Children need to learn and develop gross motor skills to simply lead ‘a normal life’. Gross motor skills are the skills that children need to walk, run, climb, swim jump, kick, throw and catch a ball and to be able to play sports and even take part in a school sports day. Most children have…
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…
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…
Ellen, an early years practitioner has asked for activity suggestions for the children she looks after as a registered child minder to do safely in her garden. When I was working as a registered child minder I had a small walled garden that we made the best use of as I believe that children can…
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…
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,…
Thea, a registered child minder has requested this post. Having an Ofsted inspection is a nerve racking time for any setting; but as child minders often work alone, it can be more worrying if you are the only person that the inspector will see/ask questions ( nurseries and pre-schools will have several members of staff…
There is a saying which states; that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing: So does this mean that we should dress our children appropriately and send them out to play in all weathers? Personally, I am not keen on the rain, but understand that children are not so fussy. Recently…
Having an Ofsted inspector or N.V.Q. assessor visit your setting can be a daunting prospect for child minders and other early years practitioners. . Here are a few of my personnel experiences:- When my N.V.Q. assessor was visiting as part of my work to gain my N.V.Q. level 3 in early years care and education,…
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 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…
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…