Little Badgers Childminding

Annual Leave started at 5pm and I was already showered and in my Pj's with a takeaway ordered by 5:30pm! See you all in 12 days...feeling refreshed and ready for the Summer Term!

🐒 The Big Toddle 🐯

This week, we took part in the Big Toddle safari-themed walk for Barnardo's alongside our friends at Happy Hedgehogs Home Nursery.

Dressed as wild animals, we set off on an exciting adventure through the woods. Along the way, we explored animal habitats, diets, and camouflage, learning new words such as herbivores and carnivores.

We listened to jungle-themed music, stopped for plenty of dancing, and practised our best animal movements. The children also enjoyed one of their favourite activities—den building. Working together as a fantastic team, they managed to move a huge log, which left all of the adults very impressed!

There were lots of opportunities for physical challenge too. The children climbed trees like little monkeys, showing great balance, confidence, and risk-taking skills.

Later, we gathered on logs to enjoy some animal-themed stories before sitting down for a picnic in the rain. Although it was a very wet day, it certainly didn't dampen our spirits.

When the sun made a brief appearance, we made magical puddle potions using sticks, leaves, flowers, and grass. Before long, the heavens opened once more, and we all dashed off to find shelter.

Despite the weather, we had an amazing day filled with adventure, learning, teamwork, and lots of fun!

☀️ June 2026 ☀️

The months are whizzing by so fast and we cannot believe it is now June already! Where is this year going?? We have lots more learning this month with topics such as Healthy Eating and Space, all linked to children's current interests. We are also taking part in The Big Toddle with our friends at Happy Hedgehogs, which the children always enjoy.

This month, we are also enjoying some much needed annual leave and look forward to relaxing with our own families and resetting our minds ready for a busy last term before the summer holidays.

☀️ Park Days ☀️

During half term we headed to some parks to enjoy the equipment and a picnic. The first day, was one of the cooler days of the week, so we were able to enjoy the areas without overheating. The children had a lot of fun on the slides and climbing frames before enjoying a picnic and roleplaying in the shade. We also visited the skate park early in the morning to practice our biking and scooting skills. We then enjoyed a lovely walk around the lake before heading out for lunch as a treat on the last day of the holidays.

💦 Heatwave in Half Term 💦

Half Term last week was a hot one but we had plenty of water play to keep us cool! We enjoyed the water wall with a lot of scooping, pouring and catching the water coming out the bottom of the pipes. We explored coloured ice and ice filled with petals, but that was a short lived activity as it melted ever so quickly. The main fun was had on the splash mat, with everyone enjoying the sprinkling of water, sliding down the slide into the water that was pooling on one edge and lots of water thrown at one another. It was lovely to see everyone so happy and full of laughter as they splashed around and kept cool.

🌸 Flower Power 🌸

A lovely morning spent in the sunshine enjoying the simplest of activities.

We used my wilting birthday flowers to enhance our water play and the children were completely absorbed in exploring them. They enjoyed cutting the flowers, picking petals and adding them to the water alongside an assortment of bowls, pots and pans.

There was so much wonderful imaginative play and communication as the children shared resources, mixed ingredients and chatted about their creations. We had cakes, soup, rabbit food and plenty of magical potions being carefully prepared.

The children also spent lots of time exploring the water wall with endless pouring, collecting and transporting jugs around the patio. They spotted the different colours reflected on the ground and loved lining the jugs up together to create their own rainbow .

Such a calm, creative and engaging morning full of sensory play, imagination and teamwork.

🐛 Minibeasts 🐞

Last week we dived into the wonderful world of minibeasts. The children loved learning all about different bugs using our fact books, mini figures and flash cards. They were so engaged matching the figures to the pictures and sharing what they already knew about each minibeast.

We also went on a very exciting minibeast hunt with our friends at Happy Hedgehogs. We discovered millipedes, centipedes, woodlice, beetles, spiders and worms! There were lots of excited little faces carefully studying the bugs in their magnifying pots and observing how they moved.

Later in the week, the children used loose parts alongside flash cards to create their own minibeasts. We were especially impressed with the fantastic scorpion creations.

To top off our adventures, we found a snail in the garden and created a bark chip obstacle course for it. The children were totally engrossed watching where it would go next — our little snail definitely put on a fantastic show! We have all become slightly obsessed with snails lately!

🏡 Garden Renovation Complete 🏡

The garden is officially complete and we're all so excited to get outside and create wonderful memories.

* We now have fresh turf and a brand new play area complete with a swing and slide set, climbing wall and our lovely wooden tractor.

* We’ve also added a new water wall after our old one became damaged by the sun. It was always such a favourite feature with the children, so glad to have it back this spring.

* Our new outdoor kitchen is fully stocked with lots of exciting resources, allowing us to rotate between sand, water and mud play. We can’t wait to see what wonderful concoctions the children create!

* We’ve also created a cosy shady house, perfect for drinks, snacks and even some al fresco lunches.

A huge thank you goes to my amazing husband Jim, who brought everything I envisioned to life and completely transformed our garden. Our boys loved helping him every step of the way with the digger, wheelbarrows full of soil, stones and turf — and so did our Little Badgers.

Jim may try to stay in the background, but he is very much part of the Little Badgers family. The children adore him and we are all so lucky to have him 💚

🦋 Goodbye Butterflies 🦋

This week has been full of wonder and excitement as our butterflies finally emerged from their chrysalises.

The children were absolutely fascinated watching the transformation, and we were even lucky enough to witness one butterfly emerging right before our eyes. It was such a special moment for everyone to experience together.

We then released the butterflies outdoors, and the children were so gentle and caring while holding them. Some butterflies took a little longer to fly away, which sparked lots of concern and compassion from the children. They carefully made sure each one was placed somewhere safe until they were ready, and eventually, they all fluttered off on their next adventure.

🦋 Butterfly Symmetry Craft 🦋

A simple but effective painting activity for the children this week. We discussed a butterfly having a symmetrical pattern and let the children paint a template of a butterfly to show them how to create their own symmetrical pattern. Our youngest liked painting with their fingers and the older children enjoyed making meaningful marks with brushes and sponges. The hallway is now filled with lots of colourful butterflies.