Using these historic creatures to inspire games and activities can help to build curiousity and imagination, advises Marianne Sargent.
Creative 'jungle' play can help improve children's understanding of the world, says Nicole Weinstein.
Winner: Woodland House Nursery, Bristol
Musical instruments can help children develop the sound recognition skills essential for reading, spelling and writing. Early years settings call the tune as they try out a few for Nicole Weinstein.
Are you a mud-lover, a mug-hugger or somewhere in between? Annie Davy explains why being an early years practitioner today is an outdoor job.
A nursery in Wiltshire used a local garden in an old churchyard, and a visual artist, to put together a Making Memories project. Annette Rawstrone explains
In providing resources for playful learning we need to remember the process in which they will be used, not just the outcome at the end, says Anne O'Connor.
School and nursery children took the principles of Forest School to the water, with an added environmental message, in ecological sustainability activities beside the seaside.
Making the move from nursery to primary school can throw up challenges for everyone involved, but settings can take steps to make the process easier. Rebecca Fisk suggests some methods.
The Forest Schools experience has brought many benefits to children at a setting in Scotland. AnnMarie Cunningham describes the process.