Jennifer Childminding best practice, Childminding Inspection Tips

How is your childminding curriculum unique to you?

(This blog started life as a segment in one of my weekly Childminding Best Practice Newsletters. If you would like to subscribe to the free newsletters click here.)

I heard an interesting question from an Ofsted Inspector the other day which I thought was useful to share with you: ‘How is your curriculum unique to you?’

By now it is no surprise to hear that you will be asked about your curriculum when you are inspected but I thought this question was a bit different and it made me stop and think. How would you answer this if you were asked? There are lots of things that you might do that makes your curriculum unique to you. For example, you might be a Forest Childcare Association member or even have Forest School training and have a specific focus on learning in a natural, outdoor environment. You might follow a particular pedagogy, for example running a Montessori or Reggio Emilia inspired setting. Maybe you have a passion for music and dance and weave that through the children’s learning. You may do none of these things! Here is what I would say about my own curriculum:

A young child learning about penguins while also developing spatial reasoning while playing with a homemade jigsaw.
Learning about penguins while also developing spatial reasoning and concentration skills while playing with a homemade jigsaw.

I am neither an exclusively child led, nor adult led setting. Instead, I like to think of myself as a child inspired setting. I carefully observe the children to work out what their deep interests are and then use that information to help plan learning opportunities.

By deep interests I do not mean things like a passion for dinosaurs or an interest in unicorns, (although I will certainly plan activities around these interests too!) but rather things like whether a child is exhibiting a certain schema or has reached a stage of development. Which, in my long experience, every child goes through. For example, a child may have schema such as a connecting and disconnecting schema, in which case I might do something like provide lots of jigsaws, including making jigsaws related to a topic we are exploring. Or a child may have reached what I like to think of as the ‘posting’ stage of life, in which case I provide lots of different objects to post into different holes so the child can explore shape.

Think about: Do you consider yourself a child-led or adult-led setting? Or maybe you are a balance of both?

I feel that promoting each child’s characteristics of effective learning is an important part of my curriculum. I want to help each child develop a love of learning and a drive to curiously explore the world around them, something which will hopefully remain with them for life! Therefore, I make sure to provide opportunities and experiences for children to play and explore independently, time and space to become deeply engrossed in their activities and learning, and support and encouragement for children to think carefully and create their own ideas.

A baby playing with loose parts. Seeds and lentils with containers and scoops. This is a great activity to help young children develop the characteristics of effective learning.
A baby playing with loose parts including seeds and lentils with containers and wooden scoops and trays. This is a great activity to help young children develop the characteristics of effective learning.

(Think about: How do you promote the characteristics of effective learning in your setting?)

I have great relationships with the children’s parents, and we share lots of information about what children are learning both at home and in my setting. We do this both informally and formally, for example by using resources such as parent questionnaire’s and ‘All About Me‘ forms which I make sure we update regularly. I plan and share activity ideas with parents based on this shared information which means that my curriculum covers the child’s learning at home too. This does not need to be complicated. For example, the other day I shared some ideas for encouraging a child to take part in more mark making which prompted a parent to remember some of their older child’s old mark making toys which they had in the loft!

I use special development records to enable me to jot notes about each child’s learning and development over all areas of learning as well as the characteristics of essential learning. These records also include additional special things that I want children to learn or experience in my setting so that I can record these too.

The development records also highlight key development markers so I can ensure each child’s development is within the normal range. This enables me to quickly spot any areas of concern and put extra support in place. (If I am concerned about a child, I also use a special ‘Gap Tracker‘ to highlight areas of concern and which contains information about extra sources of support which I can share with parents.)

(Think about: How do you keep track of or record children’s learning? Do you use my new Development Records? If you do, have you added any special things that you want children to learn in your setting? Tip – There is space for you to write these on your development records so that they become unique to your children and setting.)

I hope you found this helpful. Have a think about your own curriculum and how it is unique to you. Then if you get asked by an inspector you will have plenty to talk about!

If you would like to use them too here are some of the resources I have mentioned. I use these in my own setting so have genuinely designed and road tested them to be as helpful as possible!

Characteristics of Effective Learning Pack  

characteristics of effective learning for childminders

The Characteristics of Effective Learning (COEL) are in many ways, more important than many of the Learning and Development goals. They are the characteristics that set children up to become successful learners for life. This affects how well children perform in school and even how successful they will be as adults. But, what does ‘playing and exploring’, ‘active learning’ or ‘creating and thinking critically’ actually mean that you are supposed to do?   This pack contains information about the Characteristics of Effective Learning, broken down in a way that is easy to absorb, as well as business tools, printable posters and activities.  

Characteristics of effective learning pack

Development Records

These Development Records will help you record and celebrate children’s progress and share it with their parents on a regular basis. It allows you to record more detail than a tracker, with space to record comments of notes under different development stages but is not as complicated or as time consuming as creating a learning journal.   The Development Record is set out with sections for each of the Prime and Specific Areas of Learning as well as sections to record the child’s Characteristics of Effective Learning.   There is an introduction and tips for the childminder and information about the record to share with parents to help encourage effective working in partnership.   There are different Development Records. The link below will take you to the 18 – 24 month record but the other records are connected to this one so you can find them easily.  

Development Record for 18 – 24 months

Forest Childcare Association Membership

Forest Childcare Association Logo

The Forest Childcare Association is a best practice initiative for childcare providers who want to demonstrate their commitment to taking small children outdoors on a regular basis. By making a commitment to regular outdoor outings you can make a discernible difference to your children AND your business. When you join you will receive a Forest Childcare Starter Pack containing training information as well as business tools, a certificate to display and 50 Crafts and Activities to get you started.

Forest Childcare Association Membership

Learning About Frogs Topic Pack:  

This science based topic pack contains:  

Lots of fun and engaging activities aimed at children from one to five years old, all designed to help your children learn the main facts about frogs. Each activity comes with information about what the activity aims at helping children learn, full instructions and ‘I Can’ statements for you to assess each child’s learning.   Learn all about frogs with your children. Learn about:  

A fun resource pack with ideas for exploring a 'frog' topic with young children.

1) What a frog is and what frogs look like.

2) How frogs move.

3) What frogs eat.

4) The frog life cycle.

5) Frog maths!  

With lots of fun ideas, activities and resources aimed at children from one to five years old.  

Learning About Frogs Topic pACK
Jennifer Childminding best practice

2026 Childminding Best Practice Club Toolkit Themes

What are the Childminding Best Practice toolkits?

Part childminding magazine, part activity and resources pack, part training resource the monthly Childminding Best Practice Club toolkits contain something for everyone.

The following will give you a good idea of the main things which will be covered in each toolkit in 2026.

This year I have deliberately not set CPD modules for every month. I have lots of ideas in mind but want to have the flexibility to react to events and provide help when members need it most.

(Please be aware that some themes or content may be subject to change, especially in toolkits published later in the year.)

January 2026

This January Childminding Best Practice Club members will be learning all about ‘Owls‘ with their children. After working for the World Owl Trust for almost ten years this is a topic close to my heart and will be great fun to explore! Children will learn:

  • What is an owl?
  • When are owls active?
  • What do owls eat?
  • Where do owls live?
  • Different species of native owl that live in Britain.

Children will also find out about World Braille Day which is on the 4th of January, and a little bit about what it is like for children who are blind or who cannot see very well.

As part of your CPD, this January we will be looking at ‘What is Montessori?’ and how you can successfully incorporate some Montessori inspired methods in your own setting.

