Parents talking with children and young people about happiness

Stimulus suggestions for beginner P4C practitioners

Thoughtful's selection of stimuli for early years through primary, secondary, further and higher education.

Animals in the nursery

Plastic animals are a really useful and available resource to stimulate thinking in the Early Years classroom. Use them to practise skills of turn-taking, listening and giving reasons too.

Playful and Puzzling

Developing children’s philosophical language and enhancing their conceptual capacities in Nursery and Foundation Stage.

Community Builder: Counting Game

Carnival of the Animals

Composed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886, Carnival of the Animals, was in his opinion a ‘fun’ piece that depicts, musically, different animals. This is a really good stimulus for enquiry because the music attempts to represent physical things through sounds and it’s a great introduction to the notion that music can paint pictures in our minds.

Vote With Your Feet – Early Years Example

Several sets of pictures posing accessible but debatable "would you rather" questions.

Would You Rather Be A Bee or A Chicken

Colourful resource using animal pictures for a variety of talk games.