Treasure Boxes
Catalogue and Guide
All the information you need to
borrow these special boxes from the
Early Years Service
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T ogether
R eflecting
E xploring
A sking
S eeking
U nderstanding
R e-visiting
E valuating
--B orrowing
O pportunity
X – citing
E njoying
S ensory
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What’s in a Treasure Box?
A wide variety of resources are available and these cover all
four themes of the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance
for three - five year olds. (some boxes can be used with
younger children with close adult support).
Benefits include:
For children:
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Small world play
Listening skills
Knowledge of the world
Awe and wonder
Letter and sounds
Ros Bayley resources
Exploring and discovery
Puppets and stories
For Practitioners:
o Developing open ended questions skills
o Extending children‟s play opportunities
o Developing observational, evaluating and
planning skills.
o Thinking outside the box
o Using the treasure boxes as a resource for a small
group
o Learning to support and extend children‟s
language skills
o Developing the ideas from the Little Books to
provide practical play experiences
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The
EYFS
Guidance
A UNIQUE CHILD
A unique child will show
curiosity about objects, use
their senses to explore the
world around them, engage in
open-ended activities and show
particular interests.
States:
POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Adults could encourage
children to explore and try
new activities, join in with
them sensitively, support
children‟s confidence with
words and body language
and talk about the process
rather the product.
ENABLING ENVIRONMENTS
Adults could provide
stimulating, open-ended
resources which are relevant to
children‟s interests, make
spaces calm to help children
concentrate and ensure
children have uninterrupted
time to play and explore.
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Practitioners can support
children by ensuring
challenging and playful
opportunities are available
across the prime and specific
areas of learning and
development.
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Open ended questions
One of the key findings of recent EPPE Research
(Sylva, K. et al, updated 2012)
[http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople
/earlylearningandchildcare/evidence/a0068162/effectiv
e-provision-of-pre-school-education-eppe] is that:
“Good outcomes for children are linked to early years
settings that provide adult-child interactions that
involve open-ended questioning to extend children’s
thinking.”
However, the majority of questions that practitioners ask
(in fact over 90 %) are “closed” questions, e.g.
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What colour is your jumper?
How many cars are there?
Do you want milk or water?
It is vital that practitioners plan to increase opportunities
to ask open-ended questions:
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How do you think we could dry our clothes?
What will happen if we add water?
Can you think of a way to join these boxes together?
Why do you think it sounds like that?
I wonder what would happen if ….?
What else could we do?
These issues are a key to getting our young children to
THINK and EXPRESS their thoughts and ideas. Remember
to think about the way you discuss the items in the boxes
with the children to enable them to develop an
inquisitive nature and want to know more!
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Little Books available to borrow:
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Bags, boxes and trays
Bricks and boxes
Celebrations
Christmas
Circle time
Clay
Colour, shape and number
Cooking from stories
Cooking together
Dance
Dough
Fun on a shoestring
Growing things
ICT
Investigations
Junk music
Language fun
Light and shadow
Listening
Living things
Maths activities
Maths from stories
Maths songs and games
Messy play
Music
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Nursery rhymes
Outside in all weathers
Outdoor play
Parachute play
Persona dolls
Phonics
Playground games
Prop boxes for role play
Props for writing
Puppet making
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Puppets in stories
Role play
Sand and water
Science through art
Seasons
Small world play
Time and place
Treasure baskets
Treasure boxes
Washing lines
Writing
Clothes and fabrics
Sound ideas
Tuff spot activities
Fifty
Resistant materials
Songs and games
Storytelling
All through the year
Counting
Fine motor skills
Games with sounds
Making poetry
Mark making
Sewing, weaving and
fabrics
Scissor skills
Storyboards
Using empathy dolls
Treasure Boxes available:
Key to colour coding of box type:
Red = Discovery
Green = Small world
Blue = Games, Stories and Rhymes
1a,1b, 1c- How does it work?
Items include a Russian doll, a rolling
eye, push, pull, turn, and looking
toys, all to help develop observation
and language skills. You might have to
blow, shake, balance or roll the
objects to see how they work!