February 2026

2026 is the Chinese Year of the Horse and Club members will be joining in with a ‘Chinese New Year‘ theme. Children will:

  • Explore and learn about some of the things associated with Chinese New Year.
  • Learn a traditional Chinese New Year nursery rhyme.
  • Play some Chinese new year shape games.
  • Chinese New Year messy play!

As well as all the Chinese New Year fun children will learn a special rhyme to help keep them safe on the internet, as part of ‘Safer Internet Day‘ on February the 7th.

Now that the new inspection system is properly up and running the CPD for February will focus on looking at some recent Ofsted inspection recommendations,

March 2026

Spring into March with all things Easter and the Childminding Best Practice Club! This month the toolkit takes on an ‘Easter‘ theme with lots of Easter themed activities crafts and games to help children practice skills like:

  • Fine motor skills such as threading, drawing and mark making.
  • Maths skills such as counting and pattern matching.
  • Creative skills.

March is a very busy month for special celebrations so there will also be activities to help you and your children learn about and celebrate St Patrick’s Day on the 17th of March and Mother’s Day on the the 15th of March.

As well as being a month full of celebrations March is the end of the tax year. With this in mind members will receive CPD with tips and advice about completing their yearly accounts. This is a popular module each year and will be updated with all the necessary 2026 information.

April 2026

St George gallops in on his noble steed to save the day in April! There has never been toolkit fully dedicated to St George’s Day so this year I thought we would change that. Children will learn about the about the story of St George and the dragon, some of the sorts of values St George stands for, and all about being a knight! Activities will include:

  • Re-enact the story with some St George and the Dragon puppets.
  • Make a healthy St George’s Day snack.
  • Make or build a castle fit for a knight!

The 22nd of April is ‘Earth Day‘ so the toolkit will also have a special Earth Day activity to help you and your children mark the occasion, learning about how and why it is important to protect our home – the planet Earth.

The April CPD module will be announced later.

May 2026

As we move properly into Spring, Club members and their children will be learning all about ‘Ladybirds’. Learn all about these cute little garden helpers with activities like:

  • Ladybird arts and crafts.
  • Ladybird themed counting games.
  • Make a ladybird life cycle craft.
  • Help the ladybirds in your garden by making a special ladybird house.

May the 15th is the International Day of Families. To help you explore the different types of families with your children the toolkit will contain special resources for you to print and use.

The May CPD module will be announced later.

June 2026

This month’s toolkit will appeal to footie fans as we explore a FIFA World Cup theme! Children will learn about some of the countries taking part, have a go at designing their own football kit and practise their own football skills!

June the 8th is World Ocean Day. There will be a special ‘ocean animals’ recycled art activity to help children learn about the importance of looking after our oceans.

The June CPD module will be announced later.

July 2026

Hopefully as the days get longer the sun will put in an appearance when we explore a ‘Light and Shadows‘ topic. My own little ones are always fascinated when they realise they have a shadow so this science based topic will hopefully be a hit! We will look at shadows and silhouettes, have a go at making shadow puppets and create colourful creations for the light to shine through.

The July the United States of America is turning 250 years old! Help mark the occasion by making a special, ‘Happy Birthday America,’ card.

The CPD for July will focus on looking at some more recent Ofsted inspection recommendations.

August 2026

What better way to celebrate Summer than a ‘Sunflowers’ theme? If you intend to grown sunflowers in Summer 2026 this toolkit will be the ideal resource to supplement your children’s learning. Children will do things like:

  • Explore the parts of a sunflower and learn new vocabulary like ‘stem,’ seed’ and ‘flower.’
  • Learn about the life cycle of a sunflower – from seed to flower
  • Learn and practice maths skills with resources like sunflower pattern and symmetry activities and sunflower measuring games and challenges.
  • Take part in some sunflower themed arts and crafts.

This August learn a traditional Nigerian Folktale about ‘Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky,’ and make some sun and moon crafts to complement the story.

The August CPD module will be announced later.

September 2026

Each year we explore a different ‘traditional tale’ in at least one toolkit. This year we will be looking at the story of ‘The Ugly Duckling.’ Children will learn the basics of the story, taking part in activities and making props to be able to retell the story in their own way. They will learn what a swan is and have a go at a swan craft and will be encouraged to think of the morals of the story – that it is unkind to call people names and that you should value yourself, no matter what you look like.

It is Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th of September. To help you join in with this fun and silly occasion the toolkit will have healthy ‘pirate’ themed snacks for you and the children to make and enjoy.

The September CPD module will be announced later.

October 2026

What combines maths, literacy and Halloween? A ‘Five Little Pumpkins’ themed toolkit of course! Children will explore this fun Halloween rhyme while practising their maths skills with activities and resources like pumpkin puppets to make and use to learn the rhyme, pumpkin based sensory play and craft activities and plenty of pumpkin themed resources to complement your children’s learning.

The 10th of October is World Mental Health Day. This month’s toolkit will have ideas for how you and your children can make special ‘calm’ jars, to help them understand and regulate their emotions.

The October CPD module will be announced later.

November 2026

Nee naw, nee naw! To complement the November 2025 ‘firefighters’ toolkit this November we will be learning all about, ‘People That Help Us – Police.’ Children will learn about what police officers do and how they help us as well as which number to call in an emergency. There will be fun arts and crafts to do and other police themed resources and activities.

November the 11th is Remembrance Day. To help you and your children mark the occasion in a sensitive, child friendly way the toolkit will feature a special child friendly Remembrance Day poem to decorate as part of a special fine motor activity.

The CPD module this November will help you look forward to the next year and create an action plan for 2027.

December 2026

To help you have a calm and successful December this years toolkit will be full of ‘Christmas Presents‘ themed resources and ideas to help children with lots of different areas of learning.

As well as Christmas the Jewish festival of Hanukkah takes place this December. To help you learn about this important Jewish celebration there is a special activity for you and your children to enjoy.

The December CPD module will be announced later.

If you are not already a member you can join the Club now, making sure that you get all of these great Childminding toolkits. When you join you will also receive a special ‘New Members Welcome Pack,’ AND a special Club account entitling you to 25% off any Welly Wren resources you buy during the course of your membership.*

Membership is amazing value at just £35 a year which is less than £3 a toolkit.

JOIN THE cHILDMINDING BEST PRACTICE CLUB TODAY

(*This offer does not apply to Forest Childcare Association Memberships or any Welly Wren bulk buy deals.)

Jennifer Childminding best practice, Themes

My Childminding Curriculum Part Two – Enhanced Provision

‘To heighten or intensify or improve something of already good quality.‘ (Oxford Dictionary definition of the word enhance.)

In my last blog about childminding curriculums I wrote about continuous curriculum – the kind of things that you continually provide day in day out for the children you care for. Although children can learn an awful lot through your everyday continuous provision and by following their interests, there are some things which do not naturally come up through day to day play. There are also those children who have a very strong interest in one particular activity who may not stray from it if not gently encouraged. Yes, it is important to value children’s interests but is is also part of our job to expand their learning by introducing ideas, concepts and vocabulary that they may not yet have encountered.

In order to offer your children the best learning opportunities it is important to provide opportunities over and above what you provide as part of your continuous curriculum. This is especially important for children from deprived backgrounds who may not have access to these sorts of opportunities outside your setting.

