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Spring Activities for EYFS: 10 Ideas Across Four Topics
Ten spring activities for EYFS on growing, new life, minibeasts and weather, each tagged with its area of learning, for nursery, preschool and Reception.
Most settings plan spring around four topics: growing, new life, minibeasts and weather. Each gives children a reason to move. Here are ten spring activities for EYFS, led by physical development and each tagged with its area of learning, plus a seed-to-butterfly yoga story for rainy days. Most need nothing you don't already have.
The EYFS (early years foundation stage) is the framework every nursery, childminder and Reception class in England follows from birth to five.
Who these spring ideas suit, and why movement leads
The ten ideas suit children aged 3 to 5 in a nursery, preschool, childminder's setting or Reception class, and most work at home too. Each carries its EYFS area for your planning, and all seven areas appear at least once.
Movement comes first because the guidance asks for a lot of it. The NHS says pre-schoolers aged 3 to 4 should be active for at least 180 minutes a day, including active and outdoor play, with at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity. Spring activities for preschool children make that easier, as the days get longer.
One timing quirk: the spring term starts in January, which is still winter. The Met Office says meteorological spring begins on 1 March, and astronomical spring around 20 March. So spring topics usually land in the second half of the term, after last term's autumn activities and the winter ideas that come before it. If you teach Reception, our guide to yoga in the classroom has ways to fit movement into a full day.
What are good spring activities for EYFS?
Growing. Growing is where most spring ideas for EYFS start. The EYFS statutory framework early learning goal for the natural world says children at the expected level will "Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter", so spring activities in the early years are the obvious way in.
1. Seed, shoot, sunflower (physical development)
A call-and-move game. On "seed", children curl up small; on "shoot", they kneel up tall; on "sunflower", they stretch up on tiptoes with arms wide. Then call them faster and in any order. It works in the garden or the hall, and a three-year-old can play it the first time.
2. Sow it and measure it (understanding the world, mathematics)
Cress or broad beans in a clear pot, so the roots show. Each week, measure the shoot against a tower of cubes and talk about what's changed. A watering rota adds personal, social and emotional development: whose turn is it today? Wash hands after handling soil.
3. The seed-to-butterfly story on the mat (physical development)
This one's ours. A short yoga story where a seed grows into a flower and a butterfly lands on it, using floor poses engraved on our Freedom Flow mat. It's the calm half of a session, after the running about. The full story is below, and it works on any mat or rug.
New life. Lambs, chicks, ducklings and frogspawn in the pond are the most visible change in spring, and a natural reason to jump.
4. Lamb leaps and bunny hops (physical development)
Across the playground, lambs jump with two feet together and bunnies hop. Swap on a clap, then try hopping on one foot. The early learning goal for gross motor skills names jumping and hopping, so this one ticks the framework as well as burning energy.
5. Frog jumps, lily pad to lily pad (physical development, mathematics)
Hoops or carpet spots numbered 1 to 5 make the lily pads. Children jump from pad to pad, counting aloud, then jump back counting down. Taking turns at the start of the line brings in personal, social and emotional development. Space the pads further apart for older children.
6. Spring hunt: who's new? (communication and language)
A walk to spot lambs, ducklings, buds and blossom, or a hunt through pictures if the real thing is out of reach. Afterwards, each child tells a friend, or the group at circle time, one new thing they saw. Model the words: bud, blossom, catkin, tadpole.
Minibeasts. Caterpillars, ladybirds, worms and bees reappear as the weather warms.
7. Caterpillar to butterfly (expressive arts and design, physical development)
The life cycle in movement. Children wriggle along the floor as caterpillars, curl up still as a chrysalis, then open out and "fly" round the room to music. Add a slow start and a fast finish, and it becomes a dance they can repeat and change.
8. Minibeast hunt (understanding the world, literacy)
Lift logs and stones gently, look with a magnifier, then put everything back exactly where it was. Back inside, children draw what they found and add a mark or a label. The natural world goal mentions "drawing pictures of animals and plants", which this covers. Wash hands afterwards.
