Something simple. Something powerful. On 10 July 2026 we’re launching Play Matters: Cardboard Box Day No toys. No plans. Just boxes, imagination, and endless possibilities. Let’s show what play really looks like. More info coming soon on Early Years Reviews 👀 #PlayMatters #PlayMattersBoxDay

Tamsin Grimmer & I are now offering training on the Love & Nurture Rating Scale 🌱 Supporting teams to embed relational, nurturing practice at the heart of what they do. Available online or face-to-face. Get in touch to find out more. Email [email protected]

We’ve been working on the refreshed Birth to 5 Matters guidance, expanding, clarifying, and adding new sections. Are we on the right track? Take a look and share your thoughts 👇 Draft: birthto5matters.org.uk/wp-content/u... Survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/QC5NPPB 🗓️ Closes 20 April 2026

Currently in Bangkok. That’s a wrap. This book belongs to the teachers, assistant teachers and children who brought it to life. Pure joy on every page. Bottling Joy in the Early Years, out June.

1 year. 60,000+ downloads. One message. This video says it better. To everyone who has read it, shared it, challenged it, and believed in it, thank you. 💛 This didn’t happen by chance. It happened because of you. www.early-years-reviews.com/playmatters #PlayMatters #EarlyYears #ChildhoodMatters

🚨MY POST TODAY 🚨 To the policymakers, just a reminder that the Early Years sector exists well beyond the M25. There’s a whole community of practitioners, leaders and researchers across the country shaping children’s lives every day. Have a great day.

🎙️ New Podcast Episode I recently joined Dr Karen Boardman to talk about Play Matters, why play must remain central to early childhood education and why protecting play is about protecting childhood. 🎧 Listen here: open.spotify.com/show/5Pq6MR2... #PlayMatters #EarlyYears

Stay connected with Early Years Reviews Join our WhatsApp Channel for: 🟡 Play resources 🟡 Early years news 🟡 Research and articles 🟡 New publications 👉 Join here whatsapp.com/channel/0029...

📣 New FREE resource for parents & carers Our Play Matters: Parents & Carers Guide explains how play supports learning, development, wellbeing and connection. Simple ideas. Real moments. Everyday play. Download here 👇 www.early-years-reviews.com/play-matters... #PlayMatters #EarlyYears

A powerful new paper examining educators’ experiences of Ofsted inspection has just been published. Drawing on 233 written submissions, it explores how inspection cultures shape professional practice, wellbeing and the realities of accountability. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

If We Really Believed in Article 31, We’d Be Doing Things Very Differently www.early-years-reviews.com/post/if-we-r...

✨ Something new is coming… Play Matters introduces The Play Creatures 🌟 Spark. Root. Wobble. Three stories about curiosity, belonging and bravery, written for children, rooted in play. 📚 Coming Soon #PlayMatters #ThePlayCreatures #ChildrensBooks #ProtectPlay

📣 Out this week! The Play Matters: Parent and Carers Guide to Play 💛 Co-created with parents and carers, this short guide explains, in clear, simple language, why play matters and how everyday moments support children’s learning.

Ruth Swailes and I have been quietly developing: Joyous Journeys 🌿 A play-rich, relationship-centred curriculum with high expectations. ✨ Birth–2 ✨ 2–4 ✨ 5–7 Protecting childhood. Building strong foundations. Phase One pre-order soon. #JoyousJourneys #EarlyYears

Early years theory is still evolving. This second edition explores contemporary thinkers alongside Maslow, Bowlby, Piaget and Vygotsky, and shows how theory connects to everyday practice. Get your copy here: amzn.eu/d/0cPW5G9D #EarlyYears #PlayMatters

The Journal of Play & Pedagogy is live in May A space for research, reflection, and real-world practice for children 0–8. Open access & Practitioner voice welcomed. www.early-years-reviews.com/journal-of-p... #PlayMatters #EarlyYears #Education #Childhood

Watch Westminster Hall debate: e-petition 729440 relating to play in the key stage 1 curriculum recorded today here: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

An article I have written for Nursery World The problem isn’t play – it’s the system www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/opin...

Publication of the year ! Wow !

