Nursery World - An A to Z of enhancements - A is for authentic objects

What are ‘enhancements’ and when should they be used in the early years? In the first part of a new series, Amy Jackson starts with a real tea set

The tea set in the home corner at Ormiston Herman Academy

Carefully planned, high-quality and open-ended continuous provision is key to creating an enabling environment for children in the EYFS. It is important to frequently review how the children are using the continuous provision and when it would be beneficial to add ‘enhancements’. Reasons for adding enhancements include:

Enhancements are very personal to the children in your class, and the amount of time they last can vary from one day to several weeks. Adults may judge that an enhancement would be beneficial in that area of the classroom, so they end up being added to the continuous provision itself.

All of my examples in this series are from the Little Learners Nursery at Ormiston Herman Academy in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth. The children who attend are aged 3 to 4 years old. Each year, several children in our cohorts have speech and language delay, so providing communication and language opportunities is at the heart of all our enhancements.

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