Parent Advice Feed
International Literacy Day
If you are reading this, you are one of the lucky ones, because it means you have a good level of literacy which unlocks many aspects of life that you probably take for granted, such as being able to decipher a menu, read a road sign or get the...
National Fitness Day
Six months ago, the state of the nation’s fitness industry was looking good. The 2019 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report revealed that 1 in every 7 people belonged to a gym, the total market value was £5.1 billion, and the number of fitness...
European Day of Languages
If someone came up to you and said “Snak med mig”, what would you do? a) Run? b) Eat what they offered you? c) Be offended? d) Answer “Jeg ville elske at” and continue with a conversation in Danish? “Snak med mig” means “talk to me” in Danish,...
Raising awareness of sepsis
When a child (or indeed adult) has an infection, the body’s immune system automatically kicks into gear to fight it off. When faced with a viral infection (like a cold or flu) or a bacterial infection (like ‘strep throat’) a child, in...
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: be bold, go gold
Imagine having to tell someone that they have cancer, and that they may or may not recover. It would be difficult, heart-wrenching and you’d know that your words would change that person’s life forever. Now imagine that person is only a child,...
The lowdown on sunscreen by the Melanoma Fund
The lowdown on sunscreen The summer is here (we think!), and naturally you are keen to spend the day outdoors. The first thing that many of us do (if we care about our skin health) is to reach for a hat and the sunscreen. However, if you are...
Hiroshima Peace Day: Sadako Sasaki and the paper cranes
Hiroshima Peace Day is held each year on 6th August, the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.Who was Sadako Sasaki? Sadako Sasaki was only two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. She developed leukaemia as a...
How to respond to accidents, injuries, and emergency situations
An accident is an adverse event that is unintended, unplanned or unexpected; it may lead to an injury or an emergency situation. But just because something happens that is unplanned, does not mean that it is unplanned for! In responding to...
National Allotments Week: growing food for health and wellbeing
Have you ever fancied a shot at “The Good Life” – following in the footsteps of TV couple, Tom and Barbara Good, dropping out of the rat race and exchanging your daily commute for some wellies, a spade and bag of seed potatoes? Maybe you’ve done...
Playday: everyday freedoms everyday adventures
The first Wednesday in August (5th August 2020), is national Playday and we promoted it last year with suggestions of how to join in with big events organised across the country to encourage children to play. This year is different, due to the...
Activities to help children understand equality and diversity
When it comes to teaching the early years, we don’t “do” equality and diversity - it’s more about how as practitioners, we set a good example with the ethos adopted in our settings. It’s our responsibility to ensure we are being inclusive, that...
Four things you can do to help your children get used to learning
Getting children to learn can be tricky, but the lessons they can pick up outside of a nursery or early years provider are also vital in preparing them for life when they get to school. Many schools set homework as soon as children begin primary...
World Population Day
On Saturday 11th July the United Nations marks World Population Day, an initiative to focus attention on the urgency and importance of the population issues which threaten our planet, our resources and ultimately, our very survival. “All our...
Mark-making in early years
What is mark-making? The term ‘mark-making’ refers to the creation of different patterns, lines, textures and shapes – in effect, the ‘scribbles’ - that young children make with various tools (pens, pencils, chalk, paintbrushes, crayons etc.) It...
Plastic Free July
In the children's film, "WALL-E", the waste pollution on planet earth grows so bad that it forces all the humans to evacuate on a spaceship, leaving behind robots to clear up the mess, periodically sending back probes to see if the planet has...
World Youth Skills Day
What are you good at? DIY? Cooking? Construction? Designing? Or are you great at customer service or organising things? Everyone is good at something and we all possess at least one skill or talent that we can share with the world and use to not...
How to treat burns and scalds
Burns are one of the most common accidents that can befall a child, so it is vital that the people in your setting not only know how to prevent them in the first place, but understand how to treat them with first aid if they do occur. Burns and...
How to demonstrate our love to young children during the coronavirus pandemic
Research tells us the importance of touch and how it contributes to our positive mental health and wellbeing. But what do we do now that we need to be more socially distant? Firstly and most importantly, children may feel very anxious about the...
World Oceans Day
EARTH: 3rd planet from the sun, known as the ‘blue planet’ because over 70% of its surface area is covered by water, supporting the majority of the life on earth, which is still aquatic. As humans, we rely on the oceans for food, transport and...
Children’s Art Week
Let’s get creative! Lots of us may still be in lockdown or partial lockdown, but one thing we can be sure of, is that our children will still be as energetic and creative as ever. This month sees the UK celebrating Children’s Art Week – an...
Bike Week 2020
The past few months have, understandably, been frustrating for anyone who wants to go out and ride their bike. But gradually, we are being allowed to get out and about again with our families. Most people know that cycling is a fantastic way to...
Growing for Wellbeing Week
Last month we ran an article on Children’s Gardening Week and we hope that you enjoyed participating in that in whatever way you were able. This month we continue with a gardening theme (well, it is still Spring after all) as we mark Growing for...
National Writing Day
Once upon a time, in a small pre-school book corner, there lived a bookworm called Ben. Ben was short for Benjamin, the bookworm’s real name, but after discovering that he could neither pronounce it, spell it, or write it down, his parents...
Father’s Day at home
On Sunday 21st June, the nation dedicates a day to members of the family who they consider to be father-figures. This year, Father’s Day could well be a little different if social distancing measures are still in place at the end of the month....
Child Safety Week
Safety is on everyone’s minds right now with the coronavirus pandemic affecting nearly every country in the world. People are mindful of ways to prevent the spread of the virus, how to protect themselves from catching it, and handwashing, social...
Foster Care Fortnight
There are many things that have been disrupted recently; travel, schooling and shopping to name a few. But some things have persisted through the pandemic and one of those is the need for children of all ages to be protected from harm. Every 20...
DIY your sensory corner
Recently, we’ve looked at sensory rooms; whether they are worth investing in, what works and what doesn’t, and exploring the options you have for enhancing the sensory experiences you can offer. In this article, we give you some advice on how to...
National Children’s Gardening Week
With everything that’s going on in the world at the moment, it can be difficult to stand back and get a good perspective on life sometimes. Lots of us are stuck inside, staring at the four walls of our houses and flats and it can be a struggle...
World day for Cultural Diversity
The United Nations (UN) was formed in 1945 after the second world war as a political avenue for solving differences to avoid future conflicts. A year later, UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – was set...
International Mother Earth Day April 22nd
There’s a famous quote that has been attributed to US Native Americans, which has been modernised and translated as: “When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realise that one cannot...