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Fun spring tuff tray activities for early years

Blog
Georgia Fisher
03 Mar 2025

Tuff trays are a staple in early years play with countless benefits. They encourage children to get creative and learn through various forms of play, including social, imaginary, sensory and role play. Tuff trays provide the perfect opportunity for your little ones to engage in exploratory play, allowing interactions with both children and adults. When filled with different textures, materials and objects, they can strengthen their fine motor skills and sensory awareness. Here are some spring-inspired, fun tuff tray ideas to help your little learners experience the world around them through these engaging miniature scenes!

Sheep tuff tray

sheep tray

What you’ll need:

• Cotton Wool (499870)
• Yarm Pom Poms (301266)
• White Buttons (306466)
• Super Bowls and Tweezers (800193)
• Mini Tuff Tray (804310)
• Sheep Cut-Outs (downloaded from Twinkl)

Instructions:

1. Cut out the sheep outlines and place them on the tuff tray.
2. Add small piles of cotton wool onto the tray.
3. Fill two bowls with pom poms and white buttons.
4. Place the bowls onto the tray and add tweezers.

Find more early years spring activities & educational teaching resources over at Twinkl where you can find resources to help children learn more about Easter and Spring.

Bug finder tuff tray

bug tray

What you’ll need:

Play Sand (803022)
Spring and Summer Leaves (13273X)
Rainbow Tongs (450164)
Garden Bugs (427313)
Rainbow Magnifiers (427301)
Super Bowls and Tweezers (800193)
Mini Tuff Tray (804310)

Instructions:

Use the play sand to fill the tuff tray.
Add in the insects, bugs and botanical cuts.
Mix this all together, ensuring that the bugs are hidden.
Use the magnifiers, tongs and tweezers to find the bugs and put them in your bowls.

Flower picking tuff tray

flower tray

What you’ll need:

• Dried Flowers (804308)
• Coloured rice (300772)
• Rainbow Leaves (333971)
• Masking Tape (582859)
• Super Bowls and Tweezers (800193)
• Mini Tuff Tray (804310)

Instructions:

1. Use the coloured rice to fill up the tuff tray.
2. Add the dried flowers and rainbow leaves into the mix.
3. Tape over the tray to make a cross-hatch pattern.
4. Use the tweezers to find the flowers and collect them in the bowls.

These fun tuff tray ideas for early years can be a great incorporation to your spring term curriculum! You can find more here.

If you’re looking for more Spring-inspired products and inspiration ideas, check out our Spring activities area!

Georgia Fisher

Author

Georgia Fisher

Supplier Marketing Officer

YPO

[email protected]

Georgia is a Supplier Marketing Officer who helps deliver a wide range of multi-channel campaigns across both digital and traditional channels. Before stepping into this role, she worked as a marketing apprentice in YPO’s Early Years team, where she focused on researching and creating relevant and engaging content for blogs and social media, as well as supporting Early Years events and key campaigns.