Weather. Wind, showers and sunshine each bring something to do. The EYFS framework requires settings to give children access to an outdoor play area or, where that isn't possible, to plan outdoor activities every day, unless circumstances such as unsafe weather make it inappropriate.
9. Windy-day streamers (expressive arts and design)
Ribbons or crêpe-paper streamers outside on a breezy day. Big circles, zigzags, figures of eight, and freeze when the wind drops. Development Matters lists waving flags and streamers among the large-muscle movements 3 and 4-year-olds are learning. On a still day, use music and arm-power.
10. Rainbow colour hunt (mathematics)
After a shower, go out looking for one thing in every colour of the rainbow: a red tulip, an orange bucket, a yellow daffodil. Children collect or point, and count as they go. Older children can tally how many of each colour they find, and compare.
What are some spring yoga poses for kids?
Spring yoga for kids works best as a story, with each pose a character. This one, from seed to butterfly, uses poses on our Freedom Flow mat except the seed at the start and end, which is just a curl. If yoga is new to you, start with our beginner's guide to kids' yoga.
- A seed sleeps under the soil. Curl up small (not a pose on the mat, just a curl).
- The sun comes up. Star, sitting tall with legs wide and arms reaching up like sunbeams.
- A flower opens. Flower; feet on the floor is fine for a three-year-old.
- A butterfly lands on it. Butterfly, with flapping knees.
- A duckling bobs on the pond. Boat, with bent knees.
- A bridge goes over the stream. Bridge.
- A swan glides past. Swan, kept small.
- Night falls. Back to the seed, curled up and still.
Hold each one for three slow breaths, and the whole story takes a few minutes. Run it on a dry, flat floor, never on wet grass.
Any adult can tell this story, because the pictures do the explaining. To give the spring topic a mat each, see Yogi-Me for nurseries and schools: volume pricing starts at 10 mats, and settings can order on a purchase order and be invoiced. Each mat is 183 x 61 cm, so a full set needs a hall or a cleared carpet. They're designed for ages 3 to 8, which suits preschool and Reception. In the baby room, we'd wait.
For parents and grandparents reading this from the nursery newsletter: a mat unwrapped at Christmas can still be in use in April, when your child comes home showing you the butterfly. Our screen-free Christmas presents have more like it, or see all our children's yoga mats.
When a child would rather watch the lambs than be one
Some children would rather watch, and that's fine. Development Matters suggests letting less confident children spend time observing and listening without feeling pressured to join in, and creating low-pressure spaces where they can practise on their own or with one or two others.
Give a watcher a job: calling "seed" and "sunflower", holding the streamer basket, or deciding when the duckling swims. Some will join in by the third round. Those who don't can keep watching, which is exactly what Development Matters allows for.
Frequently asked questions
When does spring start in the UK?
The Met Office says meteorological spring always begins on 1 March and ends on 31 May, and astronomical spring starts at the vernal equinox, around 20 March. In England the spring term starts in January, which is still winter, so spring topics usually run through the second half of the term.
What are good spring topics for EYFS?
Most spring activities preschool and Reception classes plan fall under four topics: growing (seeds, bulbs, shoots), new life (lambs, chicks, frogspawn), minibeasts (caterpillars, ladybirds, worms) and weather (wind, showers, rainbows). Each can carry movement, maths and talk, and the natural world early learning goal names the seasons directly.
Which spring activities suit babies and toddlers?
For the baby room and toddlers, keep it sensory and simple: watching blossom and birds from a window, feeling grass and soil, and short walks. The movement items here suit preschoolers aged 3 and 4, though toddlers can copy the seed-to-sunflower game, and the spring hunt works from a buggy.
Is Easter part of the spring topic?
It can be. Easter falls in spring, but its date moves each year, so check it before planning. It sits naturally alongside the new life topic, with eggs and chicks. For ideas for the holiday itself, see our Easter holiday activities for kids.
