Helfa Gair/Word Hunt

Another idea stolen from the fantastic Imagination Tree blog. I wrote the names of objects on various items around the garden in chalk. Then I told the kids to go and find all 15 objects and write them down. They loved it! The original idea is to give your child a different coloured chalk so they can copy over the words - this would be perfect for preschoolers. As mine were a bit older I wanted them to write the words independently. An easy peasy way to get the kids practicing their reading and writing!

Fruity Fromage Frais Cake

I love the recipes on Cbeebies I can Cook, they're usually pretty healthy and the kids can do most of it themselves. We made this today, all the children were able to join in and it tasted delicious!

What a lovely day for doing the laundry!

This has always been a big hit with my children; a box of soapy water, dolls clothes and a child-size washing line. Nothing like doing a spot of laundry on a sunny day!

All Aboard for Some Pirate Adventures

One of the children I look after is really, really into Pirates at the moment so I declared today 'Pirate Day'! We made Pirate Flags and Pirate Telescopes, we dressed up as Pirates and did a Pirate Treasure Hunt.

It was all really simple, the Flags were made with black paper and some pirate print outs...

 ....the telescopes were simply rolled up card decorated with stickers...

.... and I made treasure maps with brown parcel paper and 'coins' with foil covered chocolate buttons.

Excuse the poor quality of the pictures - not only was my camera playing up but I struggled to get anyone to keep their flag still enough for me to take a photo of it!

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr is one of my favourite children's books. I thought I'd introduce it to the children by having a Tiger Tea Party while we read it - it's now a firm favourite with them too. I've got some very active children with me at the moment and I find books only really hold their interest if we act them out!

What's cooking?

Cooking is a favourite activity of all the children I look after. But when real cooking isn't an option a few dry ingredients and a toy cooker is just as much fun! Pouring, mixing, plating up...and with no washing up after.

Salt Dough Sweet Shop

My eldest child got given a sweet shop for Christmas which she loves. There's just one problem with it - the stock seems to go really quickly! So, my 3 year old mindee, my 2 year old and I made some play 'sweeties' out of salt dough. This way everyone gets to play with the sweet shop and I don't have to worry about their teeth falling out! Salt dough is one of our favourite things to do as the children can get involved at all stages; mixing, rolling and cutting out, painting them when they're dry and then playing with them.