1d - How does it work – exploring the senses
Items in this box explore sight, sound
and touch. It contains a variety of
musical toys, some visually stimulating
resources and also a selection of
tactile items. The set is complimented
by books and pictures comparing light,
dark, shadow and reflection.
1e - How does it work – let‟s discover
A mixed discovery box to explore,
discuss, use, sort, match – how
does it work? The possibilities are
endless!
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2a, 2b, 2c - Awe and wonder
These boxes contain items made
from a variety of natural
materials as well as hand-made
items, including quartz, shells, a
cut glass bottle, printed fabric,
silk elephants and Russian dolls.
3a, 3b, 3c - Small world play natural objects
These boxes contain a set of real cut
and smoothed wood to offer small
world play that invites imagination
and social skills. Included are people
animals, a mirror, pebbles and
objects that you would use outside.
4a, 4b, 4c - Small world play Thomas and friends
Lots of characters the children will
know are included in these sets.
Two stories are included about the
characters. Scope for imaginative
play, language and social
development is offered.
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5a - Nuts and bolts – real objects
These boxes contain items to give
children a feel of real metal that they
may realise they see around them on
closer examination of their
surroundings. It is possible to join the
pieces together with the nuts. Learning
new vocabulary and materials is a vital
part of this box.
5b - Nuts and bolts – ropes and pulleys
This box contains nuts and bolts, similar
to those in 5A but has additional items
such as pulleys, clips and ropes for you
to make your own pulley system.
Diagrams are included to assist you with
setting up the system. Adults will need
to work closely with children to ensure
safe and suitable usage of the
equipment provided.
5b - Nuts and Bolts – construction set
This box contains 60 wooden pieces
enabling unlimited design, assembly and
imaginative opportunities. Fine-motor
skills, concentration and hand-eye
coordination will be developed by using
the tools and attachments in this set.
Adults can support with new vocabulary
related to safety techniques and linked
occupations.
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Games to play
6a - Tummy Ache & Mice
6b - Shopping List & Mice
6c - Incy Wincy & Mice
Playing games and taking
turns are important processes
to acquire and improve our
social skills. The wooden
mouse game is great fun, the
other games in the boxes are
tried and tested favourites.
6d - 3D Dominoes and Racing cars
Maths, colour matching and
number recognition are all on offer
with these strong wooden racing
cars. Making your own racing track
on a large piece of paper could
extend the play. The drivers and
passengers all have different facial
expressions, giving something else
to explore. The 3D dominoes
encourage sharing and taking turns.
7 - Listening Books to borrow
Technology as well as listening
skills are brought together with
these books. They allow a group
of children to listen to a story
chosen for its popularity. They
will learn listening skills and how
a book works as well as sharing
with others. Please take a look at
the selection available. There
are some new titles as well as
old favourites.
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8a 8b - Five little ducks
Five little ducks - an old favourite
with several ways for the children to
explore singing, dancing, floating and
sinking, subtraction and counting as
well as co-ordinating a finger puppet
glove!
8c, 8d - Five little frogs
Five little speckled frogs with a
pond and a bug. Hand eye
coordination is included with the
game. Pictures of frogs from
different countries and a
life-cycle sequence provide some
knowledge and understanding
opportunities.
9a - Sorting boxes
Children enjoy sorting and these
unusual objects, both hand made
and natural, will give scope for
language development and
pattern making. The sugar tongs
are used in Montessori settings
and the children may enjoy the
hand-eye coordination skills they
evoke.
9b - Sorting baskets
Sorting activities can begin with
basic transportation from one
receptacle to another and lead to
complex problem solving through
identifying features of an object.
This box contains a selection of
containers, small objects and
tools for grasping, promoting not
only classification, but also handeye co-ordination and fine-motor
skills.
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9c - Sorting boxes and baskets
This box is similar to the other two
boxes but with some slightly different
objects to sort. The baskets give
children an extra space to sort them
into, but you may like to add your own
sorting containers. Children will spend
ages defining objects by colour,
shape, size, texture or according to
their own logic!
