Alex’s childminding

This week at Alex’s childminding, we have ……

- started the week off at little street! We got to role play lots of jobs and life experiences. We went shopping with our trollies, made dinner for our babies and each other in the restaurant, we did our hair and nails in the salon, we built a tower in the construction area, played musical instruments in the music room and explored the fire engine and ride on cars along the road! Lots of great language was used as well as our social interactions and imaginations!
- we went to our cooking playgroup where we got to make our own snack using yoghurt, oats, cereal and berries. We used our scoops to scoop it up into our own cups and used great hand to eye coordination as well as controlled movements while scooping.
- we enjoyed the sunshine and went to feed the ducks! We stopped off for a play at the park and loved running around and going down the big slide! We practised our balance while walking over the ‘wobbly’ bridge!
- we stopped in at the play cafe for a snack and a play in the soft play area! We loved playing chase with each other and made some new friends!
- we visited another playgroup where we had to practise our fine motor skills to pick up Pom Pom with tweezers and stick them on the tape! We explored and made various things out of playdough, we made special photo frames for our mummies, we loved the ball-pit and the role play areas also.

We also loved making our Mother’s Day cards and gifts! As well as baking some yummy cakes to take home 😋

This week at Alex’s childminding we have explored world book day! Reading stories is very important for a child’s development! It promotes speech and language, widens vocabulary, improves their imagination when they act out parts of a story, develop their attention span, encourages sharing and turn taking with peers and helps their fine motor skills with holding and turning the pages to look at/ read.

This week to support reading and celebrate world book day we have …..

- been to Nymans to explore the Winnie the Pooh trail! We walked around to find little play bits based on the story. There was pin the tail on eeyore, dressing up as knights, matching paw prints to the character, listening to parts of the story and we played in the play bit too!
- we went to our cooking group and made our own teddy bear marmalade sandwiches! We used the knife to spread the butter and the marmalade over the bread. We then used the cutter to make a teddy bear face and got to decorate it with raisins! We could also
Make and decorate our own lunchbox to take home!
- we used sticks and pretended they were stickman! We then also explored using the sticks to paint with and observed what marks they made!
- we went to Wild tots where we got to explore the books ‘tiddler’ in the sand, ‘room on the broom’ and mix potions, ‘the hungry catapillar’ and use the tweezers to feed him, ‘the tiger that came to tea’ and have a tea party and we took part in Elmer colouring and made our own bookmark!
- went to a playgroup where we explored foam, role play area, we made a flower using straws, read lots of books, did the gruffalo puzzle and played with Thomas on the train tracks!
- the children also enjoyed bringing in their favourite story to share with friends!

This week at Alex’s childminding we have…..

- we visited play pocket where we got to engage our imagination with all the different areas! We especially loved baby play and we practised dressing, feeding and putting baby to sleep! We also got to try out the new slide which all the children loved!
- we visited a farm where we saw goats, sheep, horses, guinea pigs and many more! We also got to explore a big sand pit where we had a pit stop and made sandcastles! We also enjoyed the soft play to escape the drizzle and loved the slide and tractor!
- we had been busy making crafts for Valentine’s Day! We made cards, clay hearts that we decorated, made hearts and patterns in played dough and decorated our own paper heart however we wanted!
- we also talked a lot about self love and what we loved about ourselves and our friends! We read a book on what love means, and talked about what we do to show someone we care.
- we have touched on children’s mental health this week by engaging in Danny go’s excercises for Children and love our wake up
Dance we do every morning to engage our minds and bodies for the day!
- we loved our Valentine’s Day themed playgroup where we got to hunt for magnetic hearts using magnets in the tuff tray, we got to draw, colour and paint our hearts and ice our own heart biscuits to take home!

This week at Alex’s childminding we have …..

- had fun in the soft play at springboard. We loved practising our jumping in the ball pit! We loved rolling around all the soft play bits, tunnels and slides. We loved the role play room and we pretending to shop, cook, build and eat all the tasty ‘food’
- we loved our playgroup where we focused on the hungry catapillar book. We got to make our own catapillars, headbands, we got to cut up the fruits using our own chopping board and knifes. We talked about knife safety and how to hold and use a knife. Afterwards we got to eat the fruit we cut up for snack 😋
- we managed to get out without the rain! We met friends in the woods and went to explore nature. All the children loved watching the cars drive past from the bridge! Some even beeped at us and we got to see a ‘nee naw’ with its lights flashing! We saw lots of puddles on our walk and loved puddle splashing to make big splashes! We also found some logs to climb and practised our balancing skills.
- we enjoyed our Thursday playgroup where we got to make our very own hedgehogs out of clay. Children enjoyed sticking the prickles on and holding their own hedgehog! We also loved the ball pit and the sensory tray with the blocks. We counted how many blocks we could build before it got knocked down. We got to 7! Children also loved making marks in the seeds with their fingers! We made circles, lines, zigzags and swirls!

