STEP STARTER SACKS
Cultural PLAY-BASED LEARNING
STEP Starter Sacks is an exciting early years programme for young children from the Gypsy/Traveller and Roma community. Our aim is that every child is able to access early education, offering the best start for going to school and improving opportunities throughout life.
– What’s in the sack? –
Watch these videos to find out what you receive in each of the three STEP Starter Sacks: My first red literacy Sack, My yellow Science Sack and my green Health and Wellbeing Sack.
How to get involved in the Starter Sack Programme
Find your local Gypsy/Traveller educator, EAL teacher, community learning contact or site manager using our interactive map to get involved. You can also contact your local school or nursery directly or email STEP at step@ed.ac.uk to find out more.
You will receive a Starter Sack containing craft materials, puppets, cultural resources and lots more. The Sacks contain activity cards with QR codes that link to activity videos. You will have a key contact person who will be able to answer any questions. This will usually be a someone from the local school, nursery or a Traveller site manager.
Practitioners and local authority staff please visit Starter Sack information for practitioners
Check out our new Starter Sack resources for Roma families below and visit our new multilingual support page here!
– Chatting and counting With Pictures –
STEP Starter Sacks include a Counting with Pictures learning activity as a set of 10 hand-drawn activity cards. The cards were made by Scottish Traveller Kelly Stewart and her artist friend, Jo Waterhouse. Use them to chat about family, traditions, culture or share stories about travelling or life past and present. Find the online Counting with Pictures activity in our learning resources.
We also have translated resources for Roma families. View or download below or get in touch to order a printed set of cards.
Family activity cards (Czech)
Family activity cards (Slovak)
Family activity cards (Romanian)
– Idea Starters –
Playing inside and outside the home helps children to make sense of their world, to challenge themselves, manage their emotions, interact with others and enjoy time alone. These skills are all important for starting school. Watch our short videos to get started. Remember, there is no right way to play and the important thing is to have fun!
Messy Play
Exploring nature
Construction
Patterns
Growing
Exploring colours
Exploring insects
Growing cress
Finding footprints
Emotions
The lifecycle of a butterfly
Routines
Science and outdoor activities for families!
Check out our family learning activity cards to support the yellow Science Starter. You’ll receive a set of three activity cards: Exploring insects, growing cress and finding footprints. Remember you can find ‘idea starter’ videos on this page for each set of cards showing you how to do the activities.
health & wellbeing activities for families!
Check out our family learning activities to support our green Health and Wellbeing Starter Sack. You’ll receive a ‘My morning tasks‘ activity card and an emotions chart to use with your emotion stone that you’ll find in your sack. You also get things like a toothbrush and a skipping rope to help you stay fit and healthy. Have fun!
Practitioners and local authority staff visit Starter Sack information for practitioners