him to incorporate scissor practice. I love seeing how a tray can evolve or completely change direction to what you had first planned, hence why I tend to follow where the kids take the play and run with it. Plus if they are involved it gives you that few extra minutes to drink a HOT coffee. 

Recently my daughter has been struggling with number writing and recognition, so I decided to put together this elf themed Maths tray using sectional trays from the KCS website. This resource worked perfectly here, as it meant that I could add sand to one section to practise number writing, and loose parts in the other for recognition and counting.

This next tray is based on one of the children's new favourite Christmas books, ‘The Big Christmas Bake’. This tray play uses mathematical skills, imagination, role play, language and lots of fine and gross motor skills. It's also taste safe so great for all ages to play with. (None of my children have allergies, but make sure to double check before using food items).

The last tray I created was a spelling based tray. My daughter had to find the correct letters to match them to the Christmas themed words. 

I created the Alphabet using pipe cleaners so that she could use the magnetic wands to find a letter, then match and spell out the words listed.