Siobhan’s Childminding

What a lovely day in this very muggy weather!

We had the company of our friends from Dana’s Childcare join us today to spend time exploring the garden.

🐢to celebrate world turtle day Dana came along with coloured water and pipettes for the children to use their fine motor skills to squeeze the water to decorate the shell of a turtle

🥕the children spent time exploring the gardening inspired exploratory tray, using the small different gardening tools. They loved burying and picking the potatoes and carrots to make us all dinner

💦we had different coloured water in squeezy bottles and the water dispenser which was very well used today in role play and to explore

It’s Monday again and it starts the week off with our gardening theme and some additional works cup activities.

🪏the children were excited to get in the garden and explore our new garden area where they dig in the soil to plant their chosen plant

🎨the children used paints and forks to create their own inspired flowers

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 we explored our English inspired red and white tray for our World Cup

🌸used utensils to explore our flower soup

Today we enjoyed some time at the park and a gorgeous nature walk.

🐄 on our walk we spotted lots and lots of cows, we talked about the colours of them and what noise they make.

🦋 we spotted birds and butterflies

🌾we measured ourselves amongst the long grass growing.

Today we were going to go to the park, I checked the weather and it was suppose to pour down early but it didn’t 🙄🙈

So we invited our friends over for a garden play instead

🦋We explored the insect tray- what insects can you find?

🧱we worked together as a team building walls and knocking them down.

🚜🚗 we used our muscles in our legs to drive the little cars and pedal our tractor.

🥪we enjoyed socialising at the picnic bench eating our lunch

Today we have had a quieter day with a few children on holiday.

We decided to get amongst the community today by visiting the post office to post a parcel 📦

We then placed some unwanted clothes in the clothing bank and we talked lots about why we do this 👚👚

We took part in some school transition activities- reading books about starting to school, getting dressed in PE kit and talking about our feelings of starting school.

We had fun outside and with our sensory ball today taking turns and learning to roll and catch.

What a fabulous day we have had today!

✏️ my school leavers today have taken part in school transition activities including reading stories about starting school, practising getting dressed for PE lessons and name writing.

🦋 we have looked at the life cycle of a butterfly

⭐️practising gross motor skills crawling through the tunnel which also included lots of role play as the keyboard and phone were then used inside

🎨creating our very own caterpillar using potatoes and paints

Brushing teeth is a daily need for your little one, but can also be a difficult activity to get your child to do willingly! We have some helpful hints and tips to help encourage your child to enjoy brushing their teeth - visit this article from our website: https://www.tlc-essex.info/resource/sing-sparkle-smile/

Feeding your under fives - A free early years nutrition webinar
for Essex families 🍎

In this 90-minute online session, award inning baby and child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling Reed will cover:

- why the early years matter so much for your child's long term health
- balanced eating, portion sizes, fussy eating
- how to make mealtimes work for your whole family

Please share this with parents and carers in your settings, and don't miss this informative session from Nourishing Our Future: Essex.

To book your place please complete the online sign-up form: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=TzK0qFwVFUKg8X7YzJqZL6qKmjf-ZgxBkOr4HuNTNapURDU5S1hBR0hFMUU3T1BWUUoySVhSNDI2Ry4u 📌

We are a setting that goes on many adventures so road safety is a huge risk assessment for me every day!

No day is ever the same…
🚶‍♂️‍➡️different aged children on all different days
🚶🏾‍♂️‍➡️some children walk, some children in a double pushchair and some days in a single pushchair
🚶‍♂️‍➡️different adventures to explore
🚶🏾‍♂️‍➡️different places we get in and out of the car

The children in my setting have lots of experiences of holding hands, holding the loops on the pushchairs to help them walk safely on the pavements.

Equally every day we experience crossing the road so the children talk about stop, look, listen and think before we cross the road.

With half term approaching for some, are you planning to explore your local area?

Whether you’re walking, cycling or scooting, it’s a fab activity that doesn’t have to cost a thing. Plus, you can use this time to teach your children about road safety too.

⭐ Encourage small children to hold your hand and keep on the pavement out of harm's way. ⭐Remember they may easily get distracted and run into the road.
⭐Where possible keep children on the inside of the pavement away from traffic.
⭐ Talk about what you can see and hear.
⭐Ask questions to help them understand simple ideas like ‘fast’ and ‘slow’, as well as where the pavement ends and the road begins.
⭐Remember, children will copy what you do, so try to avoid stepping into the road without making it obvious you’re checking it’s safe to cross first.

You'll find more road safety tips on our website, plus, some great activity sheets for children: https://capt.org.uk/csw-road-safety/

📷 Illustration shows a child at risk of running out into the road.

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⭐ 2026 is coming soon - Monday 1st to Sunday 7th June - Follow us for top tips to keep your family safe ⭐

Today we visited rhyme time at our local library. We haven’t been for so long just due to timings etc but the children loved exploring!

📚they found books of interest one about a tiger and one about dinosaurs
🥁made their own choices choosing their musical instruments
📘listened and interacted with the story telling

We then finished our morning with time spent at the park, quick spot of insect hunting and a picnic lunch