Little Badgers Childminding

🏠 Playroom Update 🏠

Our playroom has had another little refresh ready for the Autumn term and, most importantly, for the arrival of our Baby Badgers!

We’ll be welcoming four new little ones into our Little Badgers family, so it was time to rethink our space and make sure it works beautifully for a younger cohort, while still meeting the needs of our older Badgers too.
We’ve kept many of the resources our existing Badgers know and love, but made a few changes to make them more accessible for little hands.

⬛️ The new rug is outstandingly soft and comfy, I genuinely cannot wait to get down on the floor and play alongside the babies! Plus, we’ve created much more open floor space in the middle of the room, giving our youngest Badgers plenty of room to crawl, roll, explore and move freely.

🛋 Our sofa is back! We really missed having somewhere cosy to sit for stories, cuddles and those lovely quiet moments together.

🏠 Our roleplay area has opened up, giving the children more space to move, explore and play together. Because, of course, as soon as one Badger enters the roleplay area… everyone suddenly needs to be in there!

✏️ We’ve added a dedicated mark-making area that is always accessible, particularly for our older children. This means they can continue drawing, writing and creating independently while we are busy supporting our babies, but also giving them our attention too.

🧩 Our small world and construction resources have also had a refresh, with more suitable options for younger hands, while still leaving plenty of scope for our older Badgers to use their imaginations and create their own little worlds.

🍽️ And, as always, our dining area doubles up as our resource rotation space, giving us plenty of extra resources to bring out and swap around as the children’s interests develop.

It’s all about creating a space that grows and changes with the children. Bring on the Autumn term 🍂

⛰️ Time For A Break ⛰️

Time for some much-needed family time with my boys, making memories and enjoying some adventures together.

Of course, I couldn’t resist squeezing in a little playroom refresh too… because apparently that’s my favourite thing to do when I’m on annual leave! I've been getting the playroom ready for all of our new little babies who will be starting their settles when we’re back, ready to officially join our Little Badger family.

There are still a few finishing touches to add when we get home, so I’ll keep the final reveal under wraps for now…

👋 Goodbye Friend 👋

Last week, we said a very special goodbye to our Little Badger P as she heads off to enjoy some precious family time before beginning her next big adventure at school.

It has been an absolute privilege to have P with us since she was just 18 months old and to be part of such an important part of her early years journey. Watching her grow from a tiny toddler into the confident, caring and wonderfully funny little girl she is today has been incredibly special.

And that laugh… Her infectious laugh has filled our home for so long, and I already know how quiet it is going to feel without it echoing around the house every day.

We will miss so much about P - her kindness, her confidence, her beautiful friendships with all of the Little Badgers and, of course, her incredible helpfulness! She became my little helper and was always ready to lend a hand, often before I’d even asked. I relied on her more than she probably realised!

But more than anything, we will miss her. The little person she is, the joy she brings and the special place she has within our Little Badgers family.

It is now time for P to spread her wings and begin her next chapter, and whilst saying goodbye is never easy, we feel incredibly lucky to have been part of the journey that has brought her this far.
We are so proud of you, P.

Go and have the most wonderful adventure at school. Make friends, be curious, be kind, keep laughing that beautiful laugh and always remember that you will forever be one of our Little Badgers.

We cannot wait to see all the wonderful things you go on to achieve.

🦁 Howletts Zoo 🐵

It was one of our Little Badgers last day with us so we thought we would give her a brilliant surprise by visiting the zoo! We were very lucky to be able to see the lions up close and watch them lie together having a cuddle, the elephants at feeding time and an anteater looking for his bugs in his enclosure. We also got to see lots of monkeys, baboons, gorillas, river hogs and rhinos. The children were very brave too and were able to stroke a bearded dragon, snake and giant millipede. We had a wonderful day out complete ice cream treats and a run around in the park.

We took our .wagon for it's first outing and it was absolutely fantastic. Possibly the best investment I've made for the business. It was so easy to push, even the children could work together as a team to manoeuvre it around and had plenty of storage space. We can't wait for more adventures in it with our new babies in September.

