Julie's House - Childminder in Alvaston, Derby

Julie's House - Childminder in Alvaston, Derby Ofsted registered childminder providing childcare for children from birth to 3 years old.

🌈 Our Colour Table 🌈We always seem to have some sort of colour table out at Julie’s House because the children really en...
02/10/2026

🌈 Our Colour Table 🌈

We always seem to have some sort of colour table out at Julie’s House because the children really enjoy it!

It might look like a simple activity, but there’s lots of learning going on.

The children can practise colour recognition, matching and sorting, developing their early maths skills through counting, comparing quantities and noticing similarities and differences.

It’s also great for communication and language — talking about colours, describing what they can see, making choices and listening to each other.

And, of course, there’s plenty of fine motor development happening as little hands pick up, carry, sort and place the objects.

🌈 Simple resources + lots of opportunities to learn, explore and have fun! 🌈

🍂 Our Autumn resources in action this week! 🍂The children were given the freedom to explore the resources in their own w...
02/10/2026

🍂 Our Autumn resources in action this week! 🍂

The children were given the freedom to explore the resources in their own way — no prompts, no instructions telling them what they should be doing, just time and space to discover, experiment and play.

We stepped in now and again to introduce new vocabulary, extend their thinking or add a few extra resources to build on their ideas.

The little number tiles were a particular hit!

There was so much shared focus, turn-taking, sharing of ideas and lovely communication between the children — along with, of course, lots of laughter and fun!

We love watching where their curiosity takes them when we give them the freedom to lead their own play. 🍁🍂

🍂 Autumn has arrived at Julie’s House! 🍁The mornings are definitely getting colder, but there’s something we really love...
24/09/2026

🍂 Autumn has arrived at Julie’s House! 🍁

The mornings are definitely getting colder, but there’s something we really love about this time of year — the beautiful warm colours, textures and treasures that autumn brings. 🧡🤎💛🍂

We’ve been creating an autumn-inspired area for the children to explore, and there are lots of opportunities for learning through play.

🌳 Early maths – sorting, matching, counting and talking about size, shape, colour and quantity.

🍁 Colour recognition – exploring the different shades of red, orange, yellow, green and brown.

🖐️ Sensory exploration – feeling different textures.

🌲 Understanding the world – talking about autumn, the weather, falling leaves and woodland animals.

🗣️ Communication and language – introducing new vocabulary and encouraging the children to describe what they see and feel.

🎨 Creativity with our little autumn trees

🧩 Problem solving and fine motor skills – picking up, moving, sorting and placing small objects

📚 Stories and imagination – everything links to our current book - It Was A Cold Dark Night.

And, of course, there’s plenty of opportunity for open-ended play. The children can decide what interests them, investigate the resources and use their imaginations to create their own play. Well then be on hand to add or change resources in response to where their play takes them.

🍂 September brings new beginnings! 🍂It’s always a little bit emotional saying goodbye when some of our children move on ...
13/09/2026

🍂 September brings new beginnings! 🍂

It’s always a little bit emotional saying goodbye when some of our children move on to their next big adventure. But with new beginnings come new opportunities here too!

September is a lovely time for us to take a fresh look at our setting, thinking about the children who are staying with us and what will interest, engage and support them as they grow and develop.

We’ve been busy updating our play areas, adding different resources and introducing new activities for our younger children to explore.

Our setting is always evolving alongside the children, making sure there are lots of opportunities to play, learn, explore and have fun.

28/07/2026

The Derby City Council's Early Years Education Team invites you to their reading trail! 📚

Pick up a map from any stall in the Market Hall and follow the route to Derby Museum, 🔎 solving a reading mystery along the way! 🥳

When: Thursday 6 August 10am – 3pm
Where: Derby Market Hall

Perfect for young readers aged under 7 years. 🎉

27/07/2026

Remember to reconfirm your working parents funded childcare code before your end date.

Call 0300 1234 097 📲 or visit www.gov.uk/childcareaccount 🔗

** EXTENDED UNTIL SUNDAY**There’s still time to enter the fabulous giveaway on our PreLoved resources page. Pop over to ...
17/07/2026

** EXTENDED UNTIL SUNDAY**

There’s still time to enter the fabulous giveaway on our PreLoved resources page.

Pop over to the page and let us know which children’s book character you’d bring to life for a day, and why?

Good luck!

🌈 Exploring Colours Through Play at Julie’s House Childminding! 🌈Our colour table has been providing lots of opportuniti...
05/06/2026

🌈 Exploring Colours Through Play at Julie’s House Childminding! 🌈

Our colour table has been providing lots of opportunities for hands-on learning, investigation and fun! The children have enjoyed exploring a variety of colourful resources, matching objects, sorting items and talking about the colours they can see all around them.

Through this beautiful selection of colourful resources, the children have been developing a wide range of skills:

🌈 Colour recognition and naming – identifying colours and learning to name them confidently.

🧺 Sorting and categorising – matching objects to the correct coloured basket and grouping similar items together.

💬 Language development – learning new vocabulary, describing objects, discussing similarities and differences, and extending conversations.

🔢 Early maths skills – counting and sorting objects, comparing quantities, identifying patterns and sequencing.

🧠 Problem-solving – deciding where items belong and checking their choices independently.

✋ Fine motor development – picking up, moving and completing puzzles.

📚 Early literacy opportunities – recognising colour words written on the baskets and in books and making links between spoken and written language.

🎨 Creativity and curiosity – exploring colours found in everyday objects and discussing where we see them in the world around us.

🤝 Social skills – taking turns, sharing resources and working together to complete sorting challenges.

Learning through play allows children to explore important concepts in a meaningful and enjoyable way, and our colourful investigation table has certainly prompted lots of discussion, discovery and interest.

🦕 Dinosaur Adventures at Julie’s House Childminding! 🦖Dinosaurs are always a favourite here, and our dinosaur invitation...
05/06/2026

🦕 Dinosaur Adventures at Julie’s House Childminding! 🦖

Dinosaurs are always a favourite here, and our dinosaur invitation to play has been a huge hit with the children! From roaring T-Rexes to tiny dinosaurs hiding in the grass, the children have loved exploring, creating stories and learning together.

This type of play offers so many valuable learning opportunities:

🦕 New vocabulary and language development – learning and attempting dinosaur names, describing colours, sizes and features, and asking questions.

🦖 Imaginative play – creating dinosaur worlds, adventures and stories using their own ideas and experiences.

🤝 Playing together – sharing resources, taking turns, negotiating roles and collaborating in their play.

📚 Early research skills – using books to look up dinosaur names, compare pictures and find information.

🔢 Counting and maths – counting dinosaurs, comparing quantities, exploring big and small, longer and shorter, and comparing different dinosaurs.

💬 Communication skills – talking about their ideas, listening to others.

✋ Fine motor skills – carefully moving, positioning and arranging the dinosaurs and natural materials.

It’s wonderful to see how a simple interest can spark so much learning, creativity and excitement!

🦕🦖✨

This week we’re celebrating World Bee Day.The children have been learning about bees, trying to spot them outside and bu...
20/05/2026

This week we’re celebrating World Bee Day.

The children have been learning about bees, trying to spot them outside and buzzing around like bees while we listen to The Flight of the Bumblebee 🐝🐝

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Alvaston
Derby
DE24

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