Tiddlywinks Childminding

21/09/2026

15/09/2026

14/09/2026

We had a wonderful woodland adventure with our friends. giving the children lots of opportunities to explore, investigate and learn within the natural environment.
The children followed the woodland trail, searching for the different character sculptures from the jungle book, which were hidden amongst the trees 🌳 They carefully observed their surroundings, identified what they could see and followed clues along the way. We also enjoyed a character wordsearch and a “find the character that corresponds to a specific number ” activity encouraging the children to recognise and identify letters, and numerals whilst concentrating and developing their early literacy and numeracy skills. 🔎✏️
There was plenty of opportunity to get hands-on with nature too! The children collected autumn leaves and other natural treasures, noticing their different colours, shapes, sizes and textures. They worked alongside their friends, sharing their discoveries and filling their basket together. 🍁🍃
Of course, spotting the amazing character sculptures was the highlight! From the enormous vultures to the cheeky monkeys and the final sculpture being that of king Louie. (The children now know lyrics to “I wanna be like you ooh oooh😉 parents you can thank me later 😉)The children were captivated by the different creations and were excited and eager to search for the next ones. They talked about what they could see, used their imaginations and even copied the poses of some of the sculptures! 🐒🦅👑

This experience supported so many areas of the EYFS, including:

Communication and Language through conversations, questions and learning new vocabulary.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development through sharing, turn-taking and exploring together.

Physical Development through walking, reaching, collecting, pointing and handling pencils.

Literacy through the wordsearch, letter recognition and environmental print.

Mathematics through counting, comparing, sorting and noticing shapes and patterns.

Understanding the World through exploring the natural environment, seasonal changes, plants and woodland wildlife.

Expressive Arts and Design through appreciating the wonderful sculptures, imaginative thinking and talking about how they may have been created.

Such a fantastic day, I’m looking forward to extending this learning opportunity by creating art with the collected natural materials

08/09/2026

When it’s raining we…….. stick on our waterproofs, grab a ☂️ brolly and splash 💦 in puddles. Then venture into the woods to forage around the undergrowth on an autumn scavenger hunt. Expanding our experience through the exploration and investigation of the natural environment, (learning about the rings of a tree trunk, the directional pull of water, why leaves change colour, etc) finding a few man made instruments and observatories along the way. We explored textures in the environment and sporadically experienced prepositions within our journey. So many spontaneous learning experiences . Xx

07/09/2026

Such a beautiful start to the Autumn term, walking through the apple orchards, using our binoculars and magnifying glasses to explore and investigate the natural environment, 🌳 , leaves, 🍁 and of course the many beautiful coloured apples in all their stages of growth and composition. We used a vast range of descriptive vocabulary as well as basic math (counting, addition and subtraction (adding and removing 1 more) and letter formation using the fruits. The children were able to sample different apples (brought from setting) for snack and we finished our visit with an apple printing activity. We were lucky enough before we left to see the machine that collects the apples which was incredibly loud but very exciting 🍎 xx

05/06/2026

Making memories with our little ones 🇬🇧 xx

01/06/2026

Edited: please rest assured, we have made sure we have full permission for our children’s faces to be used within this wonderful experience. Xx

We had a wonderful day exploring the sights of London with the children. From seeing iconic landmarks like Big Ben and Tower Bridge to taking in the atmosphere of this incredible city, every moment was special. The children were full of excitement and curiosity, asking questions and eagerly taking in everything they saw. Watching their faces light up as they experienced London's history and culture firsthand made the trip even more memorable. A fantastic day of learning, discovery and exploration. Xx

01/06/2026

Over the last few weeks we’ve been looking at our capital city of London and our British cultures and values.

We’ve learnt about the Royal family and historic land marks in London.

we have focused on two beautiful books about ‘Katie in London’ and ‘Paddington at the Palace’. Both books gave the children some wonderful insights and information about London, its history, landmarks and culture.

Our very own Paddington bear is a firm favourite in our setting and we’ve been taking him on all of our adventures over the last few weeks.

Paddington has been on a train, boat and the Dartmouth ferry. He’s met the ferry captain, Town Crier, a Knight of the round table, the Dartmouth steam train driver and the GWR staff at Tiverton and Dawlish train stations.

He’s been to Noah’s Ark zoo to meet an elephant, meerkat and a goat, Dawlish beach to have lunch with a seagull and Bristol airport to watch the planes land and take off.

The children also had the opportunity to take home our Paddington bear to share with their families and keep a diary of their adventures.
We have enjoyed sharing this experience with our friends and look forward to reading more about Paddington’s family adventures in the future.

He’s also been busy sending postcards to the lovely children at their homes.