10a - Small world - down on the farm
All children love animals and many
stories and rhymes exist round this
theme. The box provides strong
wooden pieces that will support
imaginative role-play and language
skills. A list of how to extend the
play will be in the box.
10b - Small world - fun at the park
Children love to play
outdoors, so this set should
encourage recall of their own
experiences and develop
imaginative play and
language experiences. This
could be supported by a trip
to your local park with a
small group of children.
10 C - Small World - To the Beach
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10c - Small world – to the beach
Lots of conversation and
language about preparing for
an outing can be gained from
this box. Safety about playing
near or in water could be
discussed with children and be
complemented by books you
may already have in your
setting.
10d - Small world – barbeque with friends
This box recreates a summer‟s
evening with family and
friends. It links well with
healthy eating and safety
precautions around barbecues
and fires, which could be
discussed with children.
10e - Small world – let‟s dig and plant
This set has all you need for a
garden adventure, including tools,
accessories and several garden
plots containing assorted
vegetables. The contents should
support lots of conversations about
planting, growing and healthy
eating.
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10f - Small world – fun in the garden
This set has opportunities to discuss
things we like to do outside
whether playing, sitting, planting,
hiding (maybe in the shed) or
helping mum and dad. Some
playground equipment has been
added to this box and hopefully this
will inspire some talk about
physical exercise and the
importance of exercise and fresh
air.
11a, 11b - Art appreciation
This box allows the children to
explore the world of colour through
matching tones of light and dark,
looking at and examining works of
art, dancing and moving to selected
pieces of music with coloured
scarves to encourage movement.
An input sheet will be included to
encourage open ended questions by
the staff.
12a, 12b - Small world fantasy
Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Harry
Potter, and Lord of the Rings could all
be represented by this set. The
dragons are added to provide flying
fantasies that all children seem to
love. The book contains a story of life
in a castle for added „understanding
the world‟. This set has added chain
mail for role play.
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12c - Small world play pirates
Pirates are always very popular
and many children will probably
enjoy role-playing the story of
Peter Pan or the more recent
„Pirates of the Caribbean‟ as
well as finding out about maps,
sea creatures and boats.
12d – Dragon extras
This box contains a fantastic
dragon hand puppet and a
storybook all about a dragon
adventure. This can be used on its
own or in conjunction with either
of the fantasy castle boxes.
13 – Multi-sensory magic
This box of materials can be used
to represent the weather by using
our senses. This idea was used
during a special educational
needs course. There are other
items that can be used. Some
suggestions will be included, as
well as pictures of different types
of weather.
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14 - Halogen light
Hide under a table covered with
the black sheet, turn on the
infra red light and wait for the
magic to begin. What happens to
all the items under the table?
Find other items around the
setting to experiment with and
mind your head!
15 - The Swirling Hijaab
This is a lovely story of a little girl
who uses her hijaab to represent a
sail, a tent and many other things.
The clothes are authentic and
beautiful. We are sure the
children will enjoy feeling the
textures and trying on the
different outfits.
16a – Puppets - Little Red Riding Hood
An old favourite brought to life
with the addition of puppets.
These hand puppets are soft and
easy to use. The story is a new
version told in rhyme and not too
scary!
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16b – Puppets - Goldilocks
Another classic story supported
with some very smartly dressed
and easy to use hand puppets.
You can add in your own bowls,
chairs and other items to bring
the story alive even more.
16c, 16d – Puppets - Hungry Caterpillar
A favourite story of most children,
enhanced here by the use of finger
puppets. The finger puppets fit very
snuggly on a child‟s finger. They will
be re-telling the story in no time at
all.
17a, 17b, 17c - Small world dressing dolls
The children will enjoy the
challenge of dressing these small
dolls and hopefully begin to talk
about favourites, feelings and
explore expressions through the
selected photos in the box and
the mask.
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18a - A day at the seaside
This box was inspired by the kind
donation of a set of seaside photos
from the Russell Cotes Museum. The
box contains items you might use or
find at the beach and alongside the
photographs it provides a great
opportunity to discuss days out at
the beach, both past and present.
