My granddaughter Daisy has several storytimes throughout her busy day. Storytime is an integral part of a young child’s day, one that helps to develop their creativity and imagination, especially for preschool learners. Parents very quickly discover that young children have their favourite stories, which they enjoy listening to over and over again – these… Continue reading Lockdown Storytime: homeschool activities for preschoolers
Category: Misc
Instrumental sounds: create a cacophony with your grandchild
With a third lockdown in place in the UK, following a period of tiered restrictions, we’re all trying to find new ways to interact with and educate our young children. Many grandparents – myself included – have had to return to virtual contact with their grandchildren. Painful though this has been (especially after weeks of… Continue reading Instrumental sounds: create a cacophony with your grandchild
Homeschooling in ‘Lockdown 3’: Early Years activity ideas
With a third lockdown in place in the UK, many parents and early years carers will be experiencing familiar frustrations and challenges; I know I am feeling those familiar emotions as a grandparent. Although families with children have experienced lockdowns before, it doesn’t make the process of educating and occupying children at home that much… Continue reading Homeschooling in ‘Lockdown 3’: Early Years activity ideas
The Best of the Blog in 2020: making learning fun
It goes without saying that 2020 has been the most tumultuous year in the short life of this blog, which I started in 2017 with a focus on sharing my experiences and play ideas following a career in teaching and early years education. But then, it has probably been the most tumultuous year in living… Continue reading The Best of the Blog in 2020: making learning fun
Feeding Rudolph and his friends with RSPCA recipes
Daisy and the family will be staying with us this Christmas so I am planning activities I can prepare ready for their visit. One thing we will be making this year we will be a reindeer food mix for Daisy to sprinkle on our lawn on Christmas Eve; the perfect snack for Rudolph and the… Continue reading Feeding Rudolph and his friends with RSPCA recipes
The Perfect Gifts for Christmas: A guest blog for Learning Resources
I received an invitation from Learning Resources to write a guest blog selecting gift ideas from their range to suit children of Daisy's age.
Fifty Blogs Later
It's a year since I wrote my first Granny Smith blog! Fifty blogs later, those warm elephant socks that I wrote about are now worn by Teddy and Daisy only uses baby signing when she's really tired. We continue to use the local library regularly but now Daisy enjoys looking through the story boxes to… Continue reading Fifty Blogs Later
Grandparents and toys: the time and means to buy and play
As you may already know my husband works in the toy industry. He shared a report he had seen (from the USA) that said: Grandparents account for about one-quarter of sales, or nearly $7 billion, within the $28 billion U.S. toy industry. Most readers of my blog won’t be surprised with this news and will… Continue reading Grandparents and toys: the time and means to buy and play
Knitting Flop, it’s a Bing thing!
I can't go on holiday without a craft project. I needed something not too bulky and something not too complicated for our family holiday. I settled on a knitting project, choosing to knit Bing's Flop for Daisy. I'd discovered a knitting pattern for Flop on the CBeebies Grown-Ups site and packed pattern, yarn and knitting… Continue reading Knitting Flop, it’s a Bing thing!
Where do socks go?
The elephant socks that I knitted before Christmas have been real favourites so I decided to make Daisy another pair of warm oversocks from "Cute Knits For Baby Feet" by Sue Whiting. I selected a pattern with different coloured heel and toe and also knitted the ribs in the same plain colour as the heels… Continue reading Where do socks go?
