Come and Play in the Hay!

Come and Play in the Hay!

Hay provides a sensory experience for children to explore openly with their peers in different ways. Place some hay bales and some loose hay and see what happens!  

Hay Bales provide some structure and a platform for jumping or walking across, while still being lightweight and movable for children to manipulate into different shapes and create their own play spaces. 

Providing rakes, shovels and buckets allows children to move the loose hay and explore it in different spaces, as well as encouraging them to tidy and look after the space. 

An environment set up from children's interest in the home corner and hay. 

Scissors and mortar and pestles were then added for children to grind and cut their own hay to include in their recipes. 

Children explored different ideas and uses for the hay, having quiet conversations and time to just sit with a friend and feel the hay between their fingers and mix it up.

 Others grabbed bundles of hay in their arms to see how much they could scoop up and hold, and then toss up into the air. 

Hay is an open ended material with many different uses to explore for everyone! 

Even our chickens enjoyed playing in the hay!