International Nurses Day | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with International Nurses Day. International Nurses Day is celebrated annually on May 12th. It was established by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1965 to honour the invaluable contributions of nurses to society. The date was chosen to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the founder of modern nursing. The day's purpose is to celebrate and recognise nurses' vital role in providing care, promoting health, and saving lives. The ICN coordinates the day, providing an international theme and resources to highlight the important work of nurses worldwide. For official information, themes, and resources, please visit the International Council of Nurses (ICN) website: www.icn.ch.

Tuesday 12th May 2026

12th May every year

• 🤔 What is International Nurses Day?

  International Nurses Day is celebrated every year on 12th May, the birthday of Florence Nightingale.

  It recognises the important role that nurses play in caring for people, supporting health and wellbeing, and helping communities stay safe.

  The day highlights:

  • compassion and care

  • helping others

  • the importance of healthcare professionals

• 👩‍⚕️ Understanding International Nurses Day in EYFS & KS1

  International Nurses Day provides a meaningful opportunity to explore:

  • people who help us

  • health and wellbeing

  • empathy and care

  • community roles

  In both EYFS and KS1, this theme can support:

  • PSED (empathy, relationships, caring for others)

  • Understanding the World (community and roles)

  • Communication & Language (talking about experiences)

  • Expressive Arts & Design (role-play and imagination)

• 🌱 A Developmentally Appropriate Approach in Early Years

  In high-quality EYFS practice, special dates such as International Nurses Day are used:

  • flexibly

  • in response to children’s interests and experiences

  • to enhance play, conversation and understanding

  The ideas below are:

  • optional

  • adaptable

  • intended to support adult thinking

  👉 Find out more about developmentally appropriate practice in EYFS by exploring our ‘Curriculum & Pedagogy Suite’.

  Pathways available for:

  ↪ Babies | birth-18 months

  ↪ Toddlers | 18-36 months

  ↪ Preschool | 3-4 years

  ↪ Reception | 4-5 years

  ↪ Childminder | Mixed-Age Care

• 💛 Why Learning About Nurses Matters for Young Children

  Exploring this theme supports children’s development in meaningful ways:

  🏥 Understanding the World

  Children begin to recognise the role of nurses and healthcare professionals in their community.

  🤝 Empathy and Kindness

  Children develop awareness of caring for others and responding to needs.

  😊 Emotional Security

  Familiarity with healthcare roles can help reduce fear or uncertainty.

  🧠 Health Awareness

  Children begin to understand how we look after our bodies and stay well.

  💬 Communication & Language

  Opportunities to talk about experiences, feelings and ideas.

🌿 EYFS: Provision & Child-Led Ideas

These ideas are not activities to be planned or completed. They support understanding through play, relationships and real-life experiences.

• 👶 Babies (0–18 months)

  Understanding is rooted in care, relationships and familiar experiences.

  Babies may:

  • experience care routines (comfort, soothing, feeding)

  • respond to familiar adults and nurturing interactions

  • observe simple cause and effect (being cared for → feeling better)

  Adults can:

  • provide warm, consistent care

  • narrate simple actions (“I’m helping you”)

  • use calm tone, eye contact and touch

  • build trust through responsive interaction

  👉 Additional curriculum & planning support for this age group may be found on our ‘EYFS Planning for Babies (0–18 Months)’ hub page.

• 🚶 Toddlers (18–36 months)

  Toddlers begin to explore caring roles through play and imitation.

  Children may:

  • imitate caring behaviours (feeding, comforting, “helping”)

  • engage in simple role-play (teddies, dolls, familiar routines)

  • repeat actions linked to real-life experiences

  Adults can:

  • join play without directing

  • model simple language (“The teddy feels poorly”)

  • provide props for exploration (dolls, blankets, basic role-play items)

  • support repetition and schema-driven play

  👉 Additional curriculum & planning support for this age group may be found on our ‘EYFS Planning for Toddlers (18–36 Months)’ hub page.