Extending an interest and adding challenge

Enhanced provision can be things you add to your continuous provision to make it more challenging for the children. For example, I like to add different resources to my sandpit such as toy treasure or ‘dinosaur bones’ for children to discover. I rotate different sorts of loose parts with my playdough and add different materials to complement my building blocks to encourage children to try something new.

Extend your children's interests by adding extra things to your continuous curriculum resources.
Expanding an interest by adding chickpeas to a farm small world set.

If these enhancements prove popular and the children continue to benefit from them you can add them to your continuous provision (I have troll figure from a Billy Goats Gruff kit which has made it’s way into permanent use,) but I find it beneficial to rotate the extra things I provide. It keeps things fresh and interesting for the children and helps prevent boredom.

Introducing something completely new

As well as extending on a existing interest I use my extended provision to introduce new ideas and concepts to the children. This is why I think exploring different themes or concepts with your children is important. It is also great fun and I find one of the perks of being a childminder is being able to explore things in this way with children.

Exploring themes, such as this frog theme, with children, helps them learn new ideas, concepts and vocabulary.

The theme or concepts I chose can vary according to the children I have and things like their ages and backgrounds. For very young children, exploring and helping them understand different concepts is really useful. For example, knowing the differences between hot and cold and the words to describe them correctly. These things might seem obvious to you but do your children really understand this concept? Or, do they still get muddled, doing things like describing cold things as ‘hot’ because they associate that word with describing temperatures? (Careful observations can help you uncover misconceptions such as these.)

For slightly older children exploring a theme can be useful. This may sometimes be as an extension of a concept they have previously tackled, for example, exploring the idea of melting and freezing after learning about the concept of hot and cold. Themes can help children learn new ideas and vocabulary, expand their cultural capital and maybe introduce them to a new passion! For example, I recently discovered my vehicle obsessed child also loves volcanoes, something I would never have found out if I didn’t do themes.

You do not need to provide themed or concept based activities every day, (or even every week if your children are very young.) Themes do not have to be all encompassing, creating lots of extra work doing things like redecorating or redoing all your displays every time your start a new theme.

Some themes and concepts can be combined to suit different aged children at the same time. For example a melting and freezing concept combined with a sea creatures theme.

When planning any additional themes or concepts think about the following:

  • What do you want children to learn or gain from your theme or concept? Try and be quite specific about what you want them to learn as this will make planning your activities easier. For example, when planning a road safety theme you might want children to learn to stop, look and listen when crossing the road as well as some of the safe places to cross. There may be different ways you help them learn this, such as outings, games or role play but your intent remains the same. (If you use the Toolkit themes this has all been done for you.)
  • Are there any areas of learning that you think children need more support with? For example, if all of your children appear to be struggling with a particular area of learning it may be because you need to plan more input for that area across your whole setting. Using themes and concepts is a good way to help you and the children focus on this area of learning in a fun way.
  • Are there any areas of learning that you need to cover with the children that you will not cover otherwise. For example, a theme about cleaning your teeth and visiting the dentist.
  • What are your children’s interests and how can you extend these using a theme OR challenge the children to try something completely new and different!
  • What are your own personal values and what is the ethos of your setting? You may want to have a very strong focus on outdoor learning, for example, meaning that the majority of your themes might be nature based or concerned with things like plants, animals or growing food. As long as you cover all the areas of learning I recommend being true to yourself and the sort of setting you want to run.

Make sure you use a range of themes across the year to provide a balance. Try to include the following:

  • STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths) based themes.
  • Arts based themes.
  • Diversity and British Values based themes.
  • Literacy based themes.
  • Health and self care based themes.
  • Maths based themes.

Remember: Exploring themes or concepts are best used to enhance and extend the learning opportunities you offer children in addition to your day to day continuous provision, not replace it. Enhanced provision is there to enhance what you offer.

Please use the comments below to share your thoughts. How do you enhance what you offer on a day to day basis? Have you got any ideas for exciting themes or concepts to explore?

You may also like:

My Childminding Curriculum Part One – Continuous Provision.

‘Continuous provision is all the resources and activities that you continue to provide on a daily basis. In a small early years setting such as a childminders this may look slightly different depending on your children and the sorts of needs they have, but in general your continuous provision should cover opportunities for the children to work on skills and . . .’

Read more

Childminding Best Practice Club

Childminding Best Practice Club Logo

As a member of the Childminding Best Practice Club you will receive a monthly toolkit containing a wealth of resources designed to make your life easier. Each toolkit has two main sections; a ‘My Learning section with training and CPD and a, ‘My Curriculum section’ with planning, activities, tools, and resources based around a theme. The themes covered in your monthly toolkits have been specially chosen to provide you with a careful balance of themes and will help your children acquire skills and knowledge across a range of subjects and learning areas.

find out more about the club
Jennifer Childminding best practice

How much CPD should childminders do?

How much CPD (Continual professional development) should you do? And what will your inspector expect to see if they visit?

The only training you have to do is Safeguarding training as recommended by your Local Safeguarding Board and your Paediatric First Aid. However, if you want to grow and develop your practice CPD is a must, especially if you are aiming at trying to get an decent grade.

The new Early Years Inspection Toolkit mentions the importance of continual improvement in several places. For example in the Leadership and Governance section one of the ‘Expected Standard statements is:

‘Leaders provide regular, relevant and appropriate professional learning and expertise opportunities.’ (Early Years Inspection Toolkit 2025. Page 51.)

From the point of view of the EYFS there is no set amount of CPD hours that you have to do. What is more important and what your Inspector will be wanting to see is see what CPD you are choosing to do and why.

Carefully choosing focused CPD based on your own needs shows that you have evaluated and have a good understanding of your own skills and knowledge and what you need to do next to fill in gaps in your own learning.

It is also really important to think about the impact that your training is having. A short piece of CPD which has a lot of beneficial impact for the children is much better than a long course which does not have much effect on what you do. Think about the last piece of CPD you did. What did you change as a result of that CPD? How did the children benefit?

Here is an example: You evaluate what you know and decide that you would benefit from improving your understanding of how children learn. You source and complete some good CPD on the Characteristics of Effective Learning. As a result of your learning you start to include more activities helping children explore their creative and critical thinking and you design a poster to help explain the characteristics to the children’s parents. As a result the children develop their problem solving skills and are supported with their learning at home too.

Don’t forget, CPD does not have to be formal training courses. As long as you are looking for good quality CPD that has a beneficial effect you can do all sorts of things. Reading this blog counts as a small piece of CPD. The impact? Knowing about the importance of evaluating what what you do and deciding on focused CPD to implement your learning more effectively.

Products that can help:

Self Evaluation Workbooks

This is a new series of special workbooks aimed at childminders, that will help you go through the new Early Years Inspection Toolkit to evaluate your setting and put on place an action plan to help you improve or maintain your existing standards. 

Each workbook is broken down into separate sections, each covering one of the new Ofsted inspection judgement standards. Each section breaks down the requirement descriptions from the Early Years Inspection Toolkit into smaller, easy to understand chunks to make you practice easier to evaluate. There is also guidance on every section. This is to help you to understand what might be expected of you in order to meet each inspection standard. There is space for your notes next to each section and an ‘action plan’ template to help you organise your plans for improvement.

self evaluation workbooks

Childminding Best Practice Club

Childminding Best Practice Club

Each month members of the club receive a special ‘toolkit,’ filled with specially designed resources. The toolkit is split into two sections, a ‘My Curriculum’ section containing planning and activities to do with the children and a ‘My Learning Section.’ The ‘My Learning’ section contains a self-evaluation question with a follow-up CPD training module. Each module comes with resources and ideas to help you put your learning into practice and a certificate to print out.

