Childcare Expo went Wild in London

Where Early Years Means Business

The sign of a good show is plenty of exhausted exhibitors, visitors departing at the end of the day with heavy bags and full minds and re-bookings for the following year happening faster than paperwork can be processed! Childcare Expo at London Olympia earlier this month had all these ingredients confirming that organisers Broadway Events produced another fantastic event for the early years sector.

With over 2,000 visitors attending the buzzing exhibition over the 4 & 5 March, the shows features were a great incentive for many to stay throughout the whole day, taking in informative sessions in between sourcing products and services from the wide range of suppliers. 

This year’s seminar sessions were packed with childcare professionals looking to learn from the expert speakers sharing their knowledge during the two days. The interactive workshops got crowds of visitors involved in messy play, phonics and ideas to harness the outdoors.

Over the course of the show, an inspiring Ideas Wall was created by artists and show visitors who added their comments onto two murals one asking ‘Where do you want the early years sector to head?’ and the other questioning ‘What are the building blocks of your early years setting?’. Visitors were able to take part by writing their own comments and also taking time to read the ideas and views of other visitors, which created a great platform to bring everyone together.

The Wild Place to Play area created by The Childcare Company used a jungle themed display as an example of how a creative learning environment can be delivered. Attendees were given the opportunity to learn from nursery staff at Wellingtons Day Nursery about how to tackle creating an exciting indoor location, from finding the initial inspiration through to ways to promote both independent and adult guided learning opportunities that they could use within their own settings using mostly recycled and inexpensive resources.

Event director Emma Barrett summed the show up with “we have been overwhelmed with the positive feedback we have received from both visitors and exhibitors, the buzzing atmosphere during the event was alight with passion and enthusiasm and it was fantastic to be able to provide a platform for such an important sector to unite together.  We are already looking forward to returning next year, but we have two more exciting shows to take place at EventCity in Manchester this June and at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena at the end of September, so there is lots more to look forward to this year”.