Sending your child to a childminder or nursery may actually help them in later life, according to a recent study.  Many working parents hesitate before sending their children to a carer, wondering how the separation will effect the child in later life.  However, according to one academic it does them good to be away from home for a few hours!  So, parents working long hours need not worry.  Mothers returning to work, need not feel guilty!

The Professor in charge of the study claims that those children who were in a cared for environment aged 2 and under, do actually go on to form better relationships later on when at school.  She said that nursery does the vast majority no harm at all.  Previous studies had concluded that children who were not at home most of the time when under 2 turned out to be more agressive when attending school, were more difficult to disipline and more inclined to be naughty and lead others astray.  But this new research disputes that, stating that this doesn't appear be the case.

The study followed 3,000 children over a 14 year period from 1996.  Parents have welcomed the findings, many of whom had believed earlier studies which suggested that there was a link between attendance at a nursery and aggression in later life, plus impaired social skills.

Of course, there are various ways of ensuring your child is in the best possible setting. Speak to other parents - get their opinion and recommendations.  Check thoroughly the standards of care whether it be a nursery or childminder.  Drop in, unannounced, and see what is going on!

It seems that three-wheeler buggies are out of fashion - at one time they were the ultimate accessory for celebrity families and trendy Mums, but is it still the case?  Industry figures show that that sales of the three-wheelers have fallen by 12% over the last 12 months.  This is not because births have fallen, but because the more traditional four-wheeler buggies have seen a 23% increase in sales.

During the early 2000's, the three-wheelers were the envy of many the parents pushing the traditional four-wheelers.  They looked quirky, they seemed modern and fashionable, they seemed to handle well and the babies always looked fine in them.  But they cost a whopping £600!

All those who suffered a bit of pram envy can now relax as it seems the three-wheelers were not every mummies dream chariot.  It has been reported that they were cumbersome, difficult to get on and off public transport, and that even folded they took up lots of space.

It seems that three-wheelers was a phase that has now passed.  Four-wheelers are back on the wish list as they are he preferred option for many parents.

A sales rep from Tesco said that sales of three-wheelers were dropping while a rep from John Lewis said they were still growing, but that four-wheelers were growing more.

Phil and Ted's, a leading supplier of three-wheelers, said that sales are still strong.

So, who knows?  Just opt for a buggy that you like the feel of, that's not too heavy to manoeuver, that will fit on you car or the space you wish to store it... oh yes, and that is comfortable for the baby who must suffer it!

The World Wide Web provides the most amazing reference to help our children learn about and understand the world.  Going back a generation to our own childhood, you would be lucky to have an illustrated encyclopedia, suddenly we have a live reference where we can find information and pictures not only on anything in the past, but on everything new in breaking news stories.

Talk with your toddlers and preschoolers about world events that help to teach topical awareness.  Talk with your children about natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding and famine.  Describe how lucky for what they have and that not everyone is so fortunate.  When stories of natural disasters unfold on the news, talk about the issues and show them pictures and videos on the World Wide Web.  Obviously avoid showing imagery that is too distressing, and drop the topic if it begins to cause anxiety in your little ones.

You can also use the World Wide Web to augment teaching and understanding of other topics that you cover.  When learning colours, look for pictures predominantly portraying each colour.  When learning about animals, the sea, space, food or any other topic, find pictures online to give your little one a proper understanding.  If you have a smartphone with web access, you can even find explanations  and reference pictures when you're out and about and your little one asks a searching question!

Today's children are growing up in a world that we wouldn't have predicted when we were young, knowledge is available instantly and by sharing that with your children, they have the potential to learn and understand at a faster pace than has ever been possible before!

There are times when you need to be getting on with preparing the next meal and you have your little ones snapping around your ankles getting ever so slightly in the way - if you can sit them down at a table or on the floor and keep them occupied, then you'll find that you can get on with your work that much more easily! Here's a great idea to help occupy your toddlers in the kitchen...

Take a mixing bowl and add a small handful of three or four different types and shapes of dried pasta - bows, tubes, spirals, twists and so on.  Mix them all up.  Give your little one a muffin tray and have them sort the pasta back into the right shapes, filling the cups in the muffin tray with each of the different types of pasta.  Hopefully this will keep them occupied for some time and they will enjoy this as much as doing a puzzle.

For older children you can make the challenge a little harder by using rice, lentils and other smaller dried foods amongst the pasta.