Join the Childminding Best Practice Club AND GET monthly CPD

Jennifer Activities for childminders, Childminding best practice, Planning for childminders

My Childminding Curriculum Part One – Continuous Provision.

I think a lot about the curriculum I am providing my childminding children. As an Ofsted registered childminder I am bound by the statutory learning requirements of the EYFS to offer learning experiences and opportunities under the seven areas of learning. However, I feel it is both my duty and privilege to to explore the world with each individual child I care for, seeing it through their eyes, providing experiences that excite them, truly help them grow and go further than the short descriptions in the EYFS bind us to.

This blog focuses mainly on continuous provision and is the first part of a two blog mini-series. In the next blog I will go into more detail about enhanced provision.

There are some things that all childminding curriculum’s should have in common. The main focus of any early years curriculum should be on skills and knowledge that all humans need. Skills such learning about how people interact socially, the rules that hold society together such as understanding, communicating and cooperating with other people. Children also need to have chance to grow and develop their physical skills, to gain an understanding of their own body, it’s abilities and how to keep it health, both in body and mind. (In the English EYFS these skills are defined under the three prime areas of, communication and language, personal, social and emotional development and physical development.) As well as mastering these essential building blocks of learning isn’t it wonderful to expose children to all the other amazing things our world has to offer? Maths, science, literature, the natural world, different peoples and ways of life, music and art, the list goes on and on.

I do not want anyone reading this blog to think that their curriculum should look exactly like mine, or anyone else’s for that matter. Everyone’s curriculum is going to be different, as an effective early years curriculum should be based around the needs of the individual children in your care. In my setting I use a mixture continuous provision along with supplementary topics or activities to provide children with opportunities to learn core concepts and embed skills and learning as well as explore new ideas and areas of interest.

What is continuous provision and why is it important?

Continuous provision is all the resources and activities that you continue to provide on a daily basis. In a small early years setting such as a childminders this may look slightly different depending on your children and the sorts of needs they have, but in general your continuous provision should cover opportunities for the children to work on skills and learning across all the areas of learning. This does not mean that you need loads of expensive and specialised resources. You can provide a good range of learning opportunities with a few basics. As well as access for children to move around freely, both inside and outside, my essential ‘continuous provision’ resources always include:

Books. Books are an absolute essential for helping children learn new vocabulary and concepts and enjoy shared reading experiences. A carefully chosen selection of books can help children embed their learning across all areas of your curriculum. I aways include always include books that children love listening to time after time until they know them by heart. Which books I provide depends on the children I have. At the moment I have a mixture of simple board books and classic picture books like, ‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea.’ This ensures that all the children have books they enjoy without the need to have out all the books I own.

(For some suggestions about the sorts of books I recommend for very young children read: Eight essential books for childminders of very young children.)

With a small selection of resources, such as these bricks and toy animals arranged as a farm, childminders can cover all the areas of learning.

Simple wooden bricks in different shapes and sizes. These enable children to explore all sorts of mathematical concepts as well as being a useful resource in small world set ups! Building towers of bricks also helps children practice their fine motor control and hand to eye coordination as well as exploring concepts of cause and consequence. (What happens when I knock down this tower?)

Small world animals and people. Small world resources allow children to explore concepts using their imagination. They can be used for retelling stories that you have read to the children or to explore different scenarios that children encounter in real life. Having a selection of different animals and people also helps reinforce vocabulary, for example the names of different farm animals.

A small selection of ‘real world’ role play resources like cups, plates and spoons, along with some toy food. I find as a very rough rule of thumb, that children tend to explore real life scenarios on a real life scale before they start investigating small world toys. Having simple resources like this helps children practise social skills, such as pretending to make or share food, MORE

Musical instruments. These can be used in all sorts of listening and creative activities. (Just maybe keep them out of reach until the neighbours have woken up!)

Nursery rhymes basket. Sharing and learning nursery rhymes is a regular part of our day, helping children with their communication, language and literacy skills. My nursery rhymes basket is full of resources representing different nursery rhymes so that the children can pick their favourites. By choosing a selection of different rhymes you can also cover areas like maths (singing number rhymes) and understanding the world, (Old MacDonald had a Farm.)

Jigsaws. Chosen wisely these are very useful for covering lots of areas of learning. I find jigsaws a great characteristics of effective learning resource as well as helping children explore mathematical concepts such as shape, size and position.

Simple dressing up resources, like shoes, hats and bags with different fastenings. Great for practising fine motor skills and imaginative play as well as exploring what it feels like to be someone else.

Childminding children playing with toy vehicles in the sandpit.

Sand or some sort of ‘scoopable’ sensory material for filling, pouring, transporting, hiding things in and so on. This along with a selection of different containers for filling, posting things into, stacking, etc. These resources help children explore concepts such as how things work, object permanence, capacity, shape, weight and texture.

Mark making materials. I work from my sitting room so these are within sight so that children can easily request them by pointing but not so available that my walls will be ‘accidentally’ coloured in by my very youngest charges. However I have magnetic drawing boards that are available for children to independently access whenever they want.

Because my little cohort is currently very interested in vehicles I always have a selection of toy cars, tractors, etc. If I had a group of children with different interests the vehicles might come out less frequently unless requested by the children.

And finally the most important resource in your setting.

Yourself! Never forget that you are the most important resource your children have at their disposal. It is through your interactions with the children that they are supported to learn more than they would simply left to their own devices with the resources. You are the one that will introduce new vocabulary through having conversations to the children and reading to them. You are the one that will sing the nursery rhymes and teach the children how to count. You are the one that will model interactions and how to behave towards other people. You are the one that understands child development and what children should be striving to do next. You are the one that is there for children when they get overwhelmed and need support to regulate their big emotions. So, be exited. Be curious. Be supportive. Be brilliant!

IDEA: Why not have a ‘continuous provision’ day? Do not provide any additional resources or activities for one day but just concentrate on covering all the areas of learning with the things you always have out. Are there any ways that you can use your resources that you have not thought of before? At the end of the day have a think about whether there is anything you would like to change such as whether you need or want to add to your continuous provision resources.

You may also like this follow up blog on enhanced provision as part of your childminding curriculum:

Childminding curriculum – enhanced provision

You may also like:

If you enjoyed this article you will also enjoy the monthly training modules that feature in the Childminding Best Practice Club toolkits. These cover a wide range of subjects designed to empower you in every aspect of your childminding journey – from nurturing child development to mastering the art of running your own business. Previous modules have included things like training on how to write a prospectus to advertise your setting, the impact of food and nutrition on children’s health and development, phonics for childminders, and simple childminding accounts. Each training module comes with supporting resources and a certificate to print when you have finished.

As well as training modules each toolkit also comes with a wealth of resources to help you build and enhance your curriculum through a series of different topics or themes.

Find out more about the childminding best practice club

More information on different areas of learning:

EARLY YEARS AREAS OF LEARNING

Jennifer Business Room, Childminding best practice, Planning for childminders

A Childminder’s Guide to Writing Starting Points

Note: A shorter version of this blog was originally published in the free Childminding Best Practice Newsletters. If you would like to receive the free newsletters please join via the link at the bottom of this post.

Starting points. It is a subject that comes up a lot. Do you need to do written starting points and when should you do them? What is the difference between starting points and a base-line? What are the official ‘rules’ about starting points?

