Handy Childcare

What a lovely week we’ve had. We have enjoyed our Tuesday group and a play date at another childminders house, fun at the farm bottle feeding the lambs and today we had a spontaneous dinosaur hunt at Lydiard after we got there and found the play area closed. We had great fun exploring looking for T rex, lots of language and new words, listening to our environment and using our imaginations. Gross and fine motor skills also used for climbing tree trunks and picking and blowing fluffy dandilions and using sticks to draw in the mud. We decided that T Rex was in the plane that flew over and was going on holiday. We hope he has a nice time 🦖🦖🦖

The weeks have flown by, we had lots of fun in the Easter holidays and then started the new term with the delivery of our caterpillars. The children have been fascinated to watch them grow and have enjoyed our craft and tray activities. They have been looking like they’re getting ready to cocoon today so we shall have to keep a close eye over the next few days.
Lots of lovely new words used and following the children’s interests in animals. They all love asking Alexa what noise each animal in our book makes. Fine and gross motor skills used and lots of conversation around numbers and colours. We are so happy that spring has finally sprung and the sun has come out 🌞🌸🌺🥀🌹🌷

We’ve had a very busy few weeks in the Handy house. Lots of fun outside enjoying the beautiful weather we’ve had. Lots of fine motor activities to help strengthen those little fingers and working together to build puzzles or towers. Great for turn taking. All the children have been keen on building towers so that’s what we’ve done using a variety of resources. They loved making their Mother’s Day cards and have enjoyed our farm visits where we have seen lambs and kids and had the pleasure in bottle feeding them. Roll on spring! My favourite time of the year ☀️🐣🦋🌳🌿💐🌻☀️

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I love this and love my job ❤️

🌿 A Little Heartfelt Childminder Truth Today… 🌿

Sometimes people forget that childminding is more than a job. It’s a whole world we build inside our homes — a place where children grow, play, learn, and become part of our family. And we become part of theirs.

What many don’t see is the amount of training we do in our own time. Evenings, weekends, late nights with a cup of tea and a laptop… all unpaid, all unseen. We do it because we care so deeply about the children we look after. Because their safety, their development, their happiness — it all matters to us more than words can say.

These little ones become woven into our daily lives. They become friends to our own children. They know our routines, our pets, our favourite stories. They celebrate milestones with us, and we celebrate theirs. They arrive as tiny humans… and somehow, without us even noticing, they grow into confident, capable little people ready for their next chapter.

And that’s where my heart is sitting today.

In September, I’ll be saying goodbye to three children —
✨ Two who have been with me since they were just one year old
✨ One who joined me at two

I’ve watched them learn to walk, talk, climb, negotiate, problem‑solve, make friends, and find their voice. I’ve watched them grow into themselves, day by day, moment by moment.

And even though I’m so proud of them… I’m already missing them in advance.

That’s the part of childminding people don’t always see. The quiet goodbyes. The lump in your throat. The way you stand at the door after they’ve gone and think, “Wow… I was part of their story.”

Childminding is like any other job in some ways — the paperwork, the planning, the training — but in so many ways, it’s nothing like any other job at all. It’s heart work. It’s family work. It’s love, disguised as a profession.

To all the childminders feeling the same… I see you.
To all the families who trust us with your little humans… thank you.
And to the children moving on this year… you’ll always have a piece of my heart tucked in your backpack. 💚🌿

We’ve had a lovely couple of weeks in the Handy house. Lots of exploring and talking. I always like to follow the children’s interests, last week it was snowmen and this week has been building towers, linking this to some early maths by counting the bricks, talking about size, BIG and small, colours and what they have built using their words. They loved drawing round our hands and even Lottie joined in and we drew her paws! 🐾 we’ve met some lambs at the farm and I loved having a cuddle with one of the rats ❤️

💯 yes 🤣

If you are looking for a lovely toddler group on a Wednesday come along to stay and play in Cricklade town hall

We’ve had a lovely couple of weeks in the Handy house, getting festive. The children loved decorating the tree and doing our Christmas crafts. They met the man in red at our favourite group and enjoyed our winter wonderland walk. Now time to chill with my boys for a couple of weeks. Have an amazing Christmas and a Happy and healthy new year ❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄

There’s still a week to go before I take our food bank donations to the collection point. Thank you to those who have already donated! ❤️

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Today is the first day of December and advent. For the last few years, Handy childcare has done a collection for the food bank. Any items that are donated are then taken and dropped off at one of the food collective drop off points. I will do this on Saturday 20th December. PLEASE help me to collect lots of items to help those less fortunate this Christmas as NO ONE should go with out. As well as the items listed below, female hygiene products, wet wipes, shampoos etc are always useful. Thank you in advance for helping me with this collection ❤️😘