Little Unicorn's Childcare

Little Unicorn's Childcare Childminder with 19 years experience. I
provide a safe, warm and homely environment where children can learn, play and thrive.

Fully committed to the EYFS, supporting each child’s individual development through fun, nurturing experiences.

🍁 Invitation to Play: Autumn Sensory Tuff TrayWhat can you see? What can you find?The child is invited to explore an aut...
03/10/2026

🍁 Invitation to Play: Autumn Sensory Tuff Tray
What can you see? What can you find?
The child is invited to explore an autumn-themed sensory tuff tray filled with shredded paper, pumpkins, pine cones, acorns and colourful pom-poms. A range of tools, including tongs, scoops and small containers, encourages the child to investigate, collect, transfer and sort the materials.
The open-ended activity allows the child to explore at their own pace, making choices and developing their curiosity, concentration, fine-motor skills and language.

🌱 EYFS links

Physical Development
Develops hand strength and fine-motor control through using tongs and scoops.
Supports hand-eye coordination and controlled movements.

Communication & Language
Encourages new vocabulary such as autumn, pumpkin, pine cone, soft, rough, big, little, orange and yellow.
Encourages the child to talk about what they are finding and doing.

Understanding the World
Explores natural objects and seasonal changes.
Encourages children to notice colours, textures, shapes and differences.

Mathematics
Encourages counting, matching, sorting and comparing quantities.
Introduces concepts such as more, less, big and small.

PSED
Encourages independence, decision-making and sustained attention.
Gives the child opportunities to choose how they want to explore.

EYFS Learning Observation – Baking and Decorating Cupcakes 🧁Age: 2 yearsActivity: Making and decorating cupcakesThe chil...
03/10/2026

EYFS Learning Observation – Baking and Decorating Cupcakes 🧁
Age: 2 years
Activity: Making and decorating cupcakes
The child took part in making cupcakes from scratch, helping to mix and combine the ingredients. They showed enthusiasm and curiosity as they explored the different ingredients and textures.
The child then enjoyed decorating the cupcakes, carefully adding the blue icing and choosing where to place the Paw Patrol decorations. They used their hands and fingers to manipulate the icing and decorations, developing their fine motor control, hand-eye coordination and concentration.
The activity also encouraged the child to follow simple instructions, make choices and develop confidence in completing a task from beginning to end. They showed a sense of pride and achievement when they saw the finished cupcakes.
EYFS links:
🖐️ Physical Development: Developing fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and control.
🗣️ Communication and Language: Listening to and following simple instructions and learning new vocabulary.
🎨 Expressive Arts and Design: Making choices and exploring colour, texture and design.
🧠 Cognitive Development: Understanding a simple sequence of events and seeing how ingredients change when mixed and cooked.

EYFS Observation – Asda Supermarket Role Play 🛒The child engaged enthusiastically in supermarket role play, taking on th...
22/09/2026

EYFS Observation – Asda Supermarket Role Play 🛒

The child engaged enthusiastically in supermarket role play, taking on the role of an Asda shop worker. They used the pretend shop environment to explore real-life experiences, including handling a scanner, selecting products and placing shopping into a basket.
The child demonstrated imaginative thinking and understanding of the wider world, developing their communication and social skills through role play. They showed concentration and confidence while using the resources and remained engaged in their chosen play.

EYFS links:
Communication and Language: Developing vocabulary and communication through imaginative role play and talking about familiar experiences.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Developing confidence, independence and positive engagement in play.

Physical Development: Using hand and finger movements to hold and manipulate the scanner, food items and shopping basket.

Literacy: Beginning to recognise that print, labels and symbols have meaning in everyday environments.

Mathematics: Exploring early concepts of counting, quantity and comparing items during shopping play.

Understanding the World: Developing an understanding of familiar occupations, shops and everyday community experiences.

Expressive Arts and Design: Using imagination and creativity to recreate a familiar real-life situation through role play.

22/09/2026

Not my words, but......

It’s so common for home childcare providers to lose children to centres.

They come to us as infants, often because centre based infant spaces are difficult to find, and then as soon as that long awaited centre spot becomes available, families feel like moving to a centre is simply the “next step.”

But I think sometimes we forget to ask:

What does home childcare ACTUALLY offer that a centre simply can’t offer in the same way?

Home childcare isn’t just a place your child goes while you work.

It’s walking into the same familiar home every morning and being greeted by the same person who has cared for you since you were little.

It’s small group sizes where your provider knows exactly how you like to fall asleep, what makes you laugh, what foods you’ll devour and which ones you’ll politely leave untouched. 😂

It’s siblings being able to spend their days together instead of being separated into different classrooms.

It’s babies learning from toddlers, toddlers looking up to preschoolers, and older children getting the opportunity to become helpers and leaders.

It’s a mixed age environment that feels a little more like a family and a little less like a classroom.

It’s spontaneous nature walks because the weather turned out beautiful.

It’s baking together in the kitchen, reading books curled up on the couch, having lunch around the table, celebrating birthdays, getting messy with activities, playing in the backyard and having ordinary little moments that become some of the best parts of childhood.

