"Play is the work of childhood"
What is an Invitation to Play?
An invitation to play is a concept derived from the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. The Reggio philosophy encourages children to learn through exploration, by providing materials that 'invite them to play' in a creative and non-directive way.
Here at Invitations to Play we are advocates for the child. We view children as inherently capable and competent, and worthy of respect and trust on their learning journey.
We passionately believe in the value of child led play, as a powerful tool for learning.
What We Do
Online Courses
Empowering, inspirational online courses for parents and early childhood educators.
Digital Play and Learning Guides
Instant digital downloads to inspire and support you in meeting your child’s developmental needs and interests through play.
Consultation Services
Tailored, bespoke services to support you on your journey towards creating a calm, beautiful and purposeful play and learning space.
Shop
Ready made invitations to play for busy parents, including play dough collections, loose parts and special items.
Blog
Weekly blog posts, sharing book and resource recommendations, craft tutorials, invitations to play and more.
Bookshop
A place to browse my lovingly curated book lists, covering a range of topics and interests, for children of all ages (and some for adults too).
Please note: These are affiliate links with an online platform that supports independent book shops.
"A child's imagination is a very beautiful thing".
What People Say
Really happy with the lavender play dough set, I was worried it might be a bit beyond my 20 month old but he loved squashing all the loose parts (supervised as they are so small) into the dough, and especially loves the little pestle and mortar! Will definitely be returning for more for gifts.
Rachel Newton-Sharrock
So many inspirational ideas for play and learning. Fantastic products to inspire child led, imaginative play.
Jenna McKechnie
Our 3 year old played with his Christmas star dough set yesterday and he loved it. He sat for over an hour excited about all the 'candles' 'stones' 'cute wooden stars' and 'jingle bells'. The only thing that stopped him playing was lunch and he was sad to put away even then.
Melanie Feltham