This is a great activity to let your children loose on every time you want to cook in the kitchen and they want to 'cook' too!  This activity incorporates shape matching and encourages their fine motor skills as they have to pick up small pieces of pasta and place them in the right place.

By law, all children traveling in cars must use the correct child restraint until they are 12 years old or 135cm tall.  Once they reach this criteria they must use an adult restraint.  There are a couple of exceptions, but by and large these rules should not be broken and it is the drivers responsibility to make sure they are not.

Children Up To Age 3

• Young children can travel in the front of the car
• They must use the correct child restraint in the front or back
• It is illegal to carry a child in a rear facing child seat in the front which is protected by an active airbag
• If a child is traveling in a taxi or licensed car and a seat is not available the child must travel in the back.  This is the only exception for under threes and for practical reasons rather than for safety

Children aged 3 -12

Children aged 3 - 12 must wear the correct child restraint whether traveling in the front or rear of the car.  There are 3 exceptions for this age group.

1. In a licensed taxi or private hire car
2. If the child is traveling  a short distance for reasons of an emergency or unexpected necessity.
3. If other fitted car seats make the fitting of a third one impossible, or if there are no restraints available for a third seat

Children traveling in minibuses, coaches or  any other vehicle must wear a restraint or adult seat belt.

Car Seats

A properly fitted child restraint keeps the child in their seat, keeping them in one position.  It also absorbs some of the impact in the event of an accident.  It means your child is less likely to be injured or killed in an crash.  Car seats must be fitted correctly.  Here are a few pointers:

1. Don't have the car seat too loose
2. Make sure the car seat is properly rooted
3. Make sure handle is positioned properly if you have a baby car seat
4. Ensure your car seats are compatible with your car and correctly fitted
5. Keep the car seat in good condition and make sure it's not old or worn
6. Check that seat is correct according to the size (height nd weight) of your baby.

Booster Seat:

Once your chid is 15-25kg (between 4 and 6 years old) they can use a booster seat.  The adult seat belt will restrain them so this becomes the most important item to check.  Make sure that:

1. The belt is as tight as it can be
2. The belt is not twisted
3. The lap belt goes across the hips and not stomach which is higher
4. The diagonal strap should go over the shoulder and not the neck

Rear Facing Car Seats

Consider using rear facing car seats instead of forward facing ones - although less popular in the UK they are in fact considerably safer.

People often feel pressured for their children's first birthday parties, especially for the oldest child; there's a feeling that they have to create an amazing spectacle that everyone will remember for years to come.  The truth is that your baby will never remember their first few birthdays, so don't blow a hole in your family finances, do something sensible and make sure you enjoy yourself as much as you hope your little one does!

For the first couple of years, you'll probably want to celebrate surrounded by your wider family rather than having lots of babies over.  The first birthday of your oldest child is a memorable milestone for you more than for your baby - you have survived your first year as a mother and no doubt achieved many new experiences along the way.  Invite your family around and celebrate your achievements with them.  Toast yourself with a few glasses of wine, and if you are still intent on blowing a hole in the family finances, lavish yourself with Champagne!

Eventually your little one will begin interacting with other children in playgroups and at nursery and you will want them to be able to share their birthday with a few of their own friends.  If you don't want to spend a lot of money, you can invite friends round for a playdate and hold a birthday tea for everyone.  If you have a budget and want to make a more memorable experience then there are all sorts of things you can do:-

• Hold a party at a local soft play centre, toddlers love clambering around play structures and soft play centres accommodate even the youngest party revellers
• Invite an entertainer into your home: look in the Yellow Pages or other local directories to find entertainers suitable for toddlers - clowns, magicians, face painters or balloon modelers may offer a show for your target age group
• Go to a restaurant: probably not suitable below the age of 4 because you need the children to sit still for the meal, and you won't find restaurants with high chairs for large numbers of babies, but a meal out can be a treat for little ones; some restaurants cater really well for children, for example Pizza Hut offer 'Make your own pizza' parties and the staff at TGI Friday are trained to keep young audiences amused with balloon modeling and just being generally fun!
• Go to the park: don't feel you need to hire a venue for a large party - if you have a 'summer' baby, organise a birthday tea picnic in a nearby park; organise a few games to play and invite all the other parents to stay to join in the fun
• Take everyone to a Saturday cinema club for children - although you may not get advanced warning of what will be showing and whether it will be suitable, so this may be difficult to commit to!
• There are several chains where you can hold 'make a bear' parties - each child chooses an empty teddy-bear template which can be stuffed and accessories added
• There are also many 'paint your own pottery' studios around - for really young children just putting handprints on a saucer or mug makes for a memorable gift that they can take back to their families; the only downside is that you can't leave your party with your art, you have to pick it up a couple of days later after it has been fired

We only offer a small selection of ideas for parties for children here, you'll find plenty more things to do in your local area.  Post your own ideas and suggestions here and tell everyone what you've done for your early parties...?

