Hands-on resources for early years teachers
Learning that starts with wonder.
Play-based, inquiry-driven teaching resources for early childhood classrooms, made by a teacher who uses them.
What's in the lab
Resources that get little hands busy
Games, investigations and units for Kindy to Year 3, with a soft spot for maths. Each one is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and the Early Years Learning Framework.
Maths games
Dice, card and bingo games that build number sense and fact fluency while children play.
Escape rooms
Puzzle-based maths challenges that turn revision into a team mission.
STEM & inquiry units
Open-ended design, tinkering and problem-solving units that start with a question.
Measurement
Hefting, comparing and measuring with informal units, all hands-on.
Phonics & spelling
Crosswords and word searches for vowel teams and long vowel sounds.
Seasonal & digital
Seasonal activities, word walls and resources for student devices.
Teacher favourites
Featured resources
A few classroom favourites. Each links to the resource on Teachers Pay Teachers, where you'll find previews, prices and reviews.
- Design & technology unitIt's Not a Box: STEM InquiryA cardboard box, a problem to solve and a design process children can follow on their own.Foundation – Year 1View
- Game bundleGet Out of My House! Maths BundleFour fast, noisy dice games for addition, subtraction, doubles and multiplication.Foundation – Year 3View
- Maths escape roomPartitioning Escape RoomCrack the codes by partitioning two-digit numbers into tens and ones.Year 1 – Year 2View
- Measurement activitiesWeight HeftingHeavier or lighter? Hands-on comparing that gets everyone lifting, guessing and checking.FoundationView
- Phonics bundleLong Vowel Phonics BundleCrosswords and word searches for every long vowel team, A through U.Year 1 – Year 3View
- Poster setFree!Measurement Word WallVocabulary for length, height, weight and size, ready to print and pin up.Foundation – Year 2View
Hi, I'm Em!
I'm an Australian early childhood educator with eight years in the classroom across Kindergarten, Pre-Primary and Year 1.
I love play-based, hands-on maths and finding simple ways to bring technology into the early years. The Inquiry Play Lab is where I share the resources I make for my own classroom, so they can save you time in yours.
— Em
About the Lab
Made by a teacher, for curious classrooms
Play comes first
Children learn best when they are moving, building, rolling dice and talking it through.
Driven by questions
Activities open with a question or a problem and let children find their own way in.
Curriculum aligned
Mapped to the Australian Curriculum V9 and EYLF V2, so planning and reporting are easier.
Classroom tested
Made for real classrooms and tried with real children before they reach the store.
Say hello
Questions, ideas or requests?
Have a question about a resource, or an idea for one you'd like to see? Send me an email. I read every message.
- Business
- The Inquiry Play Lab
- Operated by
- Kasque Group Pty Ltd
- ACN
- 702 307 293
- ABN
- 62 702 307 293
- Location
- Perth, Western Australia