👭 Family All 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

"Family All!” is something you’ll often hear being enthusiastically chanted by the children whenever we come together for a group photo or all hold hands. What started as a simple phrase has become our Little Badgers motto, and so much more than just words.

It has become our shared ritual of togetherness. A child-led tradition that represents belonging, connection and the special bond we share as a Little Badgers family.

This summer, we’ve had some of our previous Little Badgers children join us for our adventures, along with some of my best friend’s children. They always ask to come and spend days with us because, as they tell us, we always have lots of fun! Seeing them slot straight back into the group, joining in as though they’d never been away, really shows that our “Family All” motto means something.

This week, we headed to one of our favourite bases for nature play and simply let the children create their own fun.
🌿 Role play
🌳 Tree climbing
🧗‍♀️ Risk-taking and physical challenges
🏃‍♂️ Games of chase with a very enthusiastic lava monster!
🪵 Nature collecting in our little trinket boxes
🎨 Drawing, chatting and some much-needed chill time

There was no complicated plan, no need for lots of organised activities - just children, nature, space and the freedom to play.

And sometimes those are the very best days. ❤️
Whilst the number of children can look a little daunting from the outside, we genuinely believe the more the merrier! They create their own games, include one another, learn from each other and somehow, the bigger the group, the easier and more enjoyable the day can be.
Of course, this is all carefully planned and managed within our ratios, with three adults supporting the group.

Family All - More than a motto — it’s a feeling, a sense of belonging and a little reminder that everyone has a place here. ❤️

💓 Chilled Days 💓

We've been having some pretty busy days during the holidays and like to keep the balance with some chilled days at home too. Thankfully, the chilled days have fallen on our quieter days too, so we've been able to fully embrace the activities that wouldn't work with a large group of children. The children have enjoyed beading and spent almost an hour and a half making headbands, bracelets and necklaces whilst we had lovely conversations. We've also enjoyed completely a 100 piece puzzle, which was slightly tricky but as a team we finished it. The children have also entertained themselves, and myself, with a lot of roleplay, including a wedding complete with rings and a first dance. The chilled days have been a blessing!

👨‍🎓 Graduation 2026 👩‍🎓

Today, we held our Graduation Summer Party and shared the wonderful memories of our M and P growing up at Little Badgers. We watched the videos of their time here, with all their friends and the special bonds they had made. Watching their little faces as they listened to the speeches and saw their memories is a memory I will cherish forever. It has been an absolute pleasure being a part of their first 4 years in this world and I wish them both a lifetime of happiness and success. Goodbye my Little Badgers 🦡

☀️ August 2026 ☀️

We are in the middle of the summer holidays and have so many fun things to look forward to.

This month, we have graduation where we can celebrate our two special friends before they head off to big school. We also have lots of summer fun days out planned and a much needed closure for a week.

🌳 Shorne Country Park 🌳

Our final country park of the week and another firm favourite. We explored the park first thing so that we could enjoy it before getting too hot. The children played Zombies and ran around the park using slides, climbing frames and the obstacle course as part of their game. They were laughing so much as the ran around. Some of the children were happy using the slides and swings as normal. We then went to find our favourite log and tree which we use as base camp. The children began digging using sticks, climbing the tree and walking along the large fallen log. We then found another tree to climb and the children roleplayed again playing a magical game as they ran between trees. Our children thrive being outside in nature!

🎳 Bowling and Frankie & Bennys 🍕

What started out as a chilled day at home quickly turned into a bowling trip and lunch at Frankie & Bennys. But what a fab day we had. Bowling was fantastic with lots of strikes and spares and what made it more special was it was the first time one our Badgers had been bowling. She was nervous at first but it didn't take long for her to get stuck in and she was bouncing up and down with excitement after each go. It's moments like this that make these days so special. We then had lunch in a restaurant and the children behaved impeccably. These days cost a small fortune but are so worth it.