Books by Judit Horvath

When given soil, clay or mud to play with, most children are instinctively motivated to explore and experiment. Mud, soil and clay are naturally open-ended, stimulating children to investigate possibilities, look for reasons and think of ideas. They are cheap and easy to source or access, simple to transform to suit any age group or activity, can be mixed with other materials, given a rich sensory experience via visual texture, deep colour, rich smell and tactile feel.As with the other 50 fantastic ideas books, this book will feature 50 inventive ideas for busy early years practitioners, advising them in a straightforward way about how to find, present and use easily accessible materials in a range of exciting and unusual ways.

The 50 Fantastic Ideas series is packed full of fun, original, skills-based activities for Early Years practitioners to use with children aged 0-5. Each activity features step-by-step guidance, a list of resources, and a detailed explanation of the skills children will learn. Creative, simple, and highly effective, this series is a must-have for every Early Years setting.Block play stimulates learning in all areas of development: intellectual, physical, social, emotional and communication as well as early maths and literacy. In this book, experienced author and practitioner Judit Horvath has put together a variety of exciting and challenging ideas that cover them all.Some activities include cheap, easily sourced props such as play dough, pebbles, fairy lights and flowers to capture the children's imaginations, while others prompt more challenging block play to encourage the development and understanding of complex patterns, such as classifying, sequencing, counting, fractions and problem solving.This creative collection of ideas featuring colourful and fun photography is a fantastic resource for incorporating successful and exciting block play into your setting.