• 🧒 Preschool (3–4 years)

  Children begin to understand roles and make connections to real life.

  Children may:

  • engage in imaginative role-play (doctors, nurses, families)

  • talk about experiences (visiting a doctor or hospital)

  • show empathy and concern for others

  Adults can:

  • extend play through language and questioning

  • introduce simple vocabulary (nurse, help, care)

  • support cooperative play

  • model empathy and problem-solving

  👉 Additional curriculum & planning support for this age group may be found on our ‘EYFS Planning for Preschool (3–4 Years)’ hub page.

• 🎓 Reception (4–5 years)

  Children develop a clearer understanding of roles and responsibilities.

  Children may:

  • understand that nurses help people stay well

  • explore different scenarios through role-play

  • consider others’ feelings and needs

  Adults can:

  • support discussion about real-world roles

  • guide understanding of helping professions

  • encourage reflection (“How can we help?”)

  • extend vocabulary and knowledge through conversation

  👉 Additional curriculum & planning support for this age group may be found on our ‘EYFS Planning for Reception (4–5 Years)’ hub page.

• 👩‍⚕️ Key Principle Across EYFS

  Understanding people who help us develops through:

  • relationships and care experiences

  • play and imitation

  • conversation and shared understanding

  • meaningful real-life connections

🌱 Environment Enhancements & Invitations (EYFS)

These are optional enhancements that may be added to provision if they align with children’s interests and experiences.

• 🏥 Role-Play & Real-Life Imitation

  You might enhance provision by:

  • adding familiar, real-life objects to a role-play area (e.g. bandages, clipboards, soft toys)

  • creating space for children to act out experiences such as caring, helping or visiting a doctor

  • allowing children to lead narratives based on their own experiences

  Resources that may support this include:

  • Doctors Surgery Role-Play Pack

  • Dentist Dramatic Role-Play Pack

  • Medical Word Mat

• 🧸 Caring & Nurturing Play

  You might enhance provision by:

  • including dolls, teddies or soft toys that children can care for

  • providing simple materials for nurturing play (e.g. blankets, wipes, role-play items)

  • supporting children to explore what it means to help and care for others

  Resources that may support this include:

  • Poorly Teddy resources

• 🗣️ Language, Interaction & Understanding

  You might enhance provision by:

  • introducing simple vocabulary linked to care, health and helping (e.g. “help”, “better”, “poorly”)

  • responding to children’s play with language that extends thinking

  • supporting children to talk about their own experiences (e.g. visiting a doctor or hospital)

• 💛 Empathy, Feelings & Relationships

  You might enhance provision by:

  • supporting children to notice how others feel

  • modelling kindness, reassurance and care

  • responding sensitively to children’s emotional experiences

  Resources:

  • Emotions and Feelings

  • Kindness and Friendship

  • Mental Health

• 🧠 Understanding the World

  You might enhance provision by:

  • introducing simple ideas about people who help us

  • using books, images or conversation to explore familiar roles in the community

  • allowing children to make connections between play and real life

  Resources:

  • People Who Help Us

  • The Human Body

  • Stay Healthy

• ✨ Key Reminder

  Understanding roles such as nurses develops through:

  • play and imitation

  • real-life experiences

  • conversation and interaction

  • relationships and care

📘 KS1 Learning Activities for International Nurses Day

In Key Stage 1, this theme can support more structured learning around community roles, health and empathy.

• 🏥 Role-Play: Doctors, Nurses and Healthcare Settings

  Children can:

  • explore structured role-play scenarios

  • act out real-life situations

  • develop understanding of healthcare roles

  You may use our:

  • Doctors Surgery Role-Play Pack

  • Dentist Dramatic Role-Play Pack

  • Poorly Teddy Posters

  This supports:

  • speaking and listening

  • understanding roles

  • imaginative play

• 🧠 Problem Solving & Critical Thinking

  Children can:

  • think about how to help someone who is poorly

  • discuss symptoms and solutions

  • explore simple cause and effect

  You may use our:

