Knowledge and understanding of the world

Its not very often that Childminders receive funding. All the equipment I have has been purchased from my own pocket and I still feel like there is so much I am missing. So when my local council gave out some new

Starting up as a childminder can be expensive. You not only have to pay out for training and checks but there is all the toys and equipment to think of. When I first started out I decided that where possible I

We’re now settled into our new home. The children have coped really well with the change and I’m so happy its not affected their routine in any way. We worked really hard to make sure we were unpacked and ready for

Yesterday I took the children for a bus trip into town. P loves taking the bus, we always play I spy with colours on the way and usually she will have the other passengers laughing after she repeats spying the same thing over and over

Last night P sat down at the table with her dad and did a little bit of sticking. Earlier in the day I had cut up some shapes ready for her to use. I thought it would be a good way

I love simple activities, they take less prior planning and have the potential to be lots more fun! A great acitivity escepecially for under twos is this one. We did this on Sunday and little man enjoyed spending half an hour playing

Today was the first day back at school and as normal the house felt very quiet with out Lady P around. When she got home she was incredably hyper so I thought a little creative fun was just the ticket for

We had great fun doing these. A simple craft which can be used to make great banners or wall decorations. The photos are a little dark sorry. Little man decorated a paper plate with a paint brush and his hands, just

This week we have a  Christmas craft guest post. Kay Fisher is the editior of Essential Childminder magazine and joins us this week to share an activity her mindies have had fun with this year. Here at The Essential ChildMinder we

This weekend I thought it would be nice to add a personal touch to the Christmas tree. P decided she would like to make some ginger bread men to put on the tree after seeing some ornamental ones in the shops.