It’s one consistent caregiver who gets to truly KNOW your child... sometimes for years.

And for me, that’s one of the most special parts.

I don’t just get to watch children move from one classroom to another.

I get to watch them grow up.

I get to meet them when they’re tiny, watch their personalities emerge, hear their language explode, celebrate milestones, help them navigate friendships, watch them become big kids and eventually, send them off to school. 🥹

Centres can offer wonderful childcare, amazing educators and experiences that are unique to a centre environment. Home childcare isn’t necessarily better, it’s simply different.

And those differences deserve to be talked about.

Because choosing home childcare doesn’t mean choosing the option you use until you get into a centre.

For many families, home childcare can be the place their child belongs for their entire early childhood.

Home childcare isn’t the waiting room for “real daycare.”

It IS childcare.

And there is something incredibly special about getting to grow up in a village.

EYFS Learning – Water, Numbers, Colours & Fine Motor SkillsThis activity provides lots of opportunities for learning thr...
04/08/2026

EYFS Learning – Water, Numbers, Colours & Fine Motor Skills

This activity provides lots of opportunities for learning through hands-on exploration and play.

🔢 Mathematics
Recognising and matching numbers.
Counting objects and developing one-to-one correspondence.
Sorting pom-poms by colour and size.
Comparing quantities using more, fewer, same.
Developing positional language such as inside, beside, underneath and between.

🤲 Physical Development
Using tongs, tweezers, pegs and spoons develops fine-motor control.
Strengthens hand muscles and supports coordination needed for writing and mark making.
Encourages controlled movements and hand-eye coordination.

🗣️ Communication & Language
Talking about colours, numbers, sizes and textures.
Learning vocabulary such as wet, dry, float, sink, squeeze, pick up and drop.
Encourages children to explain what they are doing and make predictions.

🔍 Understanding the World
Exploring what happens to different objects in water.
Encouraging curiosity, investigation and problem solving.
Making predictions and talking about what they observe.

🎨 Expressive Arts & Design
Exploring colour combinations.
Creating patterns and arrangements using the different coloured pom-poms.

This activity provides a fantastic opportunity to develop early mathematical understanding through practical, hands-on e...
21/07/2026

This activity provides a fantastic opportunity to develop early mathematical understanding through practical, hands-on exploration.

EYFS Learning Observation – Measuring and Capacity
Activity: Exploring capacity using measuring cylinders, jugs, pipettes and coloured water.

EYFS Areas of Learning:
Mathematics
Explored capacity by filling, emptying and comparing different-sized containers.
Used mathematical language such as full, empty, more, less, bigger, smaller, and measure.
Began to estimate and compare quantities while pouring water into measuring cylinders.

Communication and Language
Engaged in conversations about what they noticed.
Followed instructions and explained their ideas using descriptive language.

Physical Development
Developed hand-eye coordination and fine motor control while pouring, scooping and using pipettes.
Practised control and precision with a range of tools.

Understanding the World
Investigated how different containers hold different amounts of liquid.
Explored cause and effect through experimentation and prediction.

Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning
Playing and Exploring: Investigated freely using a range of measuring equipment.
Active Learning: Remained engaged, testing different ideas and repeating actions to solve problems.

Creating and Thinking Critically: Made predictions, compared results and adapted their approach to achieve their goal.

We have been busy, my water wall was looking a bit tired, Tony stained the wood and we added some new pieces. Looks nice...
19/07/2026

We have been busy, my water wall was looking a bit tired, Tony stained the wood and we added some new pieces. Looks nice, bright and ready for some water fun. 😊

Some new resources, to develop children's hand muscles so that they get ready to write. Ribbons on sticks will help with...
19/07/2026

Some new resources, to develop children's hand muscles so that they get ready to write. Ribbons on sticks will help with bilateral coordination, build up shoulder and wrist muscles, which get them ready to write also. ☺️

Learning Observation: Ice Cream CraftThe child enjoyed creating an ice cream collage by sticking colourful paper circles...
13/07/2026

Learning Observation: Ice Cream Craft
The child enjoyed creating an ice cream collage by sticking colourful paper circles onto a cone and decorating them with sprinkles. They independently used a glue stick, carefully positioned the "scoops" and explored different colours and textures. The child remained engaged throughout the activity and proudly shared their finished creation.

Physical Development – Developed fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and finger strength through using the glue stick, picking up small sprinkles and placing the paper circles accurately.

Expressive Arts and Design – Used creativity to design their own ice cream, making choices about colours, textures and where to place each scoop.

Communication and Language – Talked about ice cream flavours, colours and summer experiences, extending vocabulary through conversation.

Mathematics – Counted the scoops and sprinkles, compared colours and discussed size and position (top, bottom, on top).
Personal, Social and Emotional Development – Showed concentration, confidence and pride in completing their own artwork independently.

Enjoying my new water activity table 😁
13/07/2026

Enjoying my new water activity table 😁

Address

ST16
Stafford
ST16

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 6pm
Tuesday 7:30am - 6pm
Wednesday 7:30am - 6pm
Thursday 7:30am - 6pm
Friday 7:30am - 6pm

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