🌟 Make Your Own Playdough at Home! 🌟
Why not have some fun creating your own playdough together? It's quick, easy, and uses ingredients you may already have at home!
🧂 Simple Playdough Recipe
You will need:
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup warm water
Method:
1. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.
2. Add the oil and warm water.
3. Stir until combined, then knead until smooth.
4. If the dough feels sticky, add a little more flour.
✨ Optional extras:
• Food colouring for colourful dough
• Flower petals for a sensory experience
• Herbs such as rosemary, mint, or lavender for lovely scents
• Glitter (if you don't mind a little sparkle!)
💡 Learning Through Play
Playing with playdough supports many areas of your child's development:
✋ Fine Motor Skills – Squeezing, rolling, pinching, poking, and cutting dough helps strengthen the small muscles in hands and fingers, preparing children for writing, drawing, and using tools.
🗣️ Communication and Language – Talk about colours, textures, shapes, and creations together. Encourage your child to describe what they are making and share their ideas.
🔢 Mathematics – Count balls of dough, compare sizes, make patterns, explore shapes, and talk about concepts such as bigger, smaller, longer, and shorter.
🎨 Creativity and Imagination – Children can create anything they can imagine, from animals and people to cakes and treasure maps!
We would love to see your playdough creations. Feel free to share photos with us! 😊
Happy Kids
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At Happy Kids, you can be assured your child is in the best possible hands with well qualified, friendly staff who share a love of working with children.
www.happykids-childcare.co.uk FREE childcare for your 2, 3 or 4 year old at Happy Kids Preschool Nurseries in Clifton, Dalton and East Dene Rotherham, and Beswick, Manchester. By learning through play in one of our welcoming preschool nurseries, your child will develop the skills they need to make an easy step into school. Right on your doorstep, with free childcare places available it really is t
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✨ Preschoolers at Happy Kids 🩷🩵
As our preschool children prepare for their next big adventure at school, we take a moment to celebrate this very special stage of their journey.
These final months at nursery are about so much more than preparing for a classroom. Through play, exploration, and meaningful experiences, we help children develop the confidence, independence, communication skills, and resilience they need for the exciting transition ahead. Most importantly, we nurture a lifelong love of learning, encouraging curiosity, creativity, and a sense of wonder about the world around them.
Every day, we treasure these precious moments together—watching friendships grow, celebrating achievements big and small, and supporting each child as they become ready for the next chapter.
We are incredibly proud of all our preschoolers and can't wait to see them spread their wings and shine at school. Until then, we'll continue making memories, sharing laughter, and enjoying every moment of this special time together. 💛
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A huge shoutout to Rachael, Team Thrybergh, our wonderful parents, and our amazing children for doing such a fantastic job showcasing Happy Kids Thrybergh on Calendar News! 🎉🩷🩵
We couldn't be prouder of the way our nursery community came together to highlight such an important message. Early Years professionals are highly qualified, experienced practitioners who dedicate their hearts and souls to supporting children's learning, development, and wellbeing every single day.
At Happy Kids, not one member of our team is motivated by money. We do what we do because of our passion for caring for, nurturing, and teaching our incredible children. Watching them grow, learn, and thrive is what inspires us every day. ✨
Thank you to everyone who helped share our story and shine a light on the vital role that Early Years education plays in giving children the very best start in life. We are so proud to be part of this special community. 🥰
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🩷🩵 Hedgehog Rescue at Happy Kids Dalton 🩷🩵
What an eventful start to the week we've had at Happy Kids Dalton!
This morning, we discovered a hedgehog trapped in some netting in our garden. The poor little thing was very frightened and curled itself into a tiny ball for protection.
Thankfully, Davinia knew exactly who to contact for help, and we were directed to Wath Hedgehog Rescue. We took our prickly visitor to a wonderful lady who cares for injured and vulnerable hedgehogs, helping them recover before releasing them safely back into the wild.
After giving him a thorough check-up, she confirmed that our hedgehog was a healthy little boy and decided to name him Happy– also known as Happy Monday! 🦔💙 Luckily, he had no injuries and is doing well. He will stay in her care for the next 24 hours, and if all continues to look positive, he will be released back into his natural habitat.
During our visit, we also learned about the importance of keeping gardens wildlife-friendly. Nets and garden materials can pose serious risks to hedgehogs and other small animals, so it's important to check gardens carefully and ensure anything potentially harmful is stored safely.
This exciting experience has inspired a new learning topic at nursery! Over the coming weeks, the children will be exploring local wildlife and helping to create habitats in our garden to support hedgehogs and other small creatures. We can't wait to share their ideas and creations with you.
What a lovely reminder of how important it is to care for the world around us. 🥰🦔🌿
What a lovely real-life learning opportunity for the children. 🦔💕
At Happy Kids Thurcroft we celebrated World Gardening Week 🌱🌼
The children had lots of fun exploring all things flowers and gardening! We created our very own flower shop role play area, looked through magazines to discover lots of different flower varieties, planted seeds ready to grow, and enjoyed a lovely visit to the allotment to see how plants and vegetables are cared for.
The children showed so much curiosity and enthusiasm throughout the week, and we loved seeing them learn more about nature and how things grow 🌻🌷🪴
A big thank you to Asia for reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar for us today 🍎🦋📚
A true Happy Kids 🩷🩵 favourite!
Our children loved listening to the story and joining in with the colourful foods and caterpillar adventures. Watch and read along with us!
✨ Tips for reading with your nursery-age child:
📖 Read slowly and use lots of expression
🖐 Encourage your child to point to pictures and name objects
❓ Ask simple questions like “What happens next?” or “How many fruits can you see?”
🎭 Use different voices for characters to make stories fun
💬 Repeat favourite stories — repetition helps build confidence and language skills
Reading together every day helps develop language, imagination, listening skills and a lifelong love of books ❤️
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What an inspiration you are to all of our little Happy Kids 🩷🩵
Watching strong, determined, resilient women succeed in sport shows our children the importance of teamwork, confidence, perseverance and believing in themselves.
Physical Development is one of the three prime areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and plays such an important role in children’s overall growth and wellbeing. Through active play, movement, sport and developing their gross and fine motor skills, children build strength, coordination, confidence and independence from a very early age.
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Thank you, Red Roses, for being such positive role models for the next generation 🌹✨
🌧️☔ Rainy Day Fun at Nursery! ☔🌧️
Who says a little rain should stop the fun? Not us! 😄
Splashing in muddy puddles isn’t just messy play… it’s serious learning disguised as fun! 💦
When children are outside in the rain, they are:
🌿 Building strength and coordination as they jump and splash
🧠 Learning cause and effect (“If I stomp… SPLASH!”)
👣 Exploring balance, movement, and risky play in a safe way
🌈 Using their imagination — are those puddles lakes, oceans, or monster traps?
💬 Developing language skills as they describe what they see, feel, and hear
And let’s be honest… it also brings out the biggest smiles and the best giggles! 😂
So next time it rains, we say: put on the wellies, grab the waterproofs, and let the learning begin! ☔
14/05/2026
Our Happy Kids at Thurcroft are fascinated by the caterpillars 🐛🦋
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