Dress the teddy...

This home made game is all about choosing the right outfit for teddy for the right weather!

A simple weather dice has been constructed with different weathers on each side.  The box contains a teddy and babies clothes that fit teddy.

The box also contains pictures of the different seasons so that there is more to talk about with the children.

This game is a very popular one with the children.  (Social skills, turn taking, language development, learning to use a dice).

Lots of extras can be added to make it personal for your child.

Sarah x

Shoe bag...

This shoe bag is simple to put together.  (Size, colour, matching, role play...the list goes on).
The children love playing with the shoes in here.  The extra bonus is that the selection is so vast that the shoes offer a sensory experience too from wooden clogs, to wellington boots to fluffy slippers.

A simple laminated book has been added too containing pictures of a baby shoe, a mummy shoe, a daddy shoe and a giant's shoe.

Everyone has shoes, so simple to do and so much learning from a bag of shoes.

Sarah x

Sock cushion and glove bag!

I made this sock cushion using the really soft fluffy socks that you can get so that the experience would be sensory.  The idea for the cushion is to hide items in the cushion for young children / babies to find. 

You can add socks of various sizes to make it more intereseting and to incorporate size. 

The socks are sewn securely onto a home made cushion cover which can be taken off and washed when needed.

Our glove bag is used in a variety of ways and houses different textured, sized gloves.  The children and parents are encouraged to explore the bag together.  The gloves offere a sensory experience as they are made from all kinds of fabrics as there are so many variations, e.g. winter gloves, gardening, heavy duty DIY, baby, washing up etc.

The children love to use the glove bag for role play too.  They love guessing who uses the different gloves in the bag.

Who would have thought a bag of gloves could provide so much fun!

Sarah x

Dear Zoo matching game:

Another for the Dear Zoo story sack.  This can be used either as a simple matching game or as a lotto game if more boards are used.  I made four sets of these up for the sack for more children to enjoy the game as well as to develop social skills and turn taking.

Simple to make and can be done with any theme.

Sarah x

Simple Snap cards:

Simple snap cards that i made for the Dear Zoo story Sack.  Simple yet so effective. 

Flower cushion 2:

For those of you have read my post on the sensory tactile flower cushio, here is an older version as mentioned.  I found the photograph at last.

This one was made by a dear friend.

Sarah x

Round and round the garden like a teddy bear!

Round and round the garden like a teddy bear?

Using a large leftover piece of cotton and some leftover felt pieces, i went to work on creating this garden sheet.

The older children love holding the sides and flapping it up and down while teddy sits in the middle.

We sing - 'Round and round the garden, Like a teddy bear, One step - two steps, Throw teddy up in the air'.

The babies love this too while sat on their mummy's, daddy's, grandparent's knees.

Easy to make and you dont't have to be creative.

Love Sarah x

Dear Zoo puppets

Dear Zoo Puppets:


These are the puppets i made for the Dear Zoo story sack that went to my little ones school.  They have had great fun with them there.

Lots in the sack to help develop the childrens language skills, creativity and imagination.

Had a little difficulty with the camel though, so the picture will cheer up any one feeling blue.

Sarah x

Hungry Caterpillar Story Sack

Hungry Caterpillar Story sack:

I made these resources to go along with the Hungry caterpillar Story book.  They are very tactile and the children love them.

Helps with number development, colour recognition, but best of all having a fun time together!

Sarah x

Sensory Flower cushion

Sensory flower cushion:

I made this cushion for the babies in my groups, although the older children love using it too. 

You can use various materials to make it as long as they are safe for little ones.  I velcroed the middle of the flowers securely. which meant i could get more use out of the one resource, providing different textures to explore. 

Another version for older children includes using artificial flowers velcroed on.  This can then be used to discuss size, colour, shape etc and can prompt songs such as Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow.

This has provided lots of fun stimulation.

Sarah x

Guess the animal....

Guess the animal game:

This is one of the games i made to go along with the Dear Zoo story sack i made recently for some children to use.

I made up ten A4 cards with a picture of just the animlas skin on one side of the card and the whole picture and name of the animal on the other side of the crad before laminating tham to make them last longer.

The children had great fun with these.  A very simple quick and easy game to develop recognition skills.

Pattern - great for number language, colour as well as language development.

These can also be changed for the farm, zoo, jungle, mini beasts etc etc.

Have fun!

Sarah x x

Toddlers Activites (playlist)

Happy New Year!

