Mini Monkeys Childminding

Throughout the month, we celebrated a range of exciting events.
For Pancake Day, the children had great fun learning how to make pancakes. They took turns carefully flipping them, building confidence and coordination, while a pancake-themed sensory tray encouraged imaginative play and exploration.

We also introduced the children to Chinese New Year, helping to develop their understanding of the world. We looked at a globe to find China and compared it to the UK, sparking meaningful discussions. One child proudly shared her own experience of visiting China, recalling her journey on an aeroplane, which encouraged conversation and peer learning. The older children enjoyed thinking of their own wishes to hang on our wishing tree, supporting their communication and personal development. We watched traditional Chinese dancing, created our own dragon masks, and had lots of fun moving and dancing together.

As the month came to an end, we began to notice the first signs of spring. We took this opportunity to explore the outdoors, going on a spring scavenger hunt where the children searched for changes in the environment, encouraging curiosity, observation skills, and a growing appreciation of nature.

February was a wonderful month full of exciting outings beyond the setting, giving the children rich and meaningful learning experiences in the wider world.
We explored places close to home, including a visit to the museum where the children enjoyed imaginative role play on the Tivvy bumper and had great fun dressing up in clothes from the past, helping to bring history to life.
Our muddy walks in the woods encouraged curiosity, exploration and a love of nature. Further afield, our trip to the aquarium sparked awe and fascination as the children observed a variety of sea creatures, supporting their understanding of the world. We also enjoyed a visit to the beach, where the children collected shells, developed their physical skills through running and balancing, and experienced the freedom and joy of outdoor play.

These outings provided valuable opportunities to extend learning, build confidence and support all areas of development through real-life, hands-on experiences.

During February, we celebrated National Storytelling Week, 📚 linking this with Children’s Mental Health Week and Valentine’s Day. ❤️ We shared one of our current favourite stories, The Colour Monster, which supported the children in exploring and understanding different emotions. The children took part in a range of engaging activities inspired by the story, and we enjoyed lots of meaningful discussions about how we feel.

As always, we made the most of our outdoor environment, finding great excitement in jumping and splashing in puddles!

We were also delighted to welcome a new baby to our setting. He especially enjoyed his first visit to the park with us, taking in all the new sights and experiences.

#ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜᴘʟᴀʏ

🌧️✨ Goodbye January… rain and all! ✨🌧️

As January came to an end (although the rain certainly didn’t — will it ever stop?! ☔️), we found plenty of ways to stay active and engaged indoors. The children explored different ways to move their bodies, practising balancing, jumping, rolling and hopping. It was especially wonderful to see the kindness shown by our older children, who supported and encouraged the younger ones with such care and patience.

We’ve also loved exploring our new light-up resources, making independent choices by selecting colours with the remote and noticing how the different lights changed our environment.

Our role-play ‘tea party’ sparked lots of meaningful conversations, with the children sharing their experiences from life outside of the setting — such lovely opportunities to build confidence and communication skills.

And of course, our weekly baking sessions were a big hit as always, developing teamwork, turn-taking and early maths skills (with a tasty treat at the end!).

January has been another busy, laughter-filled and extremely entertaining month! 🌟

#ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜᴘʟᴀʏ

🐦❄️ Exploring Birds Big & Small ❄️🐧

The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning all about birds, taking part in the and discovering the different feathered friends we might spot in our gardens. We made our own homemade bird feeders, talking about how we can help care for wildlife in the colder months.

Our bird-themed sensory trays encouraged lots of hands-on learning, where the children practised turn-taking, scooping, pouring, stacking and counting — all whilst building their vocabulary and learning the names of different birds.

Our curiosity then led us to penguins! 🐧 We watched penguins in the wild on the iPad, found out where they live, made our own penguin hats and even turned ourselves into waddling penguins — lots of giggles included!

We also talked about how to keep warm in cold weather, strengthening our fine motor skills by matching and pe***ng gloves, hats and scarves.

Such a wonderful week of exploration, creativity and learning through play! 🌟

✨ A sparkling start to the New Year!✨

We’ve had a wonderful time welcoming the New Year with plenty of sparkle and excitement! The children explored frost and ice in the outdoors, observing how it melts and talking about the changes they could see and feel ❄️

Our curiosity continued as we investigated magnets, discovering what sticks (and what doesn’t!) and developing our early scientific thinking 🧲

We also enjoyed exploring our local library, building our understanding of the world around us. And of course, we made the most of the sunny weather when it appeared — taking our learning outdoors and embracing every bright moment ☀️

What a fantastic start to the term — full of curiosity, exploration and smiles! 🌟

#ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜᴘʟᴀʏ

Our setting was filled with delicious festive smells as the children enjoyed lots of opportunities for baking. They loved the fun of hands-on exploring, mixing, pouring and tasting along the way 🧁✨

Working together to prepare, serve and enjoy our very own Christmas dinner was such a special experience. The children showed wonderful teamwork, independence and pride in what they achieved 🍽️🎄

We also enjoyed some lovely visits from Father Christmas, with some very brave first-timers! All the children were so excited and stepped out of their comfort zones - we were incredibly proud of them all 🎅🏼❤️

Amidst all the festive fun, the children spent time creating very special gifts for very special people- their parents 💞 We hope these keepsakes will be treasured and looked back on as their children grow.

December was a truly magical month at Mini Monkey’s, with festive excitement filling our days from start to finish. ✨🎄🎅🏼

Our much loved annual visits to Cotley Farm gave us many special moments together. Feeding the reindeer, meeting the animals, toasting marshmallows and exploring the surroundings gave the children wonderful opportunities to build confidence and engage in conversation about the world around them.

The children got busy exploring our Christmas sensory trays and craft activities, using great imagination and creativity.
A highlight was the polar express arriving at Mini Monkeys, a day full of excitement in our Pyjamas!
Outdoor learning continued, embracing the winter weather, learning through play and a carboot picnic being a favourite 🥰

This past month has been full of discovery and meaningful moments ❤️🏅🎉🔥✨☔️🍁

We celebrated bonfire night, exploring bright colours, whizzing patterns and created our own firework-inspired artwork.
We took time to reflect for Remembrance Day, creating thoughtful medal crafts with our own small ceremony which the children loved. We talked about kindness, bravery and remembering others.
Our little learners have been busy building confidence in counting and sorting and developing their gross motor skills as they climb, balance and run on our walks and at the many play parks we visit.
Our weekly baking continued helping develop turn taking, early maths and lots of sensory fun!
Of course Mini Monkeys wouldn’t be complete with exploring the world around us and its abundance of natural resources from puddles and sea shells to seasonal treasures that spark curiosity and imagination .
What a wonderful month, Thank you November!