Dinki Ducklings Childcare

19/03/2026

Hi all! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted as we’ve been so busy here at Dinki Ducklings and time just seems to fly!
We’ve been busy learning our numbers and letters with games, creating snowman crafts for winter, looking at books, creating The Hungry Caterpillar crafts for World Book Day and crafting for Mother’s Day. We’ve also been celebrating Valentine’s Day, Chinese Chinese New Year, Pancake day and St Patrick’s Day. We have also been looking at our emotions and trying to draw our faces by looking in the mirror. We are now looking forward to getting our Easter Crafts and fun underway!
We’ve been attending playgroups so the children can play and explore different toys and resources and learn how to socialise and take turns.
We’ve been to the library and enjoyed looking at books and been busy developing our gross motor skills and exploring at the park and playground.

03/12/2025

Explore our article on simple yet effective ways to help your children understand their emotions and express their feelings. 💛

👉 https://bbc.in/4o1s5ou

02/10/2025

When you pick up your child from daycare and notice them in unoccupied play, onlooker play, or associative play, it doesn’t mean they’re lonely, being ignored, or that the teacher isn’t engaging them enough.

Just like adults, children don’t always feel like being social or active.

Sometimes, they simply want to watch, observe, or explore on their own, and that is perfectly okay. Observing the world around them is a beautiful and important way for them to learn, grow, and understand their environment.

So, what do these types of play mean?

Unoccupied Play:
Watching the world and not playing yet. It’s how kids start to learn.

Solitary Play:
Playing alone with toys. It helps kids focus and use their imagination.

Onlooker Play:
Watching others play without joining in. Kids learn by observing.

Parallel Play:
Playing next to someone but not together. It’s a step toward teamwork.

Associative Play:
Playing near others and sharing toys but not working together.

Cooperative Play:
Playing with others to reach a goal, like building or pretending.

It’s totally okay if kids like one type of play more than another. Every kind of play helps them grow and learn in their own way.

20/08/2025

Summer holidays so far!
We’ve been busy looking after our babies, playing shops, playground and park visits, taking part in trails at garden centres, Awe and Wonder in Swanley park, water play in the garden, making dens, summer nature spotting, arts and crafts and of course colouring and drawing!

20/08/2025

I can now post that I had my first graded inspection in July, and I’m proud to say Ofsted gave me a “good” grading!

19/07/2025

Places Where Kids Eat Free (or for £1) During The 6 Weeks Summer Holidays! Full List & Updates 👉 https://moneysavingcentral.co.uk/kids-eat-free

02/06/2025

Did you know last Thursday was National Biscuit day? We celebrated by making some yummy cookies! 🍪 We also made the most of the sunshine and the garden by having lots of fun pouring and playing with water 😃😃

10/04/2025

What a fab few weeks we’ve had!
We’ve had pancakes, been to dance groups, playgroups, parks, libraries played at home and playgrounds with our friends. We’ve played with sensory trays, had teddy bears picnics, created Mother’s Day and Easter crafts and been doing counting activities for St Patrick’s Day and practicing our mark making and pencil grip 😊

08/03/2025

Fun at Dinki Ducklings, we’ve been on sunny walks to the park, been to playgroups and dance classes, celebrated Valentine’s Day, pancake day and World book day. We’ve had fun withwith lots of sensory trays, been to visit other childminders houses to see our friends, played musical instruments, painting and arts and crafts. We’ve also enjoyed reading lots and lots of books to help us develop our language and understanding!

26/02/2025

Just a reminder to keep your little ones safe

It’s that time of year again when mini eggs are lining the supermarket shelves. But, did you know that, just like grapes, they are the perfect size to block a small child’s airway and choke them? And, their hard shell can make it difficult to dislodge with standard first aid techniques.

With whole grapes we advise cutting them in half lengthways and ideally into quarters to create thin strips. But chopping up mini eggs isn’t as easy. So, what can you do?

1. Hide them from the children and eat them yourself – good luck with that!

2. Break them into small pieces with a rolling pin. Or, crush them in a pestle and mortar. Or melt them a little first.

3. Opt for a different treat. Larger, hollow eggs are much safer for little ones.

Visit our choking hub to learn more about common choking hazards and what you should do in an emergency: https://capt.org.uk/choking-prevention/

04/02/2025

I can’t believe we are in February already!
We’ve been busy having loads of fun and it has flown by!
We’ve been to park trips to the playground and to splash in muddy puddles and feed the ducks, been to the library, done crafts and sensory tables for Chinese new year, been to playgroups and Diddi Dance classes to socialise and play with different toys and done lots more crafts. We’ve read stories, been for library visits, learnt about winter, practiced our mark making, danced lots, met up with our childminder friends, played at home and had lots of fun!