18 B - A Day at the Seaside
18b - A day at the seaside
This box was also inspired by the
kind donation of a set of seaside
photos from the Russell Cotes
Museum. The box contains items you
might use or find at the beach and
alongside the photographs it
provides a great opportunity to
discuss days out at the beach, both
past and present. This box contains
different items to 18A, so you may
want to try both!
19a - Washing lines
This box is designed to be used to
enhance opportunities for
mathematics. A washing line provides
endless options for counting,
matching, sorting and ordering and
because it involves interaction the
learning becomes embedded.
Alongside the obvious mathematical
knowledge gained, children will
improve their dexterity, hand-eye
co-ordination, concentration and
negotiating skills.
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19b - Washing lines
Like box 19A, this box is
designed to be used to enhance
opportunities for mathematics.
It includes socks depicting the
same pattern but of different
sizes, to add another
dimension to the problem
solving!
20a – ICT box 1
An exciting new replacement to the
original box to ensure we keep up to
date with fast moving technology!
This box is full of treasures such as
rechargeable torches, hand-held
metal detectors, a digital camera,
recordable pegs and a long-standing
favourite the Bee-Bots! Also
included is a CD player with six
headphones and four CD story books
to share in a group.
20a – ICT box 2
This box contains the same
items as ICT box 1 but has a
different selection of CD
books to accompany the CD
player for you to share in a
group.
An exiting new replacement to
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21a – Hearts - classification
There are some delicate and
beautiful items to explore in
this box. Also included are
some heart shaped biscuit
cutters and a recipe for you
to try!
21b – Snakes - classification
Classification is at the root of science.
Children are capable of thinking about
sorting for criteria (beyond colour
from an early age). By asking children
to identify features of an object,
sorting activities can become very
complex. This box contains snake
related stories, snakes of varying size
and type, with a tape measure to
check their length.
21c – Eggs – classification
Another classification box, this time
with an egg theme. Lots of beautiful
eggs to explore, some interesting
pictures to discuss and a fun book to
read together. There is even a
chocolate egg mould for you to
make your own eggs!
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22a – Healthy Early Years
We were able to source some
wonderful knitted fruit and
vegetables that were made
specifically for two stories
contained in this box. The
parachute, the wooden fruit and
the puzzles add an extra
dimension to Healthy Early Years.
22b – Healthy Early Years
As with box 22A this box
contains some wonderful knitted
fruit and vegetables, a
parachute, wooden fruit,
puzzles and the cabbage
puppet. You may want to try
both boxes as some of the items
are slightly different.
22c – Healthy Early Years
Again, this box has a similar
selection of resources based
around the Healthy Early
Years awards. Feel free to try
more than one box!
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23a, 23b, 23c, 23d – Heuristic Play Bags
(Available from BabyLink)
These four bags contain a
selection of lovely beech
items in a variety of shapes
and sizes, which are great for
small fingers to explore. The
set comes in a linen bag, with
a wooden stand and an oval
wicker basket for more
sorting opportunities.
24a - Ros Bayley Bags - Kofi
Some children are very shy
when they first start in a
setting and find it very difficult
to speak or voice their needs in
a group of any size. This is
where the friendly and very
lovable „Kofi‟ the chimp comes
in. He comes with a book full
of easy to use resources.
24b - Ros Bayley Bags - Baby Beat
The beat babies unwrap
themselves and help you with
your rhythms. The books give
lots of very good and easy to
follow instructions to make
the most of the beat baby.
There are two packs in this
box that are full of raps and
rhymes that are great fun.
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24c - Ros Bayley Bags - Lola
Lola is so cute, the children
love her. There are ample
ideas in the box to really
benefit the children‟s
listening and concentration
skills. A great resource for
any setting and an
opportunity to try before you
buy!
24d - Ros Bayley Bags – Vaky
This lovable bear will help
children to develop the use
of their senses. The book is
full of really useful
suggestions and ideas that
you should enjoy trying with
the children.
25 - Into space!