Sports day is a fun feature of summer, but toddlers who aren't old enough to attend school miss out on all this fun - why not hold your own 'Sports Day' for your littlest children and some of their friends?!  Invite two or three other mum's round with their little ones, set up a picnic outside for everyone, and make up a few races for them to compete in.  If it's hot, ensure there are plenty of drinks on hand!

Sports concentrate on improving motor skills and coordination, so think of some fun events that help do this.  If your little ones are two young to walk or run, then many races could be held at a crawl instead.  If you have a mix of ages and capabilities then introduce handicaps for the more capable children to give the littlest ones a fair chance of winning something.  If you're tight for space then rather running races in parallel you can time each child one after the other.  Here are some ideas:-

Flat race: have your little ones run from one end of the garden to the other, or in a loop around the garden.

Egg and spoon race: good old fashioned fun! Have your babies walk or run from one end of the garden to the other balancing a hard boiled egg on a spoon all the way.  Afterwards you can add the eggs to your picnic!

Sack race: give each child a sack and have them jump from one end of the garden to the other.  Shopping bags would make a suitable 'sack' but make your little athletes understand never to put bags over their heads.

Obstacle course: make up an obstacle course with your little ones having to run around, over and under objects placed around your garden.

Bat'n'ball race: have your little one hit a ball around a course in your garden - use a tennis racquet, cricket bat or any other makeshift bat.

Balancing act: if you don't have bean bags, find other items such as teddies, dolls or toy cars that your little ones can place on their heads and balance round a course.

Make up some certificates and award them at the end of each race.  You'll have great fun holding your own sports day; you'll enjoy watching your children perform, and they'll have so much fun trying out the different races!

All this sun gives is the perfect opportunity to teach our toddlers how the sun moves throughout the day and how better to show this than by making a giant sundial?!  Start by making a few signs of things that you do throughout the day.  Draw a picture each for breakfast, lunch and tea.  Draw pictures for snacks that you take regularly, then draw some pictures for other things that you do as part of your daily routine - do you always go outside at a certain time, or do a school run for older siblings?  Do you have a set story time, song time or maybe a time when you let your children watch a bit of television?  Make a bright sign for each of these and any other routine things that you do.

Now find two garden canes and cut them into lengths about two foot long - you can use short straight branches if you don't have canes to hand.  Attach one of your little one's drawings to each of the canes, securing them with tape.  Leave one piece of cane plain without any picture.  If there's a chance of rain over the next few days then attach a see through sandwich bag over each sign to protect it.

To make your sundial, take the plain cane and stick it in the ground in your garden.  Then as each of the different points of the day passes, go outside and look at where the shadow of your cane is sited.  Stick one of your cane's into the ground at the tip of the shadow.

As the day progresses, the sun moves in the sky and the tip of your shadow will move.  By the end of the day, all your homemade signs will be sited in an arc around the original pointer.  Explain to your toddler that the sun moves throughout the day and that this causes the shadow to move.  You might be able to explain to older children how the earth moves around the sun and that this is the reason why the shadow moves.

Leave your sundial out for a week and look at how the shadow points to the right sign for the different things going on in the day as the sun progresses.

It may look like scribbles, but from a very early age, the marks that children make on a page are an important step towards learning to write and communicate.  Through their marks children are communicating their ideas, showing us how they feel and developing their own imagination.  They are also being creative no matter how messy or scribbly their picture or words look to us when they have finished.

Give your child regular opportunities to make marks, draw, scribble, make lines and create pictures - at home, in the garden, in the park, at the restaurant, in the car.  There are lots of times you can settle them down to draw and write and keep themselves entertained at the same time!