The EYFS doesn’t directly mention starting points but it does say, ‘Practitioners must consider the individual needs, interests, and development of each child in their care, and must use this information to plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all areas of learning and development.’ (1.6 The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for Childminders page 11.)

Starting points are mentioned several times in the new Early Years Inspection Toolkit. For example, in the Curriculum and Teaching section, ‘Teaching is tailored to children’s different starting points, needs and stages of development.‘ (Early Years Inspection Toolkit, 2025, Page 23)

starting points for childminders

Therefore you do need to have starting points for each child but you do not have to write them down. However I would strongly recommend at least jotting a few notes for yourself so that if you freeze in front of the inspector and forget everything you have something to refer to. (The inspector will not ask to see written records so even just jotting something for yourself on the back of an envelope is fine.)

You may have also heard the term baseline. This term is more commonly associated with a child’s entry to school where teachers now have to complete a baseline assessment of children’s skills and development when they start in Reception. The Government website states: The RBA (The Reception Baseline Assessment) is an activity-based assessment of pupils’ starting points.‘  (Source: Reception baseline assessment – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) In other words starting points and baseline mean the same thing it’s just that baseline is the term officially used in schools and starting points is the term favoured for childminders.

This is how I do starting points when I have a new little one in my own setting:

Step One: I like to get parents views when gathering information about children’s starting points. After all they are the ones that know their child best. I get them to complete the ‘All About Me’ form from the ‘Summative Assessment System.’ This has been designed to complement the contract in the ‘Contracts, Policies and Forms‘ pack and has room for plenty of essential details like the child’s doctor and health visitor, dietary requirements, etc. However, it also has sections where parents can share information about what a child likes and what they can do. I find this is a simple uncomplicated way for parents to share information in a way that makes them feel that their input is valued from the very start of your relationship. (And without frightening them with specialised language or technical terms!)

Step Two: As well as parents’ input I also like to observe the child and record my own starting points. I do this from the very first meeting with the family as I always ask them to bring the child with them when we meet for the first time. I don’t necessarily write notes when the family is there but I sit on the floor and play with the child, observing what they do. If a child is very young I concentrate on the three prime areas. I also have an informal talk with the parents – they will often share things about their child with you this way that they would not feel comfortable writing down on official looking paperwork. I then jot myself a few rough notes so that I don’t forget anything when the family leaves. I can then compare these with what I know about child development, using official documents if necessary, to give me a picture of where a child’s initial needs may be.

Step Three: Once the child has been with me for a couple of sessions without their family (or just one session if it is a longer one,), if I am unsure of a child’s development in any area, or simply want some more information, I do a short written observation. This is not compulsory, but I personally find sitting for ten minutes and really concentrating on a child helps me focus and I often spot subtle things that I might not otherwise see. (You can miss this step out if you are happy you know the child well.)

Step Four: Finally I use the, ‘Starting my story – the beginning of an exciting journey,’ form – again from the Summative Assessment System, to write a very short report, with a nice picture of the child, about what the child can already do. I share this with parents as it shows them, from the very start of our relationship, that I am a professional and that I value them and their child. I find that parents love this little ‘report,’ in many cases it is their child’s first ever one and can become a special memento!

That is how I do starting points. It works for me, I get the information I need and start of new relationships with parents in a positive way. You may have your own documents that you can use if you want to do it the same way but if not you can find everything you need, plus yearly report templates and samples, transition report templates and samples and a gap tracker in the Summative Assessment System here:

Summative Assessment System

New Development Records

You may also like the new Development Records which will help you record and celebrate children’s progress and share it with their parents on a regular basis. These allow you to record more detail than a tracker, with space to record comments of notes under different development stages. However, they are not as complicated or as time consuming as creating a learning journal. They are available in different age ranges, from birth upwards.

DEVELOPMENT RECORDS
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Simplify your life by getting all your monthly training and professional development, plus everything you need to support and develop your childminding curriculum in one convenient place.

Discover a treasure trove of monthly training modules carefully written to empower childminders in every aspect of their journey – from nurturing child development to mastering the art of running your own business.

Receive exclusive monthly planning and activity ideas customised for childminders. Find activities that ignite the imagination of the youngest children, and discover themed modules with carefully curated planning – perfect for childminders working with varying age groups.

Join the Childminding Best Practice Club today and unlock a monthly pack filled with all the essential resources you need.

Find out more about the benefits of being a Childminding best practice club member

Contracts, Policies and Forms Pack

Having a clear and robust contract and policies is vital to the smooth running of any childminding business and can help prevent unwanted situations and misunderstandings between parent(s)/guardian(s) and childminders.

This pack contains a fully updated contract, complemented and reinforced by specially written policies. Also included are lots of useful forms for you to use in your business as well as information about the sort of paperwork you will need.

CONTRACTS, POLICIES AND FORMS PACK

The weekly free Childminding Best Practice email newsletters are great for childminders and EYFS providers. Sign up for free and each week you will be sent a useful email containing things like business tips, activity ideas, childminding news and ideas and more.

SIGN UP FOR FREE CHILDMINDING BEST PRACTICE NEWSLETTERS

Jennifer accident prevention for childminders, Childminding best practice, Safety at Home

Smoother and Safer Mealtimes for Childminders

From September 2023 the EYFS requires that children are within your hearing and sight while they are eating. However this is a really good rule to follow straight away so don’t wait. Here are my five tips for smoother and safer mealtimes. (Learned via lots of trial and many errors!)

ONE: Get children into good routines.

Start training ALL the children to go to the toilet and wash their hands before they eat. You should already be helping children wash their hands before they eat so it shouldn’t be too hard to add an extra step if necessary. Make sure you plan in lots of time for this, especially at first, it may take longer than you think but it will be worth it!

It is good for the children to learn simple routines such as this and seeing older children go to the toilet while hopefully inspire the younger children when it comes to their turn to potty train. (There’s nothing like a bit of gentle ‘peer pressure,’ even if you are only two!) Making sure everyone has gone to the toilet before you eat will also reduce the chance of someone needing it halfway through your meal.

Obviously babies and very young children will not be at the ‘go to the toilet’ stage yet but they can start learning how to wash their hands properly. I use a poster with simplified steps as a visual prompt for very young children so they can practise while I support them.

TWO: Get everything ready before you sit down. (This is harder than it looks – I know from experience! Don’t worry if it takes a few goes to get into a routine.)

Make sure you have everything you will need before you sit. Will you need a jug of water? Flannels or a cloth for spills or sticky hands? Tissues for runny noses? If you have lots of children invest in an apron with a large pocket that you can pop things in so they are handy when you need them.

Don’t forget something for you to eat and drink too, even if it is only something small if you like to eat the majority of your meal later. This helps you model things like good manners and will help you feel better and more rested too.

THREE: Have a useful distraction for early finishers.

It happens to us all! You have one child that has eaten everything before you have barely put the plate down and another one that can take an hour to eat half a sandwich. Children should be encouraged to start to sit and wait for others to finish eating but this can be a big ask for some little ones! I find it really helpful to have a copy of the book we are concentrating on, (currently Goldilocks and the Three Bears,) so that I can read it to the children while they eat, or I can give it to early finishers to look at the pictures.

FOUR: Make sure you plan meal times around drop off and pick up times.

The last thing you need is parents arriving in the middle of your mealtimes and disrupting everything. Plan when you have your mealtimes so that you have time for each child to finish calmly before you have to answer the door to parents. It can be really helpful to share the times you have your meals with parents and tell them that you are unable to answer the door during those times. Then stick to your guns! After all it is for their child’s benefit and safety that you are doing this.

