Blog

“Strive to make everyday the best day of your life, because there is no good reason not to.” Hal Elrod

10 Ideas for Ladybird Nature Play

May 09, 2025

Ladybirds are a beloved and valuable part of our natural world. It is lovely to find them in the garden or out and about in parks.

Some interesting facts about Ladybugs:

From the beetle family.
Common colors include red, yellow, and orange with black spots, but some species can be black with red or yellow spots.
There are about 5,000 species of ladybirds worldwide.
The seven-spot ladybird is one of the most familiar species in Europe.
The bright colors and spots of ladybirds serve as a warning to predators that they are toxic or distasteful.
When threatened, ladybirds can secrete a yellowish fluid from their leg joints, which has a foul taste and can deter predators.
Ladybirds are essential for natural pest control in gardens and agricultural fields, helping to reduce the need for chemical pesticides.
Ladybirds are often considered symbols of good luck and are associated with various folk beliefs and superstitions around the world.

...

3 Ways To Add Hygge To Your Provision Today

Apr 15, 2024

There are many ways that we can inject that warm, cosy hygge feeling into your classroom, setting or home. To avoid overwhelm I have 3 tips that you can try today.

Step 1. Storytelling Opportunities

Happiness Psycholgist and author of The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, MeiK Viking describes one of the aspects of hygge living is the pleasure that is found in everyday activities.

Storytelling plays a big part in finding joy and pleasure in life and especially so if it contains humour (which is shown to reduce the stress hormone!). The coming together for meals or the long walks in the wild offer many opportunities for telling stories in Scandinavia. Perhaps you could have a bigger focus on storytelling in your practice; outside, in the woods and in tiny nooks of your provision. You don’t need to set up a large area for story telling to happen in. An inviting invitation to play on a shelf will do, inside a box or even in a hat! The storie...

5 reasons why mirror play is important for babies

Mar 27, 2024

Seeing their own reflection in a mirror is magical and wonderous for babies. Do they recognise themselves? The awe and wonder of what else is reflected in the mirror, perhaps a parent, a favourite toy and their surroundings. Taking mirrors outdoors adds another dimension such as the trees, flora and fauna, the sky and clouds are also all reflected magically in the mirror. Babies will gaze for a long time into a mirror tray for example - trying to touch what they can see.

5 reasons why mirror play is important for babies:

1. Helping to develop visual senses

2. Encouraging gross motor movement - inspiring babies to reach and touch

Add some nature to a mirror tray, or droplets of water. This encourages sensory exploration, inviting them to reach out and touch the mirror and the items. Why not put on some music and have a little dance with your baby in front of the mirror. This is a fun way to encourage movement and coordination.

3. Developing a sense of self

Babies will start...

Maps - Creating a sense of wanderlust in young children

Mar 22, 2024

I love maps and have got quite a collection now at home! As a child my grandparents would also have their maps and travel guides out and I used to be fascinated in looking at them. I would love going on long car journeys and following our route on the AA road map (before the time of Sat navs) and they would always give me such a sense of excitement. These days I love using maps for planning road trips around new places or finding a new Wainwright to walk in the Lake District.

Maps are a great way of creating that sense of Wanderlust in young children and there are many ways we can support this in our homes and learning environment. Perhaps having a world map on the wall with places pinned off that have been visited by someone we know, when visiting a local park with children encourage them to use a map to discover where they would like to go, a collection of maps in a basket in a book corner along with some travel guides and postcards, a globe to explore and lastly going on an adven...

Apr 23, 2020

Story telling/ small world play and nature

As a setting we are always outside exploring the outdoors whether it be the beach, woods, National Trust places or simply our garden. We feel being outdoors is as important as introducing books and rhymes into the children’s every day life so why not combine the two. We do this regularly and will pack props and story books based on the themes and childrens interests into our daily bag and take them out with us.

We find that by using props out and about grasps the children’s attention a lot more than sitting and listening on a rug. The children want to be involved, they want to take turns to hold the props - they will also use the props to retell and re enact the story later on in their play. Recently we visited a local National Trust place and explored the mud kitchen - we took Tiger who came to Tea story with us as it is a favourite and we felt that this would link in beautifully with the physical play around the mud kitchen. We...