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The Ovivio Blog
Early years insights, activities, summaries and more, written by early years experts. All on the Ovivio blog
How to increase occupancy in my nursery business
It’s no secret that maintaining and scaling nursery occupancy is an ongoing effort. Throw in constant government changes and it’s...
The MITEY UK and other methods: how to get more men to join the EYFS
Recently Ovivio interviewed Shaddai Tembo, lecturer in Early Education and Childhood Practice at Perth College UHI. He is currently pursuing...
How to Create a Meaningful ‘Loose Parts’ Play provision in Your Setting
Loose parts play, a concept first dated to 1971, encourages curiosity and inventiveness in children by offering open-ended materials. Creating...
Promoting Health and Wellbeing in Early Years: 5 Fundamentals for Mentally Healthy Habits
It’s easy to identify factors that will likely impact children’s mental health. The difficult part is how to ensure our...
The day of an EYFS Ofsted inspection
Nursery Ofsted inspections can understandably make you and your team anxious. They aren’t designed to trip you up, your Ofsted...
How to prepare staff, parents and children for an Ofsted inspection
Ofsted inspections aren’t exactly a walk in the park - and for good reason! One thing you can do to...
Ofsted 3 I’s in early years for 2026 inspections
A lot has changed with Ofsted in 2025. There’s a renewed framework and a whole suite of supporting documents to...
How to address your nursery staffing issues by hiring the right people
Staffing issues in Early Years settings is not news to the sector, but the Covid-19 pandemic has seemed to have...
6 Meaningful Present Ideas to Appreciate Your Nursery Staff
Hiring the best nursery staff for your business is one step, but childcare settings across the UK are struggling to retain...
4 STEM Activities for Preschoolers to Try
STEM is not a new term for childcare settings. But why exactly is it beneficial for children’s learning and development,...
Plug safety at your nursery setting: ‘Free of charge’ EYFS safeguarding advice
Are you certain that your children are in a plug protected environment whilst at your setting? Not only plugs, but...
EYFS Inclusive Practice: What Might Be Missing and How to Strengthen SEND Support
Is your inclusive practice truly supporting every child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)? Moving past surface-level efforts, true...
How to effectively implement the Curiosity Approach across your nursery
Since the invention of the iPad 12 years ago, the methods in which our children play and interact have changed....
Why the Early Learning Goals are important and 5 activities to master them
Early Years as a field is ‘definition rich’, as we have all the abbreviations and acronyms under the sun to...
What to do and when to do it: parental engagement activities to help your child thrive!
Your child hears their first sounds in the womb, which means that even before they are born into the world,...
Does Your Story Time Cut It? The Importance of Talking and Language in Developing Early Years Literacy Skills
Literacy is one of the specific areas of learning and development. Strong Literacy skills are essential for active participation in learning-...
How to Prepare for HMIE Scotland Nursery Inspections: A Complete Guide
Advice from HM Chief Inspector of Education, Gayle Gorman, and Strategic Director for Scrutiny at Education Scotland, Janie McManus. As...
19 Communication and Language EYFS Activities for outstanding early years language development
The past 2-years have been incredibly challenging, affecting our children the most. Nurseries and schools have worked tirelessly to support...
Islamic New Year 2025: 5 fun activities to celebrate Al-hijra in Early Years
Al-hijra and Muharram is just around the corner (starting on 25th June 2025). Now is the perfect time to brush...
Childcare apprenticeships: how to tackle the recruitment crisis
It may be an understatement to say that Early Years apprentices are in high demand, as nursery settings nationwide are...
Father’s Day ideas to try in Nursery Settings: crafts, gifts, and cards
Father’s Day can be a creative opportunity to celebrate the prominent male figures in children’s lives. It can also be...
Reflective practice in the Early Years: 3 activities for your next team meeting
We encourage our children to learn through experience, trial and error, discussion and then re-application. Yet, when it comes to...
Sensory Play In The Early Years: 25 Amazing Activity Ideas For You To Try
There are 5 main senses, although heavily debated that there are more. We discuss movement within the umbrella of touch,...
How to effectively plan CPD in your nursery: examples of outstanding CPD journeys
There is a changing dynamic of children entering nurseries, with growing expectations from external agencies and making every effort to...