A favourite among educators and parents alike, the trusty tuff tray is a staple in nurseries and homes. Great for summer activities, tuff trays offer a versatile, mess-friendly surface for endless creative and sensory activities. Its sturdy design makes it ideal for everything from water play to small world setups.
In this blog, we’ll explore five summer activities perfect for Early Years play, guaranteed to captivate little ones while helping their development.
1. Nature Exploration
A perfect summer activity, this tuff tray idea encourages children to get outside and connect with nature. Fill the tuff tray with natural materials like soil, leaves, sticks, rocks and flowers. Provide tools such as magnifying glasses, small containers and spoons for digging.
- Use magnifying glasses to examine the details of leaves, bark, or rocks. Encourage children to notice the veins in leaves, the texture of bark, and the colours and patterns on stones.
- Use water experiments, such as testing which items float or sink, to introduce basic science concepts.
- Help the children scoop soil into small pots, plant seeds and water them. You can then label the pots and let children observe their growth over time, fostering responsibility and curiosity about nature.
- Encourage the children to sort and categorise materials by type, size, or colour, developing early maths and organisational skills.
This activity encourages exploration and builds a deeper connection to the natural world, while introducing early science concepts like buoyancy and seasonal changes.
2. Sensory Adventures
Sensory play is a cornerstone of early years development and tuff trays provide the perfect space for tactile and visual exploration. Using materials like water, sand, rice, shaving foam, or slime (a mix of cornflour and water), children can engage in hands-on activities that stimulate their senses.
- Make Your Own Slime: Mix cornflour with small amounts of water until it reaches a gooey consistency. Add food colouring for extra fun.
- Ice Play: Freeze toys or objects in ice and let children melt them slowly. A great summer activity for hot tots!
- Dry Sensory Play: Use lentils, beans, or oats for scooping, pouring and sorting. Add small toys for a treasure hunt.
- Spaghetti Hair: Combine cooked spaghetti with food dye and let children create “hair” for funny faces, or tails and fur for their favourite animals.
Sensory adventures are not only educational but also one of the most engaging tuff tray activities for young children.
3. Imaginary Worlds
Small world play is a magical way to spark children’s imaginations and encourage storytelling. This tuff tray activity provides the perfect space to create miniature scenes that transport children to new and exciting worlds. Using sand, soil, shredded paper, or natural materials as a base, you can add toy animals, figurines, vehicles, or themed props to bring the scene to life. Enhance the setup with sensory elements like water or coloured rice for added engagement.
Children can explore a variety of themes, such as:
- Weather scenes: Create different weather scenes using materials like cotton wool for clouds, blue sequins for rain and yellow card for the sun. Add small figurines to interact with the weather. Children could even fill a small pipette with water or use a watering can for a rain shower.
- Fairy Garden: Add moss, flowers and leaves to create a magical world. Include stones and small pebbles for pathways and tiny furniture for fairies.
- Pirate Island: Combine sand, water and toy ships for a treasure-hunting adventure. Hide jewels or coins for children to find.
- Farmyard Fun: Use soil, straw and toy farm animals to create a farm scene. Include a small container of water for a pond and toy tractors for added fun.
These small world setups encourage storytelling, role play, and language development, while building knowledge about animal habitats and the world around them.
4. Cooking Up Creativity
Transform your tuff tray into a bustling kitchen or bakery where children can explore the joy of pretend cooking and baking. Using flour, oats, rice, dry pasta, or playdough as ingredients, children can mix, measure and create their own culinary masterpieces.
- Pretend Baking: Let the children mix ingredients, roll out dough and use cookie cutters to create pretend cookies or cakes.
- Cupcake Decorating: Use playdough or dry materials to create cupcakes, then decorate them with pom-poms, beads, or sprinkles.
- Pizza Making: Provide flat playdough bases and let children add toppings like buttons for pepperoni or green pipe cleaners for peppers.
This tuff tray activity encourages role play and social skills as children work together in their kitchen or serve their creations to others.
5. Art, Painting and Crafts
Unleash children’s creativity by turning your tuff tray into an art studio or craft station. With paints, brushes, sponges and craft materials, toddlers can experiment with a variety of tools and techniques.
- Bubble Wrap Printing: Provide sheets of bubble wrap, paint and paper. Paint the bubble wrap, then press it onto the paper to create a textured print. Children can experiment with layering colours or cutting the bubble wrap into shapes.
- Blow Painting: Provide watered-down paint, paper and straws. Drop blobs of paint onto the paper, then use straws to blow the paint around, creating abstract designs.
- Ice Cube Painting: Freeze water mixed with food colouring or liquid watercolour in ice cube trays. Insert lolly sticks to create handles. Let children paint on paper as the colourful cubes melt, adding a sensory element.
- Finger Painting: A classic and always a favourite. Children can explore the texture of paint with their hands and fingers, creating vibrant designs. Encourage them to mix colours and experiment with patterns for a fun, sensory-rich experience.
Tuff tray activities play a vital role in children’s holistic development, enhancing their sensory, motor, social and cognitive skills. These moments of creativity and exploration are also wonderful opportunities to capture and share with parents, keeping them connected to their child’s learning journey.
Discover how eyworks can support your nursery by streamlining observations, simplifying reporting, and improving communication with parents.
To learn more, contact our friendly team at hello@eyworks.co.uk or book a demo today.
