Dr Lakeisha Johnson shares expert advice on selecting diverse, engaging books for early years settings. Learn practical strategies for budget-friendly bookshelf updates and using books as springboards for learning across subjects.

The focus in this video is on the links between two critical areas of children's learning and development: physical development and language (including communication).

In this interview Dr Manners explains the types of movements that children need to thrive and how this affects children’s and adult’s mental wellbeing. She also describes how the physiology of adults and children differ and why it’s important.

We also discuss the benefits of working with the workforce and children at LEYF, as well as Dr Manner’s Open University course ‘Supporting Physical Development in Early Childhood’.

Dr Louise Mansell shares her expertise on emotional regulation and resilience in young children, explaining what it is, why it's important, and providing practical strategies for early years practitioners.

Dr Lucretia Berry and Dr Tehia Glass discuss creating inclusive early years environments, emphasising racial competence, self-reflection, and practical strategies for fostering justice and belonging.

In this interview, Dr Mona Sakr explains social leadership in early childhood education, based on a model of leadership developed in conjunction with LEYF (London Early Years Foundation) CEO June O'Sullivan MBE.

She discusses the six elements of social leadership specific to early years leaders: 1) leading with purpose, 2) driving a social pedagogy, 3) creating a culture of collaborative innovation, 4) investing in the leadership of others, 5) facilitating powerful conversations and 6) sowing the seeds of sustainability.

In this interview, we discuss what is meant by 'empowering' children in their play and why this is so important. Dr Canning then goes on to describe her research into Empowering Children in their Play, and the 3 'Super-themes': Participation, Ownership and Voice.

Dr Pete King has a background as a professional play worker and a PhD in Childhood Studies. He currently teaches modules on children’s rights, perspectives on play and therapeutic work with children on a range of courses at Swansea University.

Dr Pete King explains the play cycle, how it connects to loose parts theory, and why sometimes doing less in children's play means you're doing more. Essential viewing for early years practitioners.

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Dr Prospera Tedam is a registered social worker with frontline practice experience in children and families social work. She has been teaching trainee social workers since 2004 and is currently the lead academic for social work practice quality at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

In this interview Dr Sally Smith, Helen Stroudley and Kathy Brodie discuss the CBeebies show The Baby Club; activities with babies; the ORIM (Opportunities Recognition Interaction Model) Framework; supporting parents with their babies.

In this interview we discuss the four design beliefs or pillars that Dr Duncan starts with when designing a space for children - nature aligned, heart centric, sensory based and authentically inspired. Dr Duncan explains the main benefits of designing spaces using this framework and how this can be applied to any setting or childcare centre, whatever size or wherever you are in the world.

We also touch on her soon to be published book: The Honeycomb Hypothesis: How infants, toddlers and two-year-olds learn through Nature Play. This is a fascinating new way of thinking about play and how we can supporting children’s learning through the way that they play naturally.

In this session we discuss how Dr Duncan has been inspired by nature for a long time, after she’d written an article called ‘lessons from the Bower Bird’ on classroom design. We’ve chosen 4 different chapters out of the 28 in the book to discuss.

Dr Sharon Curtis has a background in marriage guidance counselling, which made her professionally curious about the outcomes for children who are caught in the middle of complex adult relationships. This led her to establish ‘Emosi’ (meaning ‘emotion’ in several languages), where a team of professionals help children to become more confident and skilled in asking for help; building a secure and trusting relationships within families; building their self-esteem and self-confidence.

She explains how this works in practice with different children and different families, and the benefits of having therapists working closely with the nursery at the children’s centre. Transcultural care is a hugely important part of the therapy, so Dr Curtis gives some ideas for practitioners and educators to help them understand the culture of different families.

Dr. Stella Louis and Hannah Betteridge unpack the impact of unconscious bias in early years settings. Learn to recognise affinity, confirmation, and attribution biases, make your practice more inclusive, and have constructive conversations about bias.

Expert insights into Shanker Self-Reg® for young children, exploring stress domains and practical strategies for supporting self-regulation.

In this interview, we discuss Dr Bryson's new book - The Bottom Line for Baby – which is based on her research and extensive knowledge. We explore some of the things parents get judged for, but that science actually says are fine, as well as some of those myths most parents believe that the science says we shouldn’t believe. It was also an ideal opportunity to get some tips and strategies for those times when parents and carers may not be on the same page when it comes to some of the decisions you may have to make about babies.

In this interview, we discuss what we mean by 'unconscious bias' and why it's important that we should know this. Dr Daniel then goes on to explain how this knowledge (or lack of!) can affect our day-to-day pedagogy with the children. 

Dr Viki Veale shares research-backed strategies for supporting playful learning, handling challenging play, and creating play-rich environments.