Willow Tree Childcare

21/08/2026

Flowers, glitter, leaves, and water! 🌸✨🍃💦 Fairy potions are sensory magic at its finest, and the splash competition at the end is mandatory! 😄

24/07/2026

Balloon painting somehow turned into body painting… 😂🎨

What a colourful mess! 🤣 But the children had an absolute blast. 🤩

They had so much fun mixing all the colours that they ended up looking like little Shreks and Elmo 💚😜

Messy play at its finest!

14/07/2026

Emma and The Magic Bag at Shaftesbury Library! 📚

We had the absolute best start to our week! Our little ones visited the library for a very special storytime with the wonderful Emma and her Magic Bag with songs and movement. 🎶🎒

The children were completely captivated! From shouting "It’s behind you!" to laughing at "Pants on your head!". Emma was so fantastic with all the children. If you ever get the chance to take your pre-schooler to one of her sessions, we cannot recommend it enough! It is a total delight. 😍👏 xx

03/07/2026

This week was all about friendship! 💛

The children loved spending time together, whether they were playing games, exploring, or simply enjoying each other’s company. There were lots of hand-holding, cuddles, smiles, and kind gestures as they showed just how much they care for one another.

It has been wonderful to see such caring friendships blossom as the children shared kindness, empathy, and happiness throughout the week. These experiences support their Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) in the EYFS, helping them to build positive relationships, develop confidence, learn to take turns, show care and concern for others, and understand the importance of being a kind and respectful friend. 🥰✨

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21/06/2026

Happy Father's Day from our little ones to you. 🥰🥰

11/06/2026

We enjoyed a boat and train ride today.
Everyone climbed aboard and sang Row, Row, Row Your Boat together.

Then one of the children asked to paint, so out came the paints… and there wasn’t even time to get changed first! 😜🎨

We explored painting with brushes, rollers, hands, fingers, and even our feet, creating some wonderful artwork. There was a lot of splodging, mixing, and messy fun, with one little boy proudly shouting, “Yay, I did it!” 👏

09/06/2026

Eco-Heroes at Willow Tree! 🌍💙

To celebrate World Environment Day, our little ones became ocean rescuers! We set up a special marine-themed water tray filled with toy sea creatures and a bit of junk.

The children did an amazing job cleaning up the water, rescuing the animals, and making sure their habitat was safe so they can thrive.

08/06/2026

The truth about funding in childcare. When we ask for voluntary/optional payments, it's to help us provide the best care for your child. Please consider this next time and help us survive, and for your children to thrive. 😊

Can we talk honestly about childminding for a moment?

Because I'm tired of hearing that childcare providers are charging too much, or that childminders are somehow making a fortune from looking after children.

The reality couldn't be further from the truth.

Being a childminder isn't just playing with children all day.

It's opening your home before most people start work and often finishing long after they've gone home.

It's providing a safe, nurturing environment where children can learn, explore, grow in confidence, make friends, and feel secure.

It's planning activities, preparing meals, cleaning, risk assessing, completing training, keeping up with regulations, writing observations, tracking development, supporting school readiness, communicating with parents, and being a consistent, trusted adult in a child's life.

It's a profession.

And like any profession, it comes with costs.

Food costs more.

Utilities cost more.

Fuel costs more.

Resources cost more.

Insurance costs more.

Training costs more.

Everything costs more.

Yet somehow childcare providers are expected to absorb these increases year after year while being criticised for charging sustainable fees.

The introduction of funded childcare has helped many families access childcare, which is fantastic.

But what many people don't realise is that "funded" doesn't always mean fully funded.

There is often a significant gap between what it actually costs to deliver quality childcare and what providers receive.

And that gap has to be managed somehow.

Many childminders are not becoming wealthy.

Many are working incredibly long hours, using evenings and weekends to complete paperwork, prepare activities, clean equipment, update learning records, and keep their businesses running.

Some are questioning whether they can afford to stay in the profession at all.

And that's heartbreaking.

Because when a childminder leaves, it's not just a business that disappears.

Families lose flexibility.

Children lose familiar faces and trusted relationships.

Communities lose experienced early years professionals.

Parents lose valuable childcare places.

The biggest concern shouldn't be whether childminders charge for meals, outings, resources, or additional services.

The biggest concern should be why so many dedicated childcare professionals are finding it increasingly difficult to remain in the sector.

I love what I do.

I love watching children learn new skills, build confidence, make friendships, and reach milestones.

I love being part of their journey.

But loving what we do shouldn't mean we're expected to do it at a loss.

Childminders deserve respect.

Childminders deserve recognition.

And childminders deserve to earn a fair living for the vital role they play in supporting children and families every single day.

Because without childminders, many families simply couldn't work.

And that's a conversation worth having.

02/06/2026

Helping to spread the word on how underfunded early years practitioners are. Please support your children's childcare. ☺️ xx

Imagine you run a sandwich shop.

Let's say it costs you £1 to make a sandwich and you charge customers £1.10 per sandwich to make a profit to reinvest into your business.

Now imagine that one day, the government announces that it's going to pay for two free sandwiches a week for all working adults (in a bid to win votes).

The problem is they are only willing to pay sandwich shops like you 50p per sandwich to meet this promise. That's 50p less than it costs you to make them and 60p less than you normally charge for them.

Over the course of a year, this could result in your business losing thousands of pounds.

What would you do?

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In light of the news that the education secretary has asked the Competitions and Markets Authority to look into the early years sector, we're resharing our free interactive explainer for you to share with families at your setting, to help them understand the problem with early years underfunding – and the impossible choices that settings are being left to make.

You can view it on our website here: https://bit.ly/47CsVkb or a mobile-friendly version here: https://bit.ly/3T2PdqU.

29/05/2026

We have certainly made the most of the hot week with the paddling pool.
One of our resident babies didn't even wait for their swimming costume before rushing in to cool off. 🙈😜