From the moment a baby holds a crayon and makes their very first mark on a page, their journey towards writing had begun.   It may not be a conventional pencil used to write on a clean sheet of paper, but there are all sorts of other ways to get babies and toddlers used to the idea of mark making.   Here are  a few ideas to begin with:

• Salt Tray: Sprinkle salt into a tray and let your child make swirls and lines and marks. Put some tools in there too so they can use those.
• Cornflakes: A tray of cornflakes makes a crunchy media to play with and make marks in. Listen to the noise as you crunch them and let them fall between your fingers.
• Flour: A tray of flour is great for mark making as the lines remain. When they want a clean tray to write in, just shake it flat. Or add water making it gooey and slimy. Great fun!
• Textured messy play: Add lentils, beads, pasta to wet flour and make it more textured.
• Finger paint: Draw pictures and make marks with finger paints.
• Sky write: Get children to make letters in the sky.
• Back writing: Draw shapes on a child's back and see if they can make it out.
• Sand tray: Draw a shape or letter in a tray of sand and get your child to trace over it.  Shake the sand flat to start again.
• Chalk: Draw letters and patterns on a chalk board or pavement
• Pencils and crayons: Get lots of different and fun crayons and pencils for your child to experiment with.  Each feels different and makes different marks.
• Paper: Get different types of paper, colours, textured, lined etc and have fun working with each sort.

Get outdoors and have some scavenger hunt fun: it's ideal for all kinds of situations and places!  It takes just a little bit of preparation and the children all love scavenger hunts whether in a small garden or a huge park.  Here are some ideas to get the children inspired outdoors no matter what their age!

Colour Hunt: Gather some things from round the house: toys, blocks, balls etc that are 4 different colours: red, green, blue and yellow.  Show the items to your child and sort them into piles by colour.  Keep one of each item and without your child looking, hide all the rest around our garden or around the park.  Send your child off to search for all the red items, then all the yellow etc.

Buried Treasure: collect some pebbles or pieces of dry pasta and cover them with silver foil to make them into shiny treasure.  Count them, and then hide each of the pieces in the garden.  Send your child off to find them and count them all back in at the end!  Perhaps if they find them all they win a piece of real treasure: a foil wrapped biscuit or a foil pouch of summer fruits to eat!

Shape Hunt: Make 16 cards and draw 4 coloured squares, circles, rectangles and ovals onto them.  Give one of each to your child and hide the rest.  Ask them to hunt for the others, matching them and naming them as they find them.

Letter Hunt: Write some letters on a page and ask your child to go off into the house or garden and find things beginning with that letter.  For A find an apple, for B find a ball, for C find a toy car etc.

Have fun!

On a hot day, the children will enjoy nothing more than a lovely refreshing ice lolly but rather than spending a fortune on shop bought ones throughout the summer, why not make your own at home?  At least you know what's gone into them and can make sure that they are healthy!  Start by buying some lolly sticks and moulds from a supermarket or other store.  Here are some recipe ideas:-

• Fruit juice lollies: for the most simple lollies, just pour fruit juice into the mould and insert a stick. Beware that pineapple juice doesn't freeze on its own but you can mix it with other juices. Make multi-coloured lollies by pouring in a little orange juice, let that freeze for a few hours, then add a red juice (blackcurrant, raspberry, cranberry etc).
• Make traffic light lollies by layering pureed strawberry, pureed peach and pureed kiwi on top of one another, freezing for about 2 hours between each layer.  If you find they need sweetening, add a little honey to each puree.
• Yoghurts and fromage frais freeze into delicious creamy lollies - pour the contents into your moulds or, for the little fromage frais pots, simply take off the lid, place a lolly stick in and freeze them in their own pots!
• Fruit smoothies also make for a delicious frozen feast, if you have your own juicer then juice a variety of fruits and banana to create your own fruit smoothie and freeze to make lovely lollies!
• Make milk lollies by using a milk base and flavouring with fruit puree or even cocoa.  Semi-skimmed milk freezes better than full fat milk, just make up a milk drink and pour into your moulds.
• Frozen bananas make a novel change from lollies, just peel a bananana, wrap it loosely in foil and place in the freezer.  Either enjoy them as they are or use them as toppings on yoghurt or other puddings - frozen bananas have a lovely creamy texture to them, almost like ice-cream!

Once you're in the habit of making your own lollies, you'll start experimenting by freezing all sorts of drink, fruit and yoghurt combinations!  Be creative and give the children a summer treat!

Everyone deals with a child's bad behaviour in different ways, however, it is sometimes worthwhile reviewing how effective your methods are and to have a think about using different techniques to deal with young children (pre-schoolers) that are misbehaving.  Here are some points to bear in mind when trying to instill discipline into young children...