  • What Happened To Teddy? – Critical Thinking

  • X-Ray Multimats

• 💛 Health, Kindness & Wellbeing Discussions

  Children can:

  • discuss how we care for others

  • explore kindness and empathy

  • learn how to stay healthy

  Resources:

  • Kindness and Friendship

  • Stay Healthy

• 🧬 Understanding the Body & Health

  Children can:

  • learn about the human body

  • explore how we keep it healthy

  • understand basic health routines

  Resources:

  • The Human Body

  • Handwashing and Hygiene

• 🌍 Explore More Resources | EYFS Enhanced Provision & KS1 Activities

  You may wish to explore:

  • Medicine: Doctors and Nurses

  • Stay Healthy

  • The Human Body

  • Handwashing and Hygiene

  • Kindness and Friendship

  • Mental Health

  • Exercise

  • Teeth and Oral Health

• 🧠 Using Special Dates Thoughtfully

  A helpful question:

  “What does this add to children’s understanding of the world around them?”

  If it supports:

  • empathy

  • understanding

  • meaningful play

  → it is worthwhile

• 👩‍⚕️ In Summary

  International Nurses Day helps children to:

  • understand people who help us

  • develop empathy and care

  • explore health and wellbeing

  • make sense of real-life experiences

  In the EYFS, this learning is most effective when it is:

  • play-based

  • relationship-led

  • responsive

  In KS1, it can be:

  • explored through structured role-play

  • discussed and reflected on

  • linked to real-world understanding

• 🔓 How to Access Resources

  We offer a range of resources to support practitioners across EYFS and KS1, including printable materials and in-depth curriculum and pedagogy guidance.

  🟢 Free Membership

  You can access a selection of free resources by creating a free account.

  This includes:

  • selected printable resources

  • sample materials

  • weekly support emails for those who opt-in

  👉 [Create a free account]

  🟡 Premium Membership (Printables)

  Our Premium Membership provides access to our full library of printable teaching and provision resources.

  This includes:

  • themed resources (e.g. Gardening, Emotions, Seasons)

  • continuous provision materials

  • activity cards, displays and printable packs

  These resources can be used flexibly to support:

  • provision enhancements

  • small group work

  • classroom organisation

  👉 [View Premium Membership]

  🟣 Professional Membership (Curriculum & Pedagogy)

  Our Professional Membership provides access to our full Curriculum & Pedagogy Suite (Birth–5).

  ~ In addition to Premium Printable Provision access.~

  This includes:

  • age-specific pathways (Babies, Toddlers, Preschool, Reception)

  • planning guidance and templates

  • observation and assessment support

  • SEND and inclusion guidance

  • inspection-ready documentation

  These documents are designed to support:

  • confident decision-making

  • consistent practice across teams

  • clear articulation of EYFS pedagogy

  (KS1 curriculum coming soon!)

  👉 Visit EYFS Curriculum & Pedagogy Suite

  👉 [View Professional Membership]

  🧠 Choosing What Works for You

  You do not need to use everything at once.

  Many practitioners:

  • start with free resources

  • build their printable provision over time

  • use pedagogy documents to support team understanding and leadership

  Choose what best fits your setting, role and stage of development.

👉 To explore more early years events, visit our Special Dates Calendar.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘International Nurses Day’

Free ‘Health’ resources for EYFS & KS1:

The following is a small selection of our inspirational ‘Health’ resources for EYFS & KS1:

(Please visit our ‘Medicine’, ‘The Human Body’, ‘Exercise’, ‘Handwashing & Hygiene’, ‘Eye Health’, ‘Teeth & Oral Health’, ‘Food’ (Fruit & Vegetables plus Balanced Diet), ‘Mental Health’, ‘Sun Safety’ or ‘Science’ pages to explore our extensive catalogue of Health resources.)

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or connected themes

More Early Years Event Pages for May

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

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Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'International Nurses Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), which established this event. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information, themes, and resources, please visit the International Council of Nurses (ICN) website: www.icn.ch.