We’ve also been looking at emotions this week, identifying our own and others feelings. We’ve made our own little faces out of pipe cleaners and had lots of fun with mirrors exploring our own faces and seeing what faces we can pull!

This week at Alex’s childminding we have…..

- enjoyed some fresh air and had fun at the park! It’s been a little while since we’ve been to a park (January weather 😂) children loved running around and climbing on the climbing frame to slide down the slide! We loved to run around the mud and roll down the hill ( thank goodness for all in ones 😂) children also found lots of puddles to jump in and we also found a very wiggly worm and the children enjoyed wigglying like a worm 🪱
- enjoyed a playgroup themed around under the sea, we fished for some fishes using tweezers, we practised our cutting skills using scissors and gluing and sticking to make our own fishes. We painted our own under the sea pictures using different tools and we enjoyed an interactive story in the library beforehand!
- we visited ‘messy makers’ club where the children engaged with lots of sensory and messy activities all construction and digger themed! There was cornflour play, cereal play, rice play, shaving foam and brick building, painting, kinetic sand, playdough and digger role play dress up.
- we visited our Thursday playgroup where we took part in sand play and looked for buried treasure, we engaged in painting and explored different colours, we did threading, stickle bricks, cars and practised our balancing skills along the obstacle course.

This week at Alex’s childminding we have……

- celebrated national bird week by making our own binoculars, making our own bird feeders and seeing what birds we could see in Alex’s garden! We practised our counting and used lots of new describing words to explore and learn about different birds!
- we enjoyed a playgroup where we explored different role play areas! We built cities out of blocks, we loved the farm, we made and decorated our own crowns and pretending to be kings! We tried on outfits from the dressing up box and we got involved with painting with shapes to make our own pictures.
- we spent a rainy morning having fun in soft play! We climbed, jumped, slid, practised our balancing, engaged in role play and enjoyed the ride ons!
- we went to another playgroup where we got to make our own cake out of playdough, made our own sensory bag, enjoyed the ball pit, played in the play kitchen and played doctors using the baby dolls! We finished the session with a story and some singing and dancing!

This week at Alex’s childminding….

- worked on our fine motor skills and our independence prepping and cutting our own snack! We talked about holding and using knives safety as they can be very sharp! All children did amazing listening to instructions and showed great care while cutting!
- we explored winter whilst working more on our fine more skills. We used tweezers to transport the Pom Poms to the container. We talked about volumes and empty, half full and full. We showed Great hand to eye coordination during this!
-we explored playdough and what marks we could make! The children loved stamping the polar bears into the playdough and exploring the footprints left behind!
- we visited a playgroup all based on the e book ‘shark in the park’ the children got to listen to the book and use their telescopes to spot for sharks. We also got to decorate and take home our own telescopes! We could also colour in and make our own sharks, fish for sharks in the pool! We explored the pasta and seashells tray and could use the tools to fill our buckets. We also ended the session with the baby shark song and dance!
- we went to another playgroup where we got to colour and stick our own fishes, build towers with duplo, explore the ball out and tent, fish for fishes in the water tray and thread some beads onto pipe cleaners!

Welcome back! The children have done amazing getting back into routine and have all been very excited to come back and see their friends!! It’s so good to see such lovely friendships being formed ♥️

This week at Alex’s childminding we have …..

- we went on a winter walk and explored and played in the snow! We did mark making using sticks and even our fingers! We explored how cold the snow felt and even made a little snowman!
- we played with indoor snow too! We compared the difference and the fact the indoor one was warmer 😂 children loved attempting to make their own snowballs and using the scoops and buckets!
- we visited a lovely playgroup where the theme was based on ‘dear zoo’ children got to draw and paint their own animal from the book, mae their own cages for the animals out of playdough and sticks, played with the duplo zoo animals, took part in colouring and joined in on an interactive dear zoo puppet show and parachute fun!
- we visited active bounce where to enjoyed the bouncy castle, ride ons, balance blocks and the of slide! We confidently climbed to the top and slide all the way down! Some of us went very fast!
- we went to one of our favourite playgroups where we took part in rice play with letters and we all found the first letter of our name! We engaged with sticking snowballs onto our snowflake, we took part in painting and loved the role kitchen! Making cups of tea and bow of fruit and veg!

This week we have also loved

- playing with happyland toy
- car race track
- baby play
-puzzles

This week at Alex’s childminding we have had so much fun with the lead up to Christmas! We have done lots of fun activities such as ….

