Filling these bags with every-day items found in the classroom or at home, change, as if by magic, a random assortment of objects into a treasure trove rife for plundering. They are exciting and a little mysterious, especially if you can change them regularly. Discovery bags are a quick way to inject excitement into the resources that you have available by packaging them in a way that will keep your children coming back for more.

The themes that you choose can be inspired by topics you are exploring in your setting or school, or areas of interest from your cohort. You could even have a discovery bag committee that the children take turns to run, in order to develop new bags; or alternatively have a suggestions box or request slip for children to suggest themes for the bags.

The key to the successful use of discovery bags is that children maintain ownership of what happens with the objects. They should be open-ended and flexible and as such, a rich resource for developing the characteristics of effective learning.

Each idea includes suggested items to put in your bag, the overarching aims of the bag (although this is flexible) and some key questions for adults to consider if they are playing with the children.