FIVE: Train children to expect the unexpected. You cannot plan for every eventuality. Sooner or later something will happen that you do not expect. If something happens that means that you must leave the children to attend quickly to an emergency but will be unable to see them then move their food somewhere where they cannot reach it while you attend to the emergency. You can practise this with the children so they get the idea that they will get their food back. (For example if you are practising tip TWO, forget something you need and have to pop into another room to get it.) However, remember an upset child is far better than a child being injured or worse if you cannot see them choking.

Written 24/07/2023

Do you have any more tips for safe and smooth mealtimes? Share them in the comments below.

You may also like:

Safeguarding for Childminders

Making sure children are safe at mealtimes is just one of the things that you must do to ensure that you are following all the EYFS safeguarding requirements. If you would like some support with this I recommend the NEW 3 in 1 safeguarding pack for childminders. This pack contains three useful tools in one pack. An editable safeguarding policy, 40 multiple choice safeguarding questions and a safeguarding audit list. You can find out more by following the link below:

3 IN 1 sAFEGUARDING PACK FOR CHILDMINDERS

If you enjoyed this blog and would like more helpful advice, tips, news and ideas please sign up for my FREE Childminding Best Practice newsletter. To sign up please go to the sign up page here:

FREE CHILDMINDING BEST PRACTICE NEWSLETTER

Why not get the children involved with some health and safety topics too?

Health and Safety Activities for Childminders

As a childminder you have a choice about what activities you do with the children you look after so why not do some topics that could really make a difference to their lives? Taking the time to explore topics like healthy eating, making friends, sun safety, oral health, fire and road safety will not only really help the children, but it will make you feel that you are doing something truly valuable with the time you are spending with them. The ‘Be Safe Be Healthy,’ pack is a collection of 14 mini printable packs with resources to help childminders to teach 14 health and safety topics to 2-5 year old children. 

Get the children involved with Health and safety topics
Jennifer Uncategorized

Childminding News June 2023

There is quite a lot going on in the childminding world at the moment. More than will fit nicely into the weekly email newsletter. Therefore I have put everything here this time as there is more room!

Contents

Health and Safety updates.

EYFS Reform Consultation.

Kids To Go Product Updates.

Health and Safety Updates:

New Oral Health Guidance

Keeping children healthy and safe is one of the requirements of the EYFS so with this on mind you may be interested in the new Oral Health Guidance published by the Department of Education:

Nearly a quarter of 5 year olds in England have tooth decay, affecting 3 to 4 teeth on average. This means that helping your families and the children themselves learn about and look after their oral health is not only a requirement of the EYFS but it is an area in which you can help make a real difference to your children.

The new guidance covers:

Why oral health is important from birth; information about tooth decay; tips for looking after children’s oral health including information about cutting down on free sugars; what to give children to drink and promoting good oral health at home. There are also some useful resources shared at the bottom of the guidance.

The key points for childminders to note are:

  • New guidance on what sort of cups to give children to drink from. You should:
  1. Give children from age 6 months cup with no lids that they can practice sipping out of.
  2. From 12 months old onwards, you should encourage children to have all drinks in open-top cups.
  • ‘You can decide how you promote oral health based on what works best in your setting. Ideally, you should link oral health to other key topics, like self-care, healthy eating, and physical development.’
  • There are a number of ways you can help parents and carers promote good oral health at home. However, you should not offer individual or specific advice. Parents and carers must speak to healthcare professionals, like a dentist or member of the dental team, for medical advice.

To read the full guidance use this link:

https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/safeguarding-and-welfare/oral-health/?utm_source=notify&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oh#why-oral-health-is-in-the-EYFS-framework

Childminding Best Practice Idea: How about introducing a baby toothbrush in your treasure baskets? Make sure that you have a new toothbrush for each child. Children can then use these as a resource in your setting or take them home to practise using there.

Child Safety Week:

It was also Child Safety Week last week. Don’t worry if you didn’t do anything as there are still lots of free resources about things like burns and button batteries on the Child Accident Prevention Trust website which you can access here.

Sun Safety:

It has been very hot and sunny lately so sun safety has been even more important than normal. Here in my setting I have made the conscious decision to make getting ready for the sun an activity in it’s own right, rather than just something we have to do before we get to play. This way the children are encouraged to be as independent as possible and learn things like:

How to put on a sun hat and why it is important when it is hot. (To keep up healthy/to keep our head from getting sore and sunburned.)

How to help put on sun cream and the names of the body parts they are rubbing the cream on. (A bit of fine motor control is sometimes needed here!)

That it is important to drink plenty of water when it is hot.

I am working towards the children being able to get all the necessary equipment (hat, sun-cream, water bottle,) by themselves and, with a little help, get ready for the sun by themselves.

The parents are also on board and have been practising all of these skills at home and anyone who happens to be about when we are getting ready has to get ready too. My husband looked very funny wearing one of the spare sunhats when he was off work one sunny Friday!

There is a cute Sun Safety video for children from CBeebies along with some sun safety tips here.

Did you know that it is National Smile Month?

Did you know that it is National Smile Month? I didn’t which is why I am late telling you! It takes place between the 15th May and the 15th of June 2023 so there is still just time to join in. To find out more visit the dental health website here.

You may also like:

The Be Safe, Be Healthy Bee

As a childminder you have a choice about what activities you do with the children you look after so why not do some topics that could really make a difference to their lives? Taking the time to explore topics like healthy eating, making friends, sun safety, oral health, fire and road safety will not only really help the children, but it will make you feel that you are doing something truly valuable with the time you are spending with them.

This pack is a collection of 14 mini printable packs with resources to help childminders to teach 14 health and safety topics to 2-5 year old children.

Get Be SAFE BE HEALTHY MEGA PACK

EYFS Reforms Consultation – Have your Say!

The Department of Education is proposing to makes changes to the EYFS to:

  • offer providers more flexibility 
  • reduce known burdens 
  • enable practitioners to provide high-quality early education 
  • make it easier for practitioners to join the workforce and progress their careers 

This is part of the Government preparations to provide the ‘free*’ places they promised in the Spring budget and is ‘particularly focused on helping them to address the challenges they are facing recruiting and retaining skilled and qualified staff.’ (‘Free’ deliberately in quotation marks as we all know they are not really!)

‘This consultation identifies opportunities for changes to regulation that align with the reality of operating early years provision whilst maintaining standards and safety for children.’

Claire Coutinho MP – Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing

The Department of Education also proposes to create a streamlined childminder specific version of framework. (More on this below.)

Proposals include:

Removing the requirement for level 3 practitioners to hold a level 2 (GCSE or equivalent) maths qualification.

Changing the requirement around how providers support children with English as an Additional Language to develop their home language from “must” to “should” or “may” in both versions of the EYFS.

Changes aimed specifically at childminders:

  • Reviewing the requirement for childminders to undertake pre-registration training in the EYFS, letting individuals decide how best to achieve the level of knowledge and understanding required to register with Ofsted or a childminder agency. Understanding of the EYFS will continue to be assessed to the same level by Ofsted or a CMA prior to registration.
  • Allowing childminder’s assistant(s) to act as the key person to alleviate workload for childminders by giving their assistants greater opportunity for responsibility.
  • Removing the requirement to have Paediatric First Aid Certificates on display and instead make them available on request.
  • Removing the requirement to physically display your registration certificate, instead allowing childminders to display it digitally or upon request.
  • Allow childminders to include parts of their kitchen which are safely usable in their space requirements.