This box contains two
books, puppets, fabric and
enough props for you to act
out both stories and
perhaps make up some of
your own? We particularly
liked the set of metal
colanders which fit
perfectly as a space
helmet!
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26a, 26b, 26c – Build a village
This simple game will provide
lots of opportunities to work in
a small group, support
turn-taking skills, identify
colours and be creative with the
multi-way game board.
27 – Granny‟s suitcase
The inspiration for this box comes
from many happy hours of dressing
up in my grandmother‟s hats,
scarves and other accessories. The
focus of many modern pre-bought
dressing up outfits is on becoming
a specific character and whilst this
has its value, it doesn‟t allow
children to go wherever their
imagination takes them.
This box provides children with the
resources to become who or
whatever they chose. Just provide
a „dressing area‟ and a mirror if
you have one, and see what
happens!
28 – Magnetism
This box contains magnets of all
shapes and sizes, with plenty of
metal items which will magically
„stick‟ to them – or will they?
This box contains small parts and
children will need to be
supported by adults. Please do
not try to open the iron filings they are designed to be used
through the plastic dish they are
enclosed in.
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29 – Time
Time can be a difficult concept for
children to grasp and this box looks at
it from many angles. Wooden life-cycle
objects depict time in relation to
growth, old photos show how toys and
everyday objects have changed over
the years and a variety of sand timers,
alarm clocks and stopwatches will
allow time to be measured in your
setting.
30 – The bear bag
This bag was inspired but the
much loved favourite by Michael
Rosen, „We‟re going on a bear
hunt‟. It contains a copy of the
book, a bear, a torch and a lovely
selection of large fabric pieces for
you to create your own splashy
river, squelchy mud, swishyswashy grass and dark cave. Have
fun!
31 – The big box of blocks
Tom van der Bruggen is the creator of
KAPLA blocks. He invented a plank
based on the progressions of the
uneven numbers 1:3:5. Three
thicknesses to one width and five
widths to one length. This ratio
between bricks and stones and beams
and planks now opens a whole new
way of building. With these identical
planks the builder can construct with
the precision of artwork and the
stability of stones. Four books
included.
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Box 32 - Let's Explore Colour
A box full of objects just asking to
be explored! Everything you need
to mix and analyse colour and
light. The fantastic light panel
makes this resource come alive on
even the darkest of days!
Box 33 - Let's Explore Sound
Exploring different aspects of
sound including matching sounds to
each other, to pictures and
defining which notes are higher or
lower. We couldn’t explore sound
without asking you to enjoy a good
sing-song, so five glove puppets are
included for those favourite
number rhymes.
Box 34 - Explore the World
This box, containing books, outfits and
musical instruments, is designed to
support the introduction of different
cultures into your setting or to
complement existing resources you
may already have. It represents only a
small selection of materials you could
use and ideally, culture is best
explored in direct relation to the
children and families attending your
setting.
EMPATHY DOLLS
What is an Empathy Doll?
Empathy dolls are different from those used in the
home corner because they are intended to support
children with their own feelings and those of others.
They can be used for group discussion to look at
sensitive areas such a stereotyping and discrimination
and to prepare children for new learning experiences.
They can also be used to help children understand and
deal with everyday anxieties. Alternatively, they can be
used as a personal link for a particular child
experiencing significant changes or difficult
circumstances.
There are 11 Empathy dolls and they come with
instructions and suggestions for use. There is a Little
Book that can also be used with them which contains
scenarios you may find helpful, ideas for introducing the
doll and specific talking points with the children. The
doll can take on any name and character that meets
the needs of the child or children you will be using it
with and you can add extra items of your choice to
create a personality for the doll.
There is also a set of princess and ballerina dressing up
clothes which fit the dolls and are available to borrow.
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E1 - Simon
E2 - Molly
E3 - Ingrid
E4 - Bonnie
E5 - Junichi
E6 - Amelie (1)
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E7 - Amelie (2)
E8 - Baby Jessica
E9 - Baby Thomas
E10 - Manuela and baby
(pink scarf)
E11 - Manuela and baby
(gold scarf)
Empathy Extras (dressing up clothes)
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