- visited the family hub where to got to chase snowflakes away to reveal a lovely Christmassy picture! ❄️
- we also enjoyed playing in the garden with the water play, washing the trucks and cars, playing in the play house, building towers and enjoying doing Christmas colouring!
- we visited a soft play where we climbed, jumped, went down the slide and even had a surprise Santa visit!
- we have been busy making reindeer food to take home to make sure we sprinkle in our gardens on Christmas Eve! The children loved using the spoons to scoop and showed Great hand to eye coordination whilst doing this!
- we had another special Santa visit to our setting where Santa came and said hello to all the children and he even read us a story before giving all the children a present. We all were very excited to see Santa and sat beautifully while he read to us!
- we visited a Christmas playgroup where we got to decorate a Christmas tree, play with glitter playdough, make a tree ornament for our trees, make paper chains and play in the ball pit with snowballs! We even got to see Santa again as he came and gave all the children another present to take home for the holidays!
- we finished the week with some Christmas music and dancing and we each decorated our own Christmas trees to enjoy with mummy and daddy!

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and a happy new year. Alex will see you all in the new year 🙂 xx

This week at Alex’s childminding, we have….

- had fun exploring a national trust this week, we took part in the Alice in wonderland trail and had to follow the white rabbits which led us to fun play areas and activities to take part in- one of which included a puppet show which the children loved!
- we had fun at the play pocket and loved taking part in all the role play areas! We were chefs, doctors and nurses and builders. We also
Loved the baby play area, train track and the soft
Play slide and blocks.
- we took a walk to look at all the Christmas decorations. We loved finding all the santas, reindeer, snowman and looking at all the lights! We talked about road safety and when to stop and to always look for cars. The children were amazing at this and showed great listening!
- we played in a snowman tuff tray and enjoyed filling up our snowman using different tools such as spoons and tongs. We talked lots about full and empty 🙂 and the children found it hilarious to tip over the snowman once finished.
- we have loved playing at the park and enjoyed the rare bit of sunshine ☀️ we met up with some
Friends and the children got so excited seeing them! The children all took part in a hide and seek Game and a game of chase with each other! We then all sat down for a picnic 🧺

We have also enjoyed…
- Christmas colouring
- chairman’s tree stickers
- puzzles
- bubbles
- painting our Christmas ornaments

This week at Alex’s childminding, we have ……

- been getting into the festive spirit by doing lots of Christmas crafts such as our melted snowmen, calendars, and making ornaments at playgroup!
- we’ve had fun in our snow play, making snowmen, snow balls and hiding and finding the artic animals. We also talked about what snow looks and feels like and what we need to wear to keep warm!
- we enjoyed playgroup where we took part in a Christmas tuff tray, glitter playdough, sticking the Christmas lights on the paper and taking part of singing and dancing to Christmas music at the end!
- we have enjoyed looking at Christmas decorations in the garden centre where we also got to visit the pet shop and saw lots of fish and also reptiles such as snakes, geckos and tortoises! Children were amazed with everything they found and saw and we even spotted nemo swimming around!
- we have also visited the ducks and got to feed them! We walked over the bridge and saw lots of beautiful swans aswel! We also had a pit stop at the park before heading home for lunch. 😊

This week at Alex’s childminding….

- we have started our Christmas activities 🥳 and the children have made their own cards, coloured their own stocking and painted their own trees this week! We have also started singing some Christmas songs and having a little dance!
- we took part in the Nymans Christmas trail where we stepped into the world of fairytales. We helped the three pigs build their houses, we fed the wolf in little red riding hood, we sat in Cinderella’s carriage and saw sleeping beauty’s room! The children loved following the lights and seeing what we could find next!
- we have looked at the change in weather and talked about hot and cold. We also spotted lots of frost (and even some deer!) out on our walks and the school run and talked about what we need to wear when it’s cold to keep warm!
- we enjoyed a winter train set up and engaged in pretend play encouraging our language skills and building on vocabulary and social skills. Children loved making their own marks in the ‘snow’ using their fingers and were very good at helping each other fix the train track when it broke!
- we have loved the baby role play tray too and the children enjoyed feeding and changing the baby. This led us to talk about full and empty, work on our hand/ eye coordination and talked about emotions when the babies ‘cried’ because they were hungry and then they were happy once full 🙂 we also talked about what we like to eat for breakfast too!
- we have also had the farm animals out to engage our imagination further. Children have loved finding the different animals, feeding them and putting them to bed 😂. We sang old mcdonald and read lots of books about animals!
- we also ended the week having a play in soft play! One of their favourites as they ran, climbed, spun and slide down the slide! Great playing together and building friendships 😊