Cushions add comfort to children's early experiences as they relax and enjoy stories and discussions, so why not maximise the potential of this familiar everyday item to promote children's learning across all areas of the curriculum?
A cover-up
* Add five or ten small cushions, in the same shape and size, to your present collection of cushions.
* Make covers for them in a range of fabrics. Search for fabrics from different cultures or depicting topic-related subjects such as animals, sea creatures or seasonal patterns.
* You could also make sets of covers with a specific focus, such as colours, textures or patterns.
* Put a set of cushions in the story corner and encourage the children to handle them and talk about them. Change the sets regularly to coincide with topics, seasons or planned discussions.
* Make sure that the covers are washed each time and stored in a clean box.
Know your place
* Use cushions to define a child's personal space and so develop a sense of belonging.
* Create a circle of small matching cushions, evenly spaced, to encourage the children to find a place at circle time.
* Extend this idea for older children by sewing their initials on the cushions. Invite the children to look for their initial before sitting down.
Cushion talk
* Ask the children to bring in any special cushions from home and invite them to take turns to show the others their cushion and talk about it.
* Scatter large, comfortable cushions around the story corner so that the children can relax as they look at their favourite books and listen to stories.
One to ten
* Cover ten matching cushions with coloured covers and sew on fabric numerals in contrasting colours from one to ten. Encourage the children to count them, arrange them in order and put the correct number of small world people on each one.
* Cut sponge pieces into different shapes, such as circles and triangles, and cover them with plain fabric to form 'shape' cushions. Play with the cushions together and encourage the children to name the shapes.
* Use the numbered cushions as props for number rhymes - for example, arranging them in a row so that the children can each use one as a pillow while they sing 'Ten in the bed'.
* Arrange coloured cushions in different sequences.
* Look closely at patterns on cushions and try to recreate them on squares of paper using paint or coloured pens.
Design and make
* Explore a range of cushions and talk about what they are made of. Open an old cushion to see what is inside. Look at how the cushions are fastened and talk about the children's experiences of using zips, buttons and Velcro.
* Try making a cushion for a doll. Using the children's experiences of exploring different cushions, discuss what the outer cover could be made of and what could be used to fill it. Provide lots of joining materials, including glue, tape and sewing materials and decide which is the most appropriate.
Let's move
* Play musical cushions by scattering small cushions across a non-slip floor and encouraging the children to dance around the cushions until the music stops when they find a cushion to sit on.
* Provide each child with a small cushion to hold and invite them to copy your movements, for example, as you lift it high and then bend down to put it on the floor. Finish by sitting on the cushions and talking about changes in the body after the exercise.
* Arrange small cushions across a large floor space as stepping stones, starting and finishing on the same spot. Invite the children to take large strides from one cushion to the next, pretending to be crossing a river or swamp.
Alert the senses
* Provide opportunities for the children to explore using all their senses.
* Create covers for small square cushions using strong contrasts of texture, such as fur fabric, shiny chiffon, rough sacking and smooth artificial leather. Invite the children to sit in a circle and pass around the cushions one by one. Encourage the children to stroke their cheeks and arms with the cushions and talk about which ones they like best.
* Create perfumed cushions by adding lavender or dried mint to the filling.
* Make noisy cushions by adding small bells to the filling or stuffing them with crunchy leaves.