Nursery Medium Term Planning: Night and Day

A complete Medium Term Plan to support high-quality teaching and learning through a Night and Day theme in your Nursery class. Created by experienced EYFS teachers and aligned with the EYFS framework, this plan uses the Night and Day theme as a vehicle for learning, not a set of activities to get through. It supports you to map learning across the term while keeping play, provision and children’s interests at the heart of your planning.

Rather than prescribing daily tasks, this plan gives you big-picture clarity and the confidence to respond to your cohort, build progression over time and make meaningful curriculum links through play.


What’s Included?

  • A termly overview linked to all areas of the EYFS curriculum
  • Clear learning intentions and skill progression across the term
  • Key vocabulary linked to night, day, light, dark, time and the natural world
  • Suggested texts to support discussion, storytelling and imagination
  • Space to adapt planning based on children’s interests, needs and assessment
  • A flexible structure designed to work alongside continuous and enhanced provision

Why Teachers Love It

  • Uses the Night and Day theme without becoming tokenistic or repetitive
  • Supports progression without over-planning
  • Keeps learning purposeful and rooted in children’s natural curiosity about the world
  • Saves time while still valuing professional judgement
  • Works seamlessly with continuous provision and in-the-moment planning

How Can I Use This Resource?

  • Map learning across the theme for the full term
  • Support weekly and short-term planning decisions
  • Ensure curriculum coverage while remaining responsive to children’s play
  • Link learning to children’s own experiences of night and day, routines and the natural world
  • Use as a shared planning and reflection tool with your staff team

💡 This resource is also available inside the Is it Time to Play? Membership, giving members access to hundreds of planning tools, resources and professional development materials for no additional cost.


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