1. Voice Match: this is a technique whereby your voice should be at the same volume and tone as you expect from your pre-schooler.  A loud and aggressive voice will usually mean the child will try to get louder, so try to be more quiet and less aggressive.

2. Stay calm: try as hard as you can to stay calm even if you are very upset.  Staying calm will demonstrate a controlled and orderly message to your child.

3. Keep it close: don't shout across the room, go to your child and address them closely.

4. Move away: once you have made your point and the situation is resolved, move away and don't hover around and carry on the confrontation.  And, certainly don't go back over the problem behaviour once you have resolved it.

5. Personal Space: make sure you allow your child some personal space.  Our personal space is usually an arms length radius and if you are any further away it's difficult to know who is being addressed, and if you are any closer you run the risk of invading their personal space which can be aggressive.  So, stand in front, slightly to the side at about an arm's length.

6. Praise specifics: try to give positive feedback when good behaviour is happening or praise another child who is being good so the child who is not behaving well hears and aspires to get praise too.

7. Avoid engaging in an argument: repeat your instructions up to three times then change your strategy, don't just argue over the same point again and again.

8. Time out: a change of environment can help a child re-focus and come back in a more positive frame of mind.  Just a short time away from the group, or the activity may solve any behavioural problems.

Remember, young children may not be as rational as we are, but they still have control over their actions and should be made to understand that poor behaviour won't be accepted.

Good luck!

Often when we take the children out in the fresh air to teach them about the outside world, we head for the local park or nature reserve.  Our towns and cities are often overlooked as places to take children when in fact there is a wealth of opportunity for them to learn in built up areas.

So, how does an excursion around the town provide opportunities for learning?  Excursions in and around towns can help in the following ways:

• It builds on children's everyday experiences
• It helps create a sense of community
• It helps teach about the different cultures that might exist around where you live
• It promotes the idea of being out in the open air taking walks, keeping healthy and staying active
• It can help children gain confidence about being out and learning about road safety
• It helps children learn about how seasons can effect the environment in which they live

Things to look out for:

• Different styles of buildings (cottages, old office block, modern houses, old shops)
• 'Street furniture': street lamps, phone boxes, ride-on toys, post boxes, benches, display signs etc.
• Road signs
• Letters and numbers on shop fronts
• Road and rail networks
• Different vehicles (colours, styles, types)
• Building materials: concrete, bricks, wood, glass, metal
• Sounds and smells
• The people around and what they do (bus drivers, road sweepers, children, adults doing gardening etc.)

How can you enhance the experience?  Here are a few ideas:

• Talk about what you see as you go along your walk.  If you see a bus, look at it's wheels, the colour of the paintwork, how many people are on it, adverts on the side etc.
• Listen to noises and discuss smells.  Try and name all the noises (pedestrian crossing 'beeps', diggers, car horns, sirens, shops blaring music)
• Ask questions: where is the red car?, what's in the tree?, who can see a bus?
• Spot different materials used in towns and talk about how strong they are: iron railings, wooden fence, plastic door, brick houses etc
• Look at signs and talk about them.  What might they all mean?
• Stop to watch a building site or a dustbin lorry collecting bins.  Chat about what they are doing and what happens.
• Look at road signs and the symbols used eg speed limit numbers, construction signs, house numbers; discuss different colours used - blue/white for information, red/white and yellow/black for warnings, green/white for environmental information, bright colours for shop fronts etc.
• Look for shapes: square garage door, rectangle front door, round letter box etc.
• Take some photos of your trip and turn them out as a map.
• For older children and pre-schoolers, you can couple the outing with other activities when you get back home
• Ask them where they want to walk to?  Involve them in the planning of the trip and supplies they will need (eg. snack, drink)
• Make a map of the trip and follow it, draw in any landmarks you pass
• Ask them to remember things they saw on the trip and draw them when they get home

Have fun and enjoy your environment!

This week, all over the country, children and parents are choosing to walk to nursery, pre-school and school rather than drive.  In an effort to encourage children to be active, and reduce the use of cars at peak hours, Walk To School Week has been hailed another resounding success with thousands of children using their feet rather than a vehicle to get to school.

The campaign is arranged by the charity Living Streets with funding from the Department of Transport.  It asks  parents, teachers and everyone travelling to and from school  not to use their car for this one week.   It is reported that 50% of children who wouldn't normally walk to school, have walked this week.

Walking to school:

• reduces air pollution
• reduces traffic
• improves children's activity levels
• helps increase fitness
• is social (you'll spot your friends on the way!)
• ...is good fun!

