Preparing for Easter at Footsteps: A Season of Learning, Celebration and eggciting times

As we move into the brighter days of spring, our settings are full of excitement, curiosity and learning experiences. The lead-up to Easter is a wonderful opportunity for children to explore new ideas, celebrate different traditions, and develop key skills through play-based learning.

Here’s a little look at what we’ve been enjoying across Footsteps locations this half term.

Learning About Recycling and Caring for Our World

Spring is the perfect time to talk about looking after our environment. The children have been exploring recycling through fun, hands-on activities like sorting materials, reusing everyday items in creative ways, and learning why it’s important to care for our planet.

From turning boxes into models to using recycled materials in crafts, we’re encouraging children to think sustainably in a way that feels natural and engaging.

Healthy Eating and Cooking Together

Our little chefs have been busy in the kitchen! Cooking activities are a fantastic way to support independence, communication and confidence.

We’ve been focusing on:

• Simple, healthy recipes
• Learning about different ingredients
• Understanding where food comes from

Whether it’s preparing fruit snacks or baking Easter-themed treats, the children love being involved and of course, tasting their creations!

Building Good Oral Health Habits

Looking after our teeth is an important life skill, and we’ve been making it fun and memorable.

Through stories, games, songs and role play, children are learning how to brush their teeth properly, why we limit sugary foods and the importance of keeping our smiles healthy. These early habits help build confidence and support lifelong wellbeing.

Exploring Maths Through Play

Maths is everywhere in our daily routines, and we use the spring season to make it even more engaging. Our children have been developing their skills through:

• Counting eggs during Easter activities
• Measuring ingredients during cooking
• Sorting and matching objects

It’s been all about making maths, practical and fun.

Discovering Colours and Shapes

Spring brings lots of new colours into our exploration of the world around us, and we’ve been making the most of it! Through creative play, we have been exploring:

• Bright Easter colours
• Patterns and shapes in nature
• Colour mixing in arts and crafts

From greens of spinach based tuff trays to beautiful creations from multicoloured sand, these activities support early creativity while building important recognition skills.

Celebrating Different Traditions: Eid & St Patrick’s Day

At Footsteps, we love celebrating the diverse world around us. During this season, children have been learning about:

• St Patrick’s Day – exploring Irish culture, colours and traditions
• Eid – understanding the importance of family, kindness and celebration

From relevant crafts to cooking, stories to show & tell, these experiences help children develop respect, curiosity and awareness of different cultures and communities.

Easter Egg Hunts and Outdoor Fun

Our Easter Egg Hunts are cracking fun and one of the highlights of the season! They are full of excitement, teamwork and laughter and of course a chocolate reward. Even in these moments of fun our little learners are following clues, counting and collecting eggs and exploring our indoor and outdoor spaces. It’s a brilliant way to combine physical activity with problem-solving and social skills.

Easter Arts and Crafts

Creativity is at the heart of everything we do, and Easter brings endless inspiration. We’ve been busy with:

• Decorating eggs
• Making Easter cards
• Creating spring-themed artwork

Using a variety of materials our children are free to express themselves and take pride in their creations.

Easter Stay and Play Sessions

We love welcoming families into our settings, and our Easter Stay and Play sessions are a wonderful opportunity to share these experiences together. Parents and carers can join in activities with their children, see learning in action and spend time with our team and other families. It’s all part of our “home from home” approach and building a strong, supportive community.

A Season of Growth

The lead-up to Easter is such a special time at Footsteps. As with our other religious celebrations like Eid, Diwali, Christmas and Chanukah, we access these through stories and child led discussions. We have enjoyed learning about the Easter story. It’s about so much more than celebrations. It’s about growth, discovery, and creating amazing learning experiences that children will be inspired by. We are certainly inspired by them on a daily basis too.

We hope all our families have a wonderful Easter break. We are certainly looking forward to our next term of adventures!