Kiddie Care - child minding

01/04/2026

April - Newsletter

Happy April! I’m excited to welcome a new month filled with fresh opportunities for learning, creativity, and outdoor fun as spring begins to bloom.

🌼 This Month’s Theme: Spring & New Beginnings
Throughout April, we’ll be exploring the wonders of spring. The children will enjoy activities based on growth, nature, and new life. We’ll be planting seeds, observing changes in the environment, and learning about animals and their babies.

🎨 Activities:

Sensory play with natural materials (soil, leaves, water)

Storytime featuring seasonal books

Outdoor play

Simple cooking activities, like decorating biscuits

Easter fun

🧸 Reminder:
Please let me know in advance of any holidays or changes to your usual schedule.

📅 Upcoming Dates:

3rd and 6th April – Bank Holiday

13th–17th April – Holidays

15th June – Bank Holiday (additional day in line with Scotland’s World Cup bank holiday)

Thank you,
Marina

24/03/2026

🌞 Helping Children Adjust When the Clocks Go Forward

When the clocks “spring forward”, we lose an hour of sleep — and this can throw off children’s routines. Young children’s body clocks are sensitive to small changes, so here are some simple, practical tips to help make the switch easier. ⏰👶

🕖 Shift Bedtime Gradually
Rather than changing everything in one go, start adjusting bedtime 3–5 days before the clocks change.

Thursday: Bedtime 15 minutes earlier
Friday: Bedtime 30 minutes earlier
Saturday: Bedtime 45 minutes earlier
Sunday: Normal bedtime (now aligned with the new clock)

This gentle shift helps their internal clock adapt naturally.

🍽️ Adjust Mealtimes Too
Try bringing meals and snacks forward by 10–15 minutes each day alongside the bedtime shift — breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

🌙 Keep the Bedtime Routine Consistent
Even if the time changes, keep the same familiar routine:

Bath
Pyjamas
Story time
Lights out

Consistency helps signal that it’s time to wind down and sleep.

💭 Expect a Few Off Days

Children may feel a little cranky or hungry at odd times
Wake up early (or be harder to wake!)
That’s normal — most little ones settle within 3–5 days. On the first morning after the clocks change, wake them at their usual time according to the new clock.

20/03/2026

For Red Nose Day 2026, I got each child a “design your own Red Nose” to take home and enjoy 🎨

Here’s my effort—thank you, Maddison 😊

19/03/2026

Meningitis is in the news at the moment. It can strike swiftly and affect anyone, regardless of age. Recognising the symptoms could save a life.

Learn more at www.nhsinform.scot/Meningitis

16/03/2026

🌟 Childminding Space Available 🌟

Before and after school space available, Monday to Thursday.

🧸 Warm, welcoming home-from-home environment
📅 Monday – Thursday availability
✔️ Care Inspectorate Registered
⛑ Paediatric First Aid & Child Protection trained
💷 Government Tax-Free Childcare scheme accepted

If you’re looking for a safe, caring and nurturing setting for your child, please feel free to get in touch for more information.

📧 [email protected]
📱 WhatsApp / Call: 07557 961400
📍 Based in Thurso

14/03/2026

🌸 Mother’s Day 2026 🌸

We’ve had such a lovely time getting ready for Mother’s Day! The children were busy creating gifts, each choosing what they wanted to make for their mummy/mumma/mum. Eevery child took part doing something they enjoyed.

Here’s what they made:
💗 Chopping boards – decorated with the children’s own artwork on the back.
💗 Mother’s Day cards – including the one in the photo.
💗 Flowers – each child did their own creative take.
💗 Cake decorating – some chose icing and sprinkles, others icing with chocolate chips. Mine was a little treat for me… Nutella and squirty cream, enjoyed with a hot cuppa while they napped 😍
💗 A plant in a decorated mug and saucer – a little keepsake to take home. (forgot photo)

The children also loved sharing why they love their mummy/mumma/mum while making their crafts. Every creation was made with so much love and pride. It was such a special activity to be part of and lovely to see how excited they were to take their gifts home.

Happy Mother’s Day 💐

12/03/2026

🌟 Childminding Space Available – August 2026 🌟

I have a pre-school space available from August 2026, Monday to Thursday.

🧸 Warm, welcoming home-from-home environment
📅 Monday – Thursday availability
✔️ Care Inspectorate Registered
⛑ Paediatric First Aid & Child Protection trained
💷 Government Tax-Free Childcare scheme accepted

If you’re looking for a safe, caring and nurturing setting for your child, please feel free to get in touch for more information.

📧 [email protected]
📱 WhatsApp / Call: 07557 961400
📍 Based in Thurso

12/03/2026

The new T-shirts have been a massive hit – yay! 🎉👕 I am absolutely delighted with how this small change has made a BIG impact.

The children are absolutely loving the T-shirts and they’ve brought a whole new level of learning to our days too! 🌈📚 We've been chatting about them, noticing the designs, and getting excited to see which one it will be each day. Even connecting story time to the t shirt!

It’s also been so lovely when we’re out and about and people stop us for a little chat and ask, “What T-shirt is it today?” 😄💬

The children love saying hello 👋 and it always brings extra smiles, conversations, and learning opportunities to our day! 😊🌟

Who knew a T-shirt could spark so much fun and curiosity! 💕

09/03/2026

UPDATE

I’ve refreshed my work wardrobe. Instead of the usual business-style T-shirts, I’ve decided to wear more fun T-shirts based on children’s interests — things like animals, dinosaurs, space, and similar themes.

The idea is to help create natural conversation starters with the children and make things a bit more fun and engaging. They love spotting things they recognise, and it can really help them feel comfortable and excited to chat.

Hopefully the children will enjoy them as much as I do! 👕🦖🚀

My delivery arrived today and I’m very excited to start wearing them! 🚚😊

03/03/2026

Proud to be a sponsor 😊 all the best Vicki and Caithness RFC Womens Team

Rugby has done so much for Maddison, I feel it's important to give back to the club.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1N9F2WeU7r/

🖤𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 💚

We’re delighted to announce that Vicki Swan is proudly sponsored by Kiddie Care Childminding 🧒🏼 👧🏻

A huge thank you to Marina for her fantastic support of Vicki this season. Thank you for being part of the CRFC family 🥰

If you’re looking for trusted, friendly childcare, be sure to check out Kiddie Care Childminding:
📞 07557 961400
📧 [email protected]

01/03/2026

🌷March Newsletter 🌷

Excited to welcome spring — how lovely are the brighter, longer days!

🌼 Our Focus – About Me

This month we will be exploring:

Self-awareness

Emotions and feelings

Body parts

Developing independence

Through stories, songs, discussions, and play experiences, I will support the children in building confidence and understanding themselves and others.

📅 Upcoming Dates

15th March – Mother’s Day

29th March – Clocks go forward (1 hour)

💐 Planned Activities

Spring walks to observe seasonal changes

Mothers day crafts

Outdoor play to enjoy the brighter weather

As always, thank you for your continued support. I look forward to a lovely spring month with the children.

Marina 🌸

25/02/2026

Training
✔️ One requirement ticked off for another 3 years, and the other was a great chance to refresh my knowledge and skills. Always good to keep learning and stay up to date for the children in my care.