Cottontails Childcare

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Cottontails Childcare Ofsted Registered Childminder working from home in West Rainton, Houghton-Le-Spring. Full days of childcare (Tues-Fri) for 0-3 year olds.

I am a qualified Primary Teacher, specialising in Early Years. CURRENTLY FULL UNTIL JANUARY 2027.

IMPORTANT DATES: 🎃👻💀Tuesday 20th October 2026- Halloween Tiny Tweeties 🎶🎃 (children who attend on this day are welcome t...
18/10/2026

IMPORTANT DATES: 🎃👻💀

Tuesday 20th October 2026- Halloween Tiny Tweeties 🎶🎃 (children who attend on this day are welcome to wear spooky/halloween clothing or costumes)

Wednesday 21st October 2026- Childminder outdoor playgroup 🍂 (warm clothing, waterproof layers and wellies, hat scarf and gloves if necessary)

Thursday 29th October 2026- Childminder Halloween party 🕷️🕸️ (fancy dress encouraged 👻) this may involve messy play so please don’t send in the costume you them want to wear on the 31st.

We will be visiting the pumpkin patch as usual over the next two weeks, I will let you know when the dates are finalised.

Friday 13th November 2026 🧸- Children in Need (Pudsey Day, children encouraged to dress in Pudsey merchandise and bring a suggested donation of £1 to the setting).

Festive dates will be shared in November. 🎄
We will close for Christmas on Friday 18th December 2026 @ 5:30pm and re open Tuesday 5th January 2027 @ 7:30am as usual. Please remember to budget for one unfunded week this term which falls on w/c 14th December.

PARENT STAY AND PLAY SESSION🍂Thank you to all of our parents for attending our first ever stay and play session. It was ...
26/09/2026

PARENT STAY AND PLAY SESSION🍂

Thank you to all of our parents for attending our first ever stay and play session. It was a lovely autumnal morning of chatting to other parents and getting to know all the children who attend the setting🥰

Parental engagement was one of the positives highlighted by Ofsted and we are proud to have such lovely relationships with all our families!

Stay tuned for our next stay and play session which will be Christmas themed 🎄🎅🏼

As some of you know, we had our very first Ofsted inspection on 21st July and have received our final report meaning we ...
21/08/2026

As some of you know, we had our very first Ofsted inspection on 21st July and have received our final report meaning we can now share this with our parents. Here is a snippet of the report entitled ‘What it’s like to be a child at this setting…’, please feel free to ask for a copy to be sent to you or for instructions on how to find it online. We hope you enjoy reading 🥰

We’ve enjoyed some gorgeous sunny days since moving to our new setting! Keeping the wanderlust of childhood alive with a...
19/07/2026

We’ve enjoyed some gorgeous sunny days since moving to our new setting! Keeping the wanderlust of childhood alive with a trip to Crook Hall gardens to play amongst the blooms and wildlife 🌼🌷🪻

Trying new places helps us explore the natural world around us and gives us ideas for further visits where we can build on our learning.🪜

The McKennas 🦢🤍Thank you so much to all of our lovely families for organising us the most thoughtful wedding gift! We lo...
29/06/2026

The McKennas 🦢🤍
Thank you so much to all of our lovely families for organising us the most thoughtful wedding gift!
We look forward to welcoming you all back to Cottontails when we re-open on Tuesday 7th July!

The most fun filled start to summer term! ☀️We’ve spent lots of time outside enjoying the much improved weather which is...
05/06/2026

The most fun filled start to summer term! ☀️

We’ve spent lots of time outside enjoying the much improved weather which is great for our wellbeing and burning off lots of energy building our gross motor skills. Picnic season has started! 🧺

We have done lots of exploring which helps increase our understanding of the wonderful world around us. The children are showing lots of interest in animals at the moment, especially enjoying looking for baby animals we explored in our Spring time topic! The swans with their many cygnets are a true highlight!

The children’s vocabulary has increased hugely over the last few months and they are all starting to use their imagination wonderfully when playing together and independently! 🪄

We have also celebrated a few special birthdays, welcomed a new starter and have lots of things to look forward to as we move into our new developing setting. 🎈👶🏼🏡

After learning about the life cycle of a frog during our time collecting tadpoles at Rainton Meadows, we have decided to order another round of caterpillars to revisit our favourite topic from last year- Marvellous Minibeasts! 🐞🐛🕷️🐜

Healthy lunchbox guidance for our move to packed lunches in the new setting 🥪🍎🥒
31/05/2026

Healthy lunchbox guidance for our move to packed lunches in the new setting 🥪🍎🥒

Over Easter we kicked off our new topic ‘Spring’ with a fabulous day out at Alnwick Gardens Cherry Blossom Festival 2026...
21/04/2026

Over Easter we kicked off our new topic ‘Spring’ with a fabulous day out at Alnwick Gardens Cherry Blossom Festival 2026 🌸🏮

The children and I sat on the famous swings and looked up at the sky to see signs of Spring all around us. Beautiful blossom filled the trees above us and floated down on our hands as the breeze blew. 🌸 Ducks and their ducklings quacked as they swam around the pond in front of us. 🦆 The sun shone happily high in the sky, casting a warm glow on the children’s faces and shadows on the ground as we pushed the swing back and forth with our legs. ☀️ Spring was all around us and the children were very excited to learn more! We brought home some cherry blossom leaves we collected from the ground to use in water play in our settings outdoor area.

The children are excited to dive into more learning about Spring and the changes that come with this beautiful season… 🌷🌼🐣

Address

Houghton Le Spring
DH45H

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 5pm
Thursday 7:30am - 5:30pm
Friday 7:30am - 5:30pm

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