WOW is the scheme that encourages children to Walk Once a Week.  If they do so, they get a little metal badge designed by children in the national badge competition.

The Walk To School campaign history:-

• 1995: Five primary schools in Hertfordshire participated
• 1996: The campaign went national and was included in Child Safety Week
• 2000: The first ever International Walk To School Week was launched
• 2003: Walk To School Week is supported by over 33 countries
• 2005: The focus was on health
• 2006: The focus was on independence of children
• 2007: The focus was on the environment
• 2010: 2 million children have taken part!

The next event is the Walk To School month...in October!

There's no doubt that the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requirements place a huge burden on childminders and teachers, but linking your activities to the EYFS and planning topics in advance need not be as difficult as you might imagine.  Every activity you choose to undertake with babies and toddlers will have some learning benefits, and it's usually pretty easy to stretch activities to cover almost any of the areas of learning and devlopment.

Let's look at three basic activities, and see how we can adjust them to cover all six of the areas of learning and development.

(1) Finger Painting

Sit your little one down with a large sheet of paper and some poster paints, and ask them to create a 'picture' dipping their fingers in the paint and drawing on their canvas.  You can easily cover each of the areas of learning and development:-

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Have your little one include members of their family and friends that they see often in their picture
• Communication, Language and Literacy: Ask your little one to talk about the different parts of their picture and to describe what is going on
• Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy: Have your little artist add shapes to the picture, shapes, circles and triangles
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World: Include their house in the drawing along with one or two other landmarks that they know, such as where the shops, park or their nursery are
• Physical Development: Paint trees with big sweeping lines, and flowers with fine little lines; discuss how the paint feels on their fingers
• Creative Development: Dip each finger in a different colour and learn what happens as they drag their hand down the page, what happens if they wiggle their fingers at the same time?

(2) A Walk in the Park

Take a stroll out to your nearest park and observe what's happening around you, at the same time, covering all the areas of learning and development:-

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development: At the end of your trip, discuss what aspects of the walk your little one enjoyed; if you visited a play park, how did they feel on the swings, on the climbing frames and on other equipment they played on?
• Communication, Language and Literacy: Play eye-spy as you walk to the park, see if your little one can give accurate clues describing what it is that they can 'spy'
• Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy: Look out for and count things on your way: birds, letter boxes, trees etc.
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World: Talk about why you must hold hands when walking by the road, and why you look for cars before crossing the road; when you arrive at the park, ask your little one to recount your journey, the landmarks that you passed and the route you took
• Physical Development: Let them run around and play on swings, climbing frames and the other outdoor toys; if there aren't any, make up a simple chasing game
• Creative Development: Have them play make-believe in the park, perhaps they can be an ice-cream vendor doling out ice-creams to the children, or perhaps they can be a fire-fighter rescuing people from the climbing frame?!

(3) Make-Believe Restaurant

Set up a restaurant with your little one(s), pretend you have a nice restaurant, beautiful tables, and lots of customers.  Pretend to make and serve food, and let's see how we can fit it to those areas of learninf and development once more:-

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Have your little one greet the restaurant customers and show them to their tables; show how they can act politely to their guests
• Communication, Language and Literacy: Have your little one recite the menu to each customer and ask what they would like to eat - see how many orders they can make up and remember!
  
• Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy: Count how many meals need to be prepared; ask how they might entertain the customers while their dinner is being cooked?!
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World: Describe how different foods originate from different countries; have your chef name their favourite foods and describe where those foods come from.  You may be surprised at how many international influences they have been exposed to already!
• Physical Development: Give your little one a large hardback book to use as a tray.  Have them hold it on top of their hand and balance some toy food or other small items on it.  Have them walk around the room keeping the items balanced; add more and more items to the tray
• Creative Development: Have your little one go to their make-believe kitchen and make up the food orders.  Tell them what they must do and have them act it out: wash the vegetables, cut the onions, peel the potatoes, place the ingredients in a big pan on the stove and stir; dish the food onto plates and serve the customers!

All of the activities we present in ToucanLearn are tagged with the key areas of learning and development they support, we flag the specific focus areas within each area that they compliment.  However, with just a little bit of imagination, you can expand any activity to cover almost any of the areas of learning and development.

Why don't you decide on a theme to pursue each week?  It might be counting, shapes, colours, animals, countries or anything else. Choose a theme, and adjust each activity you undertake to fit in with the theme.  It's easier than you might think, and you'll have a lot of fun together at the same time!