Changes to some of the language used to make the EYFS more accessible and easier to understand.

Changes aimed at school providers.

While not affecting childminders directly it is useful to know the basics of what is happening in this area as many childminders find themselves in competition with before and after school providers:

  • The proposals include clarifying some of the wording in the EYFS; making it easier for people to be included in ratios by introducing ‘experience based approved status’ for practitioners rather than requiring them to complete a Level 3 qualification and changing the requirements of some of the ratios.

You have until 11.45 pm the 26th of July to complete the on-line survey and share your thoughts. Complete the survey by following the link below:

https://consult.education.gov.uk/early-years-foundation-stage/early-years-foundation-stage-regulatory-changes/

Proposed Childminder Specific EYFS

In brief:

The Childminders EYFS, (as I am calling it for the purposes of this update,) is still based on the same overarching principles with all other Early Years Providers: Unique child, positive relationships, enabling environments and learning and development.

The draft Childminders EYFS is split into three main sections.

Section 1: The Learning and Development Requirements:

With the seven areas of learning and development with emphasis on the three prime areas and including the descriptions of each area of learning upon which childminders should base their individual curriculums.

There is still a strong focus on developing language and extending vocabulary.

The Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning are still featured.

Section Two: Assessment

Still no requirement to keep written records unless you want to. This is reemphasised with changed wording.

The Progress Check at Age 2 will still be a requirement.

Section 3- The Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements,

This still has all the relevant information that is familiar from the current EYFS and including:

  • Information that safeguarding policies must still be in line with the guidance and procedures of your local Safeguarding Board.
  • Requirements of child protection courses that childminders must attend.
  • The training and supervision of skills requirements for childminders who have assistants.
  • NEW: Assistants can now be the key person where appropriate.
  • Clarification that whilst eating, children must be within sight and hearing of a member of staff

The new document also has two appendices. Annex A lists the requirements that must be fulfilled by any Paediatric First Aid Training and Annex B has information about the Early Learning Goals, including clarification that most childminders will not have to use the Early Learning Goals.

If you would like to have a look at the draft Childminders EYFS yourself you can do so here.

If all of this feels overwhelming please do not worry. As and when changes happen the Ultimate Childminding Checklist will be fully updated making it easy for you to keep on top of things. If you have already bought a copy of the checklist and are on the Childminding Best Practice weekly newsletter mailing list you will be entitled to a free updated copy.

If you have not yet got a copy of the Ultimate Childminding Checklist you can order on here:

Order the Ultimate Childminding Checklist
Sign up for the free Childminding Best Practice NEWSLETTER

KIDS TO GO PRODUCT UPDATES

I have made some small but important changes to the Contracts, Policies and Forms pack. If you have purchased this product in the past and are in the Childminding Best Practice Club weekly newsletter list you may request your free updated copy by emailing me at jennifer@kidstogo.co.uk

If you do not have a Contracts, Policies and Forms pack but would like one there is more information below:

Contracts, Policies and Forms Pack

Having a clear and robust contract and policies is vital to the smooth running of any childminding business and can help prevent unwanted situations and misunderstandings between parent(s)/guardian(s) and childminders.

This pack contains a fully updated contract, complemented and reinforced by specially written policies. Also included are lots of useful forms for you to use in your business as well as information about the sort of paperwork you will need.

There is no need to buy repeated contracts. You can print the contracts in this pack as many times as you need.

BUY CONTRACTS, POLICIES AND FORMS PACK

NEW Bundle Deal

For those of you who may have missed the announcement last week I have launched a new Special Bundle Deal to help you prepare for your inspection and hopefully relieve the stress.

NEW! The Ultimate Childminding Inspection Preparation Pack 2023

Is your Ofsted Inspection imminent? Do not panic. this bundle will help you prepare AND will save you £10 off the price of buying these resources separately.*

Knowing that your Ofsted Inspection is due can feel stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Being prepared and knowing that you have everything in place can help massively reduce any stress or worry about your inspection.

This new bundle pack of useful resources has been put together to help you:

  • Check that you have everything in place with the Ultimate Childminding Checklist and the Safeguarding Audit list.
  • Update and/ or check your Safeguarding Policy so that everything is in place using the Editable Safeguarding Policy.
  • Revise your safeguarding knowledge so that you feel prepared for questions on the day with multiple choice safeguarding questions.
  • Quickly and easily evaluate your own provision and think about how far you have come using Focus Point Questions from the Guided Self-Evaluation Pack.
  • Relax with the puzzles and mindfulness colouring sheets that are also included in your pack, knowing that you have done everything to put things in place for a successful childminding inspection.
get the new ultimate Inspection Prep Bundle deal and save £10

And finally!

For anyone who has come to this information directly via the website and not the weekly newsletter you may have missed the fact that I have updated the free Counting Caterpillar activity (including free downloadable PDF.) To get your free activity use the link below:

free updated counting caterpillar activity

I told you there was far too much to include in an email! Please forgive any typos or spelling mistakes. (You can still tell me about broken links though.) I am writing this on a VERY hot afternoon and I think my brain may have melted slightly, lol!

I hope you find all of this useful.

Best Wishes

Jennifer x

Jennifer Activities for childminders, Childminding best practice, Diversity Topics, Themes

25 Childminding topics to explore in Spring

Spring topics for childminders. Baby animals.

One good way of using topics to plan your work is to plan topics that help reflect the changing of the seasons. Are you looking for some good topics to explore with children in Spring? Here are some ideas:

Well-loved themes:

  1. Baby animals.
  2. Spring life cycles.
  3. Easter
  4. Spring

Some slightly different ideas:

Spring themes for childminders. Spring flowers, primroses
  1. Gardening. Spring is a fantastic time to plant seeds and explore gardening with children.
  2. Frogs. World Frog Day is on the 20th of March. (Get all you need to explore a fantastic frog topic with the ‘Learn About Frogs Topic Pack.’)
  3. Trees.
  4. Weather. Spring is a time of very changeable weather so is a good time to explore a weather themed topic with children
  5. Mini-beasts.
  6. Spring flowers.
  7. How about some nursery rhymes that tie in nicely with a Spring topic, like ‘5 Speckled Frogs’ ‘Mary had a little lamb,’ ‘Little Bo Peep’ or ‘5 Little Ducks.’
  8. Watch me grow. As children watch other things like baby animals or flowers growing they may also become interested in how they grow.
  9. Bees. World Bee Day is on the 20th of May
  10. On the Farm.
  11. Birds.
Diversity ideas for childminders, St David's day

Diversity themes to explore in Spring

  1. St David’s Day 1st of March
  2. May Day
  3. St Patrick’s Day 17th of March
  4. Holi
  5. Mother’s Day
  6. St George’s Day. The patron saint of England has a special day on the 23rd of April

Some more unusual (but fun) themes to explore in Spring

  1. Washing. Spring cleaning anyone? Children can have lots of fun with soapy bubbles washing toys and themselves! A good topic to help enforce good hygiene practices in your children.
  2. Earth Day
  3. World Laughter Day (3rd May)
  4. Turtles. World Turtle Day on the 23rd of May

If you liked this you might also like:

Childminding Best Practice Club

Simplify your life by getting all your monthly training and professional development, plus everything you need to support and develop your childminding curriculum in one convenient place.

Discover a treasure trove of monthly training modules carefully written to empower childminders in every aspect of their journey – from nurturing child development to mastering the art of running your own business.

