This is following on from last weeks post on gross motor skills. Fine motor skills develop the muscles in fingers, thumbs and hands which enable children to hold a pen or pencil to write and draw, as well as mastering skills like doing up buttons, zips and tying shoe laces and holding cutlery to cut…
I have worked with Best learning in the past http://www.bestlearning.com So when I was given the opportunity to review another of their educational toys, I jumped at the chance. My Geobloxhttps://bestlearning.com/products/best-learning-my-geo-bo xis a set of sorting and building blocks, which help young children to learn colours and shapes. Along with the blocks there is a…
I could see how great this book is as soon as I opened it! As a former early years practitioner I know that a toddler’s brain is like a sponge; they soak up knowledge and learn at their very best when they are having fun. At the beginning of the book is an explanation for…
I came across this book on social media and was attracted by it straight away because it’s just the thing that my youngest son loved to do when he was growing up ( he is the youngest of 4 siblings) and always wanted to be ‘a big boy’ like his brothers and as they had…
I was sent a tube containing 240 low-in-the dark pieces. And a box, in which I was expecting to find a board ( for holding the pieces). But the box contained another 250 puzzle pieces in 10 different colours. And a puzzle mat. Harley, age 8, who was eager to help with my review was…
Diwali is on Monday 23rd October( this coming Monday) and is celebrated by several different religions for 5 days. Diwali is also known as the festival of light, So these acitivities should help parents and carers to celebrate with their children:- DIWALI FLOWER GARLAND; This is pretty easy to make; just copy, colour and cut…
When I was working as a registered child minder I was always trying to think up ways of helping the children to learn through play. One of the most successful things that I thought of was to set up an early years hair dressing salon: I started planning this by asking the children’s parents to…
I had never heard of this, until my sister, who works with special needs children, told me about it. Basically a playdough disco is a fun activity that uses playdough to encourage the movement of the hand and fingers to develop muscle control and fine motor skills more here It also helps to improve hand-to-eye…
I was sent a pack of 10 double sided, wipe clean flashcards for review. The thing that makes these flashcards better than the average ones are that not only do they help children to learn the names of colours and shapes. There is also the option of tracing the shape and it’s name on the…
As most of us are trying avoiding going into shops. unless for essential food activities for children using things that we already have is a good idea:- Toddlers will enjoy having a saucepan and wooden spoon to use as a drum ( not so great if you have a headache though!). Make your own shakers…
This is a selection of Valentine crafts from ichild>- HAND ON HEART VALENTINES CARD; A great craft foe early years, as most children are happy to have their hand drawn around. Simply draw a heart shape ( or use the downloadable template) in the centre of the hand and ask the child what message they…
I was sent the Carmella apple candy locks doll to review. The first thing that struck me was how tiny she is, Carmella apple is wearing pink roller boots, she can move from the waist and has flexible arms. What Carmella apple and the other candy locks dolls lack in size make up for by…
I saw a question on Facebook this week were a registered child minder was asking how caring for ‘a looked after child’ worked. When I was working as a child minder I went on a training day that qualified me to work with Social services and other agencies. There was a designated social worker (…
When I was working as a registered child minder I always had a written contract that myself and the parents would sign and each had a copy. The contract would state the days and times that child minding was required. Plus what would happen should the child be unwell more here. And if I was…
In the box that I received were 4 plastic eggs and spoons, 4 colorful sacks. 4 beanbags some leg straps ( for a three-legged race) and a story book that was themed to a sport’s day. Pippa and Eliza were excited to help with my review. The girls read the story first and talked about…
I first met Lulu with her mum when we were waiting to collect our children from school. When her mother discovered that I was a registered child minder she asked if I had a space for her daughter ( I did). Lulu’s mother asked me to treat her the same as I would any other…
Many people are under the impression that child minders just stick the children in their care in front of the television and then get on with whatever they like, whether it’s housework or chatting on the phone to friends. Hopefully my telling of a typical day when I was working as a registered child minder,…
When I was working as a registered child minder I looked after one little boy, who was coming up to the age of 3, He had a very small attention span and would quickly get bored with activities ( which I know is not unusual for a child of that age). One day I decided…
As a registered child minder, a considerable amount of time has to be spent on paperwork. One part of this is to keep reports in an accident/incident book ( there are many publications available to purchase from various sources, but I just used a notebook). I was fortunate that in the 14 years that I…
When I was a registered child minder I always wrote out a contract keeping my business professional. Most parents were really good at sticking to the times stated in the contract; however, sometimes life gets in the way and it was not always possible to honour those times: I understood that and as long as…
Being a new mum is very exciting, but it can also be tiring and overwhelming for some women . My biggest tip is to take any help that is offered. Keep visitors to a minimum when you first have your new baby; friends and family will want to visit and see both of you, but…
I will admit that I have always been addicted to the sun and getting a suntan ( I have never been a big drinker or a smoker, so I figured that a sun addiction wasn’t such a bad thing). One of the many advantages of working as a registered child minder, for me, was that…
Thankfully, I have only had experience of this a couple of times. Once a new parent didn’t come to collect her child at the contracted time. I had another child due to arrive soon, which would mean that I was over the number of children that I was registered to have. I tried phoning her…
In a world that seems to be dominated by plastic products, in contrast, treasure baskets are a collection of household items made from natural materials which are given to babies and young children to explore. A baby starts to explore using her hands and fingers well before birth, while still in the womb. Treasure basket…
Registered child minders may work alone in their own homes, but they are early years professionals and should have a contract with parents, just as larger settings do. I would have an initial meeting with parents looking for childcare; tips on what to say here When the parents had agreed to me looking after their…
When Best learning materials corp asked if I was interested in reviewing one of their products, I chose my spin and learn steering wheel because this appealed to my expertise as a former child minder. On opening the box I immediately saw a quality toy which would provide hours of fun and learning. The wheel…
When I married my second husband I had 2 sons from my first marriage who had their dads surname, it never occurred to me to change their names, they wouldn’t have wanted to; they loved their dad, even though I no longer did, plus I thought that they had enough changes going on without adding…
Recently there have been a number of stories in the media about the sexualisation of children, from entering them into beauty pageants wearing skimpy outfits and spray tans plus a High street store was reported to be selling false eye lashes for toddlers. This got me thinking that there is a fine line between children…
I was privileged to work as a registered child minder for many happy years, meaning that I never had to leave my children in childcare; other than in pre-school play groups. Being a child minder; I was aware of a parents guilt, and hardly a week goes by without something similar being brought up on…
Thanks to Tina for the suggestion of an absent parent, a difficult subject; but one I have had a little experience of. My boys, were aged four and six years, when myself and their father split. I decided at the time that I was going to try to stay on good terms with my ex,…
Cooking with children is an activity that I have done with both my own children, and the ones I used to child mind. You can simply let the children help with baking, my own children used to like to stand on a chair beside me so that they could reach the kitchen worktop and help…