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Just So Festival: a magical weekend of creative adventures

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Sponsored post

Follow the rainbow trail through the woods and learn about the fairy folklore of trees and plants as you go. At the end you may find a beautiful tent where you can visit the Fairy Queen where you can tell her what you saw and she may tell you things you never knew before.

If this sounds like just the sort of adventure your children would love, then take a look at the Just So Festival. Taking place in 65 acres of beautiful woodland in Shropshire this August, the festival is a ‘magical weekend of creative adventures’ – and we’re so excited to be going. [Read more…]

Eat some numbers: Fruit cocktail maths

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Maths activities for preschoolers work best when they are fun (of course!) and practical – using real objects the children can feel, rather than abstract numbers on a worksheet.

Try this fruit cocktail maths activity for some tasty number practice.

How to make a counting cocktail [Read more…]

Water comes before play: DEC Appeal East Africa

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donate to africa

Instead of my usual weekend links, I’m sharing just one idea with you today and asking you to make a donation to the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal.

We spend our weeks giving our children the best start in life, filling their days with play and fun and learning, but life for so many children is so very different.

The severe drought in East Africa is putting the lives of over 10 million people under threat, with some facing the worst drought in 60 years. Thousands of children need our help.

How to help [Read more…]

Add ribbons and swirl

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dancing with ribbons

I loved Jeanne’s comment saying the title of yesterday’s post sounded like a recipe, so continuing with that idea we today we have ‘take one child, add a dash of ribbons and swirl together with music.’

Children always have the best play ideas, don’t they? These pictures show B enjoying dancing with the streamers she made after discovering a forgotten bag of ribbons. She simply tied a one to the end of a stick and was ready to go. Both my girls love dancing but I’ve resisted sending them to an organised dance class for now, instead letting them explore their own dance style.

Create your own dance studio [Read more…]

SUPERbaby series: Audit your play space

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super baby play ideas

Babies change so much during their first year, developing in their physical, social and language skills. Think how different a new born and a one year old are. A good way to keep up with their development and make sure you’re matching your play to suit them is to borrow a practice from Early Years professional and carry out a play audit every couple of months.

How to carry out a play audit [Read more…]

Groovy dolls’ houses and snail gardens

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snail minibeast ideas
Some fun ideas from around the web that I  think you’ll love this week include:

Sara’s Art House’s groovy dolls’ house transformation, which is making me want to give our plain one a makeover

Strong Start’s snail garden, which combines growing, small world play and up-close observation of some mini beasts (and what do you thikn of my snail picture?)

Sand and Water Tables video clips of young scientists and engineers delighting in their water play discoveries

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