Receive exclusive monthly planning and activity ideas customised for childminders. Find activities that ignite the imagination of the youngest children, and discover themed modules with carefully curated planning – perfect for childminders working with varying age groups.

Join the Childminding Best Practice Club today and unlock a monthly pack filled with all the essential resources you need.

The Childminding Best Practice Club is unique. Designed by outstanding childminders to support other childminders, members receive:

  • NEW LOOK Monthly Childminding Best Practice Toolkits emailed straight to your inbox. 
  • A 25% discount* off other Welly Wren resources 
  • ‘New Members Welcome Pack‘.
Find out more about the childminding best practice club

Good (and terrible) ways to use themes

When planning your curriculum it is important to think about how you are going to introduce children to new ideas and experiences. Using themes or topics is one good way to help you do this.

Read more

10 Easy Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs for Childminders to grow with Children

Growing edible produce with children is a fantastic way to help them learn about all sorts of things, from life cycles to how food is grown, to healthy eating.

Read more
Jennifer Activities for childminders, Childminding best practice

10 Easy Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs for Childminders to grow with Children

garden centres sell lots of vegetables that you can grow with childminding children

Growing edible produce with children is a fantastic way to help them learn about all sorts of things, from life cycles to how food is grown, to healthy eating.

Spring is a good time to start thinking about which things you might want to have go at growing with your children. We grow a variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs with the childminding children every year – all with varying degrees of success. (All of the things I mention here have been grown in a coastal area of northern England where it quite exposed and rains A LOT! I have chosen plants that should do well anywhere, but you may need to experiment a little to find plants that will thrive where you live.)

I never use any pesticides of any sort – I don’t want to risk such nasty chemicals around children, and they are utterly terrible for nature. Therefore all of our produce is shared with the wildlife in our garden – whether they have been invited to or not! Don’t worry too much if you only manage to grow small amounts of wonky veg. The main thing is having a go, having fun and helping the children learn a bit about growing food.

Vegetables

Childminding child helping 'chit' potatoes. Childminding Best Practice poster resource in background.

1.Potatoes. These have to be some of the easiest vegetables to grow as they are not fussy about where they grow. We have grown potatoes in special potato bags, half filled compost bags and even buckets! You can experiment with ‘rooty’ shop bought potatoes but ones that you buy from garden centres are a little better as they are treated to prevent rot, etc. You can usually buy a large bag of these for less than £5 which also makes them very economical.

2. Carrots. We have never had amazing success at growing beautiful large carrots, but we have always managed to grow something. I like to get special seed mixes of multicoloured carrots as the children are always amazed when they pull up orange, yellow, white and purple carrots! Carrots are a bit funny about being handled so I would avoid ready grown seedlings if you are planting with toddlers – they are just too easy to damage! Instead let the children sprinkle seeds on compost in a tub. You can then thin out the seedlings later if you want to. (Especially if you have children like mine that ‘sprinkle’ (aka dump!) all their seeds in one corner leaving the rest of the soil completely bare!) Tip: leave a good couple of inches between the top of the soil and the top of your container. This helps prevent your carrots getting ‘carrot fly’, a kind of pest that will only fly at certain heights meaning leaving a gap hides your carrots from them – weird but true!

3. Peas are fairly easy to grow and come in lots of different varieties. You can buy seedlings or seeds from a garden centre. You can even grow peas using whole dried peas bought from the dried food aisle of the supermarket. (Something I discovered during lockdown when you were not allowed to go out to the garden centre.) Although these do not tend to be as sweet as other varieties this is an excellent way to grow peas on a budget! If you have lots of hungry slugs and snails in your garden wait until your pea plants are a little larger before planting them outside to give them a fighting chance. Peas need plenty of watering to grow nice fat pods, but the children will love picking and eating the sweet raw peas. (Very few of ours actually make inside as they get eaten as soon as they are picked!)

4. Cabbage. If you want to explore the life cycle of the butterfly in a natural ‘free range’ way I recommend planting cabbages! We have grown endless amounts of caterpillars and butterflies this way! However if you fancy your chances at actually being able to eat some of your cabbages I recommend trying the following. These methods are not completely fool (caterpillar) proof but at least you will stand a fighting chance!

  1. Cover your cabbages with very fine butterfly netting (ask at your garden centre or look on-line.) Make sure the netting does not touch the cabbages as butterflies can be very sneaky about laying caterpillar eggs through the netting. Believe me I know. My husband built as a special ‘cabbage cage’ one year which mostly kept the caterpillars off, but I still found chrysalises inside it at the end of the year!
  2. Plant your cabbages really early in the season before butterflies are thinking about waking up.
  3. Employ eagle eyed children to spot the tiny eggs and/or baby caterpillars. These can then be removed and placed on a sacrificial cabbage. (This is the least effective method as you must do it every day.)

Fruit

5. Tomatoes. Living in a northerly exposed sort of place without a greenhouse, tomatoes have been a bit hit or miss for us. However we have had some success by experimenting with different varieties. If like us you do not have somewhere suitable outside you ask at your garden centre, as they should be able to recommend smaller varieties, some of which can be grown on a large windowsill inside. You can also experiment with growing tomato plants by putting a slice from a shop bought tomato onto some compost, covering slightly and keeping watered. You may be surprised how many plants you can grow using this method.

6. Strawberries. These are another relatively bomb proof crop to grow with children. I have never managed to grow plants from seed and this is very fiddly with children involved. Instead buy a selection of different strawberry varieties and let the children plant them in tubs or containers. They are robust plants so will withstand a bit of rough toddler handling. Some of your plants may grow long stems with baby plants on the end. If you want the ‘mother plant’ to have more strawberries you can cut these off, but I tend to shove a couple into soil each year, (leave the stem attached until they are established,) as this is a good way of getting free plants! Talk to the children about how the flowers will turn into strawberries. You can cover your plants with mesh to help prevent birds eating them, but you may have to race other critters such as slugs and snails to your bounty. Get the children in the habit of checking under the leaves to find ripe strawberries every day.

Herbs

7. Rosemary. This is a really good herb to grown with small children as they are robust and happily withstand a bit of toddler handling. They also thrive on a bit of neglect, preferring poor soil. I have a large one growing in a container made from old car tires and smaller ones which grew from cuttings off the original plant.

8. Mint. This is another herb which is usually easy to grow. It comes in lots of different varieties and I have quite a few as they smell so nice when you brush up against them. Look for varieties like peppermint, spearmint, apple-mint, chocolate mint and others. When the leaves grow you can show the children how to pick them and put them in hot water to make mint teas. DO NOT plant directly into soil in your garden unless you want it to take over, keep contained in a pot instead.

Windowsill plants

9. Cress. This is often grown with young children as it grows so quickly, meaning that impatient little ones do not have long to wait until they can see the fruits of their labours. You can plant directly onto a thick sheet of kitchen roll as long as you remember to keep it well watered or make things like decorated cress heads made out of empty eggshells.

10. Salad leaves. You can find seed mixes of salad leaves in lots of garden centres. These can be planted in trays on a sunny windowsill and should provide a good selection of leaves that children can pick to eat with their lunch. Look for cut and come again varieties which will provide a continual supply of leaves.

Whatever you decide to have a go at growing, whether it be potatoes, strawberries or just lots and lots of hungry mini-beasts, have fun!

If you only have a very small space in which to grow you may also like this useful article on Balcony Gardening 101 by Little Green Yard.

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