Did you know that 20% of UK parents spend no time at all reading with their children? Or that just 50% of parents with young children read for just 1 hour each week?
Not only does reading to your children help to improve their academic performance, but more importantly it strengthens your bond, improves their imagination, helps children learn to read, teaches them about the world around them, and provides important morals to help make your child a nicer person.
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and it’s the perfect time for young children to unleash their creativity.
Choose from our top 5 valentine’s activities for young children and have a great day with arts and crafts making gifts for friends, family and nanny!
Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Activity Ideas for Young Children”
The day of love is right around the corner and Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to bring out those craft supplies and start making gifts for all.
Try these fun Valentine’s Day inspired crafts for kids of all ages:
Sensory play is a catch-all term for activities which focus on stimulating a child’s senses : hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. It can involve messy play, singing and dancing, cooking or gardening to name just a few activities which have maximum sensory input.
Like every child is different, every Nanny and Manny are different, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are always prepared! Here are our top 10 essential items that every Nanny carries with them. What is your most essential item? Or What have we missed off our list?
Christmas is the perfect time to rekindle your child’s love of books and reading.
Children’s Christmas books are filled with happiness, wonder and strong morals. Reading is a simple, easy activity that can be enjoyed by children of all ages, no matter the weather.
Encourage them to learn by reading aloud or helping them to read along.
What are you waiting for? Pick up a book today and spark their imagination.
See below for our recommended top 5 festive children’s books!
Continue reading “Get into the Christmas spirit with our top 5 festive books for children”
And just like that, the summer holidays are over! For some, sending the children back to school couldn’t come any sooner. You’ve faced the high street, waited (patiently!) with your ticket to try on new school shoes, hair has been chopped and styled, new stationary has been bought (for them and you!) and your diary is ready to go… but what about the children. Are they ready? Are they excited and prepared?
It’s easy to assume the children are also ready to go back, see their friends and fit back into the school routine. But what about their emotional readiness? What about the children who are starting at nursery or school for the first time? The ones transitioning to primary or secondary school. Even the difference in classroom, teacher or timetable can be overwhelming for a child.
Transitions work best when a child is prepared. So what can we do to prepare a child for the September ‘back to school’ time in their lives?
Firstly, talk to them. Ask them how they are feeling. Don’t just put the emotions you are feeling into their minds. Really listen to their anxieties, worries and excitements. Break down each one and show them emotional support. Not just at the start of school, but continued throughout their first few weeks, and beyond if needed. Sometimes they won’t want to talk, and that’s ok! Just being there, listening and allowing them the opportunity to open up will give them reassurance.
Another thing you can do to get them involved is with the new term shopping! If they have a say in what bag, coat and shoes they will be wearing, then they are going to show a little more enthusiasm. For young children, finding a school bag with their favourite character on is going to help massively. For older children, it’s ‘fitting in’ with peers, so they will want a say in how they look.
One of the biggest anxieties about starting at a new school can be around friends, or not knowing anyone. To prepare children for this, I always advise trying to find other children also attending the same school (try local social media groups). Planning play-dates before school starts will give them someone they are familiar with. In the first few weeks of term, plan after school tea times together too. This will really help them build on friendships and relationships with other children, and as parents and nannies, also introduce you to other families from the school.
And lastly books! Reading is something that you can do together with your child. Books can help with no end of matters, and school readiness is one of them! Pop along to your local library, find some books about going to school and read them together. Change the words to fit in with the name of your child’s school, or teachers to personalise it, and just spend some time one to one discussing everything around school.
With everything, time helps. Enjoy this period in your child’s life, support them, reassure them and allow them the time to adjust to these new beginnings.
We cover all sorts of transitions that happen in a child’s life, including school readiness in our Early Years Care and Education Course. Please contact Little Ones Training and Education on 0207 112 8057 to find out more!
Do you remember when you were young and the hours of fun that you had playing with a bowl of water, bubbles, pots and pans, a ball? Did you realise that you were learning?
Learning through play is one of the most important elements of a child’s development. Play encourages Language Skills, creativity, social skills, a sense of fun and the ability to enjoy time alone or as part of a group. Children often learn skills that they will use for the rest of their life and that will help them with the more academic learning they will have to undertake.
Here are some examples of how inexpensive and easily accessible playthings can help your young children learn: –
Anything physical like ball games, climbing in the park, running will all enhance and strengthen they body, help with co-ordination skills and encourage a lifelong enjoyment of keeping fit and healthy.
Board Games, Card Games, party games all help with learning to take turns, teamwork, ability to mix and socialise with others.
Building blocks, shape sorters and jigsaws help with fine motor skills, developing logic, recognising differing shapes and sizes and putting things into order, all brilliant skills when it comes to maths and science.
Singing, playing musical instruments and dancing all help with listening and hearing skills and help develop a sense of rhythm.
Play dough, drawing, painting, playing with dolls, dressing up, using empty boxes, sandpits, are great for imagination and creativity. For slightly older children writing basic stories alongside their pictures help with learning to express their feelings and language skills.
Playing with water is a great start to science and Maths, learning the difference between fluids and solids, measuring, different size containers.
What ever they do, it needs to be a fun and entertaining environment, not forced. Let children take the lead and do things their way. If the play area and equipment are safe there is no reason why they cannot find different and unusual ways of doing things and experiment. Remember children all develop at different rates and some children that can do a simple jigsaw may find it difficult to share and visa verse.
And finally, at the end of the day, when your little one is tired and exhausted from all that playing and using their imagination don’t forget to make reading time fun. Let them look at the pictures and tell the story they see.
Spending time playing either as a family or on their own need not be expensive or time consuming, a few minutes playing a card game, or kicking a football about can really help a child calm down, get them (and you) in a happy place and get on with the day. Never underestimate the benefits of having fun!
If your child loves video games, apps and interactive activities but you’d like the focus to be more educational, we’ve put together a list of 3 fantastic apps, games and online resources to give every child the learning bug! The best part? They’re all free!
Help children to stay cool this summer with these 5, fun and simple water activities!
What’s your child’s favourite summer water activity? Share your suggestions in the comments!