A big hello to all my page viewers, thanks for visiting.  I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I would love to start the New Year with lots of members of my blog.  If you like what you see please click and become a member, it's free.  Also please share my blog as 2013 will see lots of exciting posts.

I look forward to meeting you all and sharing my journey!

Happy New Year to you all.....may it be healthy and bright! Much love.

Sarah xxxxxx

Post Pals

Post Pals: Welcome to Post Pals, the charity helping you to ‘Post a Smile on a Sick Child’s Face’ by the sending of cards, letters, emails and little gifts to seriously ill children and their siblings. It couldn’t be easier for anyone of any age to get involved, requires no commitment and costs only a stamp and 5 minutes of your time. Getting Involved: There are many ways to get involved in Post Pals and it couldn’t be easier! In less than 5 minutes you can make a child smile… and for some of the children it might be their only smile that day. Sending post – You can send post from anywhere in the world, no matter how old or young you are. You are welcome to send something as a one off or on a regular basis. You don’t need to register, just go to ‘Find Pals’, read through the current children’s pages (we also send post to some siblings of memorial Pals) and pick a child. You can send a hand written card/note, make one or order one from sites like MoonPig and Funky Pigeon, you can also send a gift (again this could be a bought one or handmade). Pop it in the post to the address on the child’s page and know that you have made a child smile! Our ‘5 easy steps’ show you how simple it is to send post. Click on Find Pals Read a childs page Send a cheerful card, letter or gift to the child via the address on their page Record post sent on our mail stats page (coming soon) Sit back and know that a child is smiling because of YOU. www.postpals.co.uk

Sorry guys - reposting the link for the amazing Counting Coconuts site!

www.countingcoconuts.blogspot.com

Enjoy this ladies amazing site x

Happy Christmas everyone !

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas. Thank you for visiting and I hope you continue to come back as after Christmas there will be many posts inclusive of info , ideas and fun . Have a good one everyone. Xx

Counting Coconuts - brilliant blogpsot and face book page!

One of the most amazing Education sites I have come across is this one on Face Book.  This lady is amazing!!!!!! 

Take a look at see her amazing work with her children, her ideas are the best ever and so inspiring in helping children to develop.....I just wish I had more hours in the day to make it all !

Www.countingcoconuts.blogspot.com

Just for fun!

As it's the run up to christmas, I thought I would share with you the melted snowman and the snowman poop that I have been working on with my little man for the school Christmas fair.......How do you like yours?

 

 

Amazing sites!

Today I thought I would share some of the amazing sites that do amazing work to support children and their communication skills:
 

I CAN is the children’s communication charity.  Their mission is to ensure that no child who struggles to communicate is left out or left behind. Their vision is a world where all children and young people who struggle to communicate receive the help they need so that they can have a happy childhood, make progress at school and thrive as adults.

http://www.ican.org.uk/

                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity that believes everyone in the UK should have the literacy skills they need.

One person in six in the UK today has poor literacy. This means they can’t succeed at school, are locked out of the job market, and can’t support their child’s learning and struggle with daily tasks such as filling in forms or reading labels on food packaging.

They are the only national charity dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK.

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk


                                                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Communication Trust is a coalition of nearly 50 voluntary and community organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication. We harness our collective expertise to support the children's workforce and commissioners to meet the speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) of all children and young people, particularly those with SLCN.
We do this by raising awareness, providing information and workforce development opportunities, influencing policy, promoting best practice among the children's workforce and commissioning work from our members. The Trust is advised by specialist advisors and works with a broader network of partners.

http://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk

                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1000s FREE Early Years & Primary Printable Teaching Resources

1000s FREE Early Years & Primary Printable Teaching Resources

Sparklebox: a great place to find lots of really great resources for young children which are printable!

My work.

I work in a small team that work with parents and children 0-3 years of age, developing early language skills through play as part of a Welsh Assembly initiative known as Language and Play.  I love the job I do and thought I would share ideas, information, creations and links to other amazing sites that are full of brilliant ideas and information too!

Our programmes usually run for six weeks and consist of the following themes (although we have many):

• The importance of talking, playing, sharing books and singing.
• Routines.
• Out and about and every day learning opportunities.
• The importance of books and stories.
• The importance of songs and rhymes.
• Messy play and early writing skills.

I will be sharing ideas and information about these and our early number programme as well as lots more!

There will be lots of ideas for babies too!  

As well as pictures of things to make and do with your little ones.