As more people are self-isolating and schools and childcare settings across the world are closing, we thought we would contribute to easing the burden by providing another place you can direct parent’s /carers to for support. We are part of a wonderful, international community of Early Years practitioners who have a wealth of knowledge and a HUGE bank of ideas and activities. So, let’s gather together and share them! As a starting point I am going to use my blog to share activities that can fairly easily be done at home. I’ll gather a collection of ideas each week and post them on the website – with links from social media. If you would like to contribute please email me … Read More
We All Have A Story – A Guest Post from Trisha Lee
This weekend I have got a guest post from Trisha Lee who uses ‘helicopter stories’ to promote creativity and story telling. Over to you Trisha… We All Have A Story By Trisha Lee Helicopter Stories is in theory a simple approach, the practitioner sits with the child and scribes their story verbatim. Then the whole class gather to act these stories out. The complexity of this model lies in its child-centred foundations. Based on the work and ethos of Vivian Gussin Paley, Helicopter Stories creates a non-judgemental environment for children to share their narratives, a place where nothing they do is wrong. Used regularly, Storytelling and Story Acting quickly becomes an activity that all children want to engage with, regardless … Read More
Cursive Writing in Reception – A Good Idea?
I am regularly get emails from Reception practitioners saying that they have been told they have to teach cursive writing to their children, even though it is against their better judgement. They usually ask two questions. 1) Would I recommend it? and 2) How do you teach it? My my answers are usually : ‘I wouldn’t’ and ‘don’t’. Or, ask the person who has told you you have to do it. They must have a plan! I appreciate none of the above are actually very helpful, but fundamentally I don’t think that it is developmentally appropriate for Reception children to be cursive writing. Most (not all ) of the teachers that I have worked with who do cursive writing with Reception tell … Read More
How to Make Coloured Porridge Oats…
This is a really simple and easy one to do. You can use your coloured oats as a sensory experience, not to mention as an addition to Small World, Creative play and many, many more areas of provision. You will need: Porridge Oats – I have found that the LARGE porridge oats work best. Measuring cup Measuring spoons Small container (like and egg cup) Zip Lock freezer bags Water Food colouring or liquid water colour What to do: Put one cup of porridge oats into a Zip Lock freezer bag Mix 2 tablespoons of water with a few drops of food colouring in your small container. I used this cake decorators gel colour Pour a SMALL amount of the coloured liquid into … Read More