Running a Setting
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...
Eid al-Adha – The Greater Eid
This month sees Muslims around the world celebrating the end of Hajj (pilgrimage) with one of the main festivals in the Muslim calendar, Eid al-Adha, also known as The Greater Eid.Islam has many feast days and festivals, as do most of the...
World Humanitarian Day
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean, if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” - Mahatma GandhiWhat does it mean to be human? Do we define our humanity by our DNA,reportedly 99.9% the...
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...
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...
How young early years workers can cut the cost of motoring
More than a quarter of all childcare workers are aged under 30 - and the number of people who have learned to drive within that age group is dwindling. Whilst in many ways that could be considered good news - fewer cars on the road has got to...
Six and a half reasons to go paperless at your nursery
The chances are, you didn’t want to work in childcare to spend hours doing paperwork. However, the reality is that many nurseries are still heavily reliant on paper-based administration to manage their data. As the number of children in your...
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...
More men needed in early years
In December 2018, we reported on Wright and Brownhill’s book, entitled “Men in Early Years Settings: Building a Mixed Gender Workforce” which highlighted the problem of the gender imbalance in the early years practitioners. At the time, less...
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...
Early years self-employment income funds available
Did you know about the government grant which helps the self-employed who are facing financial difficulties as a result of the coronavirus outbreak? If you are a self-employed nursery owner, you could be able to claim 80% of your monthly...
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...
Preparations for the ‘new normal’ and returning to your setting
In your early years setting, you have probably been thinking for a while about the day you will be able to welcome the children (other than those of key workers) back into your care. Hundreds of childcare settings have been open for children of...
Marketing your setting
Now, more than ever, nurseries need to be both visible and highly engaged with not only their existing parents, but prospective parents too. The competition could be high when children are able to return to their settings, and many parents will...
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...
Mental Health Awareness Week
According to the Mental Health Foundation: • 1 in 6 adults experiences a common mental health problem • Common mental health problems include stress, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar • 1 in 5 adults have considered taking their own...
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...