If we want more people to join the Early Years workforce, we need to bring back the JOY. Not the paperwork. Not the pressure. Not the constant proving. The joy of being with children. Play. Development. Connection. Pay matters. But so do conditions. We can change this. #EarlyYears #PlayMatters

At the APPG on Play today, myself and my colleague Karen shared how Play Matters is being used by practitioners to strengthen play-based pedagogy. With rising needs in the sector, play is more vital than ever for wellbeing, language, relationships and development.

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 15 “Following the child’s lead isn’t about losing control” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 14 “Mess usually means thinking” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 13 “That tea went cold. Again” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 12 “You answered ‘why’ more times than you can count” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 11 “A quiet room usually means trouble” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Our FREE Guide to Mathematical Play (Birth–5) explores how children develop mathematical thinking through everyday play, routines & relationships. Practical. Research-informed. Play-led. 👉 Download here: www.early-years-reviews.com/guidetomathe... #PlayMatters #EarlyYears #MathematicalPlay #EYFS

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 10 “Children remember how you made them feel.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 9 “Play didn’t get in the way of learning. It made it possible.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 8 “Big feelings come in small bodies.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 7 “The best learning moments were never on the plan.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

When an Early Years Approach Starts to Replace Thinking” In this piece, I explore the risk when pedagogical approaches become so rigid they replace professional judgement, shifting focus from children to compliance. Read 👉 www.early-years-reviews.com/post/when-an...

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 6 “The most important resource in the room is you.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 5 “That wasn’t challenging behaviour. It was communication.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 4 “You didn’t just play today. You regulated emotions and built trust.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 3 “If it looks like chaos, you’re probably doing early years properly.” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 2 “There was a plan. Then the children arrived” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

Things Only Early Years Educators Will Understand Day 1 “The moment you sit down is the moment everything needs you” #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #PlayMatters #EarlyYearsProfessionals

This photo stopped me. Not because it’s staged, but because it’s real. Eye level. On the floor. No agenda. Just presence, trust and time. This is early years. This is play. This is the work.

I’ve just sent the full manuscript of my new book Moments of Meaning to my copy editor. 📝✨ Out February 2026. This one is personal. Every interaction in early childhood holds a moment of meaning, and this book honours them all. Can’t wait to share more soon. 💛📘 #EarlyYears #ReflectivePractice

New on #PlayTalkRadio The Magic of Play. Why is play essential in early years? Listen now open.spotify.com/episode/0gR4...

Play and High Expectations Are Not Opposites nottinghaminstituteofeducation.wordpress.com/2025/11/11/p...

The Early Years are at a crossroads. Between checklists and child development. Between performance and play. Between data and developmentally appropriate practice. Which path will we choose? 👉 www.early-years-reviews.com/post/the-ear... #EarlyYears #PlayMatters #ChildDevelopment #SchoolReadiness

Today I had the pleasure of sharing our Play, Policy and Power research at a conference in Telford. It reminded us to challenge systems that sideline play and practitioner voice, and to keep children’s joy, curiosity and rights at the heart. Together, we have the power.

🌱 Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at #NurseryWorldConference about rethinking school readiness. It’s not about checklists, it’s about who children are. Play, relationships & belonging are the real foundations of readiness. #StartingStrong #PlayMatters #ChildInTheNOW #EarlyYears

Join our WhatsApp Channel: Early Years Reviews Are you passionate about early years education? Want to stay on top of the latest news, reviews, commentary and professional insight, all delivered directly to your phone? ✅ Click here to join: whatsapp.com/channel/0029...

🎉 It’s Sale Time! 🎉 With our second edition of Early Childhood Theories Today out now, which you can get a copy here amzn.eu/d/d8KbvJo, the first edition is only £5! 🙌 Don’t miss your chance to grab a copy that’s inspired thousands across the early years sector.

Join our WhatsApp Channel: Early Years Reviews Are you passionate about early years education? Want to stay on top of the latest news, reviews, commentary and professional insight, all delivered directly to your phone? ✅ Click here to join: whatsapp.com/channel/0029...

If school readiness is really about children, we need to stop pretending context doesn’t matter. www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/news...

Out in November: the comprehensively revised and updated 2nd edition of Putting the EYFS Curriculum into Practice uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/pu...