Welcome To December On The PLAYlist! ☃️🎁

Click Here For Your Guide To Everything Available On The PLAYlist This December!

Hello and welcome to December on The PLAYlist! 🎉🎄

This is always the point in the term when everything feels as if it gathers pace.

Amidst all the festivities, don’t forget to reflect and see just how far your children have come.

Hopefully…their play feels richer, their relationships are deeper, and their confidence to explore, question and create is so much stronger than it was in September.

What’s new in December?

For FREE Subscribers

Dominic Wyse and Charlotte Hacking: Pre-Reading - CLICK HERE

We start with a brilliant article from Dominic Wyse and Charlotte Hacking on pre-reading. Their work continues to challenge some of the assumptions around early reading and to invite us to reflect on what children really need before they even begin to recognise symbols on a page.

They explore the foundations that sit beneath reading, such as language development, oral storytelling, pattern, rhythm and the joyful experience of interacting with books. If you have ever found yourself in the middle of a phonics conversation feeling as though the world has forgotten everything that comes before letters, this piece will be a breath of fresh air.

Busting 7 EYFS Myths and Misinformation - CLICK HERE

You will also find my new article on EYFS myths and misinformation. There seem to be more myths floating around than ever, often wrapped up in a bit of neuroscience language or presented as absolute truth simply because someone somewhere once said it. From ‘children can only concentrate in beige rooms’ to the idea that the best handwriting starts with a child sitting upright at a tiny table!

These myths can quietly shape our practice without us even noticing. The article explores why they persist, what the research really says and, more importantly, what children actually need.

For PAID PLAYListers

A Little Reminder Before We Begin

Please remember to download any of the Common Play Behaviours resources that you want to keep.

These will be removed at the end of the year and I do not want anyone missing out. They make a huge difference to planning, observation and to understanding the deeper learning going on in children’s play.

You’ve already recived one email with instructions on how to download them, and there’s another email this month in case you missed it.

ABC Surgery: Live Q+A - CLICK HERE

December brings the very first ABC Surgery, a live Q+A session where you can ask me anything about practice, provision, pedagogy or those everyday niggles that crop up all of the time. The session will be recorded, so if you cannot make it live you can still watch it back in your own time with a cup of tea and a mince pie!

You will get a separate email with all of the details of how to join (it’s easy!)

It’s happening on 15th December at 7pm GMT

I would love your questions in advance, so if you have got one, comment on this post or send it to support@abcdoes (put LIVE in the subject heading).

Discount on All Training - CLICK HERE

Paid subscribers will also receive a December 50% discount code for all online training. If you have been thinking about topping up your professional learning, revisiting PEARLS, digging deeper into the environment or getting ready for the new CPB series, this month might be the perfect time.

Look out for you code in your inbox soon.

Common Play Behaviours: Painting – New Release - CLICK HERE

We have a brand-new CPB resource for you this month focusing on Painting. It breaks down the Common Play Behaviours you are most likely to see in children’s explorations of paint, how to recognise them and how to respond in ways that support depth, experimentation and expressive confidence. Painting often gets tied up in end-product thinking at this time of year, but the real magic sits in the process. This CPB will help you spot the learning that is woven through every brushstroke, handprint or smear.

Common Play Behaviours: Sand – Added to the Library - CLICK HERE

The Sand CPB has also now been added to the library for you to explore. Sand is one of those materials that looks simple on the surface but hides an enormous amount of cognitive, physical and emotional learning. Whether children are transporting, enveloping, building or simply letting it run between their fingers, there is so much to notice.

As always, the CPBs are there to help you tune in to the play you see every day, to support children where they are and to think about how provision can quietly evolve in response.

December can feel busy, overwhelming and wonderfully joyful all at once. I hope that this month’s PLAYlist gives you a moment to pause and reconnect with what matters. Play continues to be children’s most powerful tool for thinking, feeling and communicating, and even in the middle of nativities, glitter explosions and endless rummaging for missing jumpers, PLAY remains the thing holding everything together.

Wishing you a calm, joyful and play-filled December.

Alistair.