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product reviews Share | Toys/Resources Review List Ready, Set, Tell Time! Mungai Mirrors Jofli Bears Beep - CD RomFingerGood Journeys CDFingerGood Faces -WorkbenchGameFingerGood -StressingCards Equipment Review List Genesis Footmuffs Lascal BuggyWorkbenchMaxi Bubblebum Booster Cushion Korbell Nappy Disposal SystemTypesettingStorage Product Review List Early Track Noble Minder Want a Review? Click here for contact details Home and Contact What is Childminding? What is a Childminder? What hours do Childminders work Are Childminders Qualified What will my child do at the Childminders? What if my Childminder is ill? How will I know my child is safe? Will the Childminder have a house full of children? How much will a Childminder charge? I need increasingly help/advice How do I wilt a Childminder? Can men wilt Childminders? Do I need any special qualifications? Is there a tuition to register? What happens without I've applied? Will it take long to wilt registered? 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They are here purely as guidance for prospective purchasers.   _______________________________________________________________ when to top Product Review (August 2011) Ready, Set, Tell time! - Teach your children to tell the time Supplied by "Up To The Moon" - www.uptothemoon.comclick photos to see a larger image This is an worriedness set to help teach children to tell the time, for age 4 and over. It contains 4 variegated activities and a lovely robust clock made from very thick vellum with moveable hands which click when moved. The activities include: Reversible wink cards: These have a variegated time on one side (digital and analogue) with respective questions on the other. Sequence cards: Put Alex the monkey's day in the right order Digital/Analogue comparison: Compare the time with both digital and terminology cards Clock Puzzle: A 12 piece clock puzzle - fit the numbers in the correct position Helps promote the concept of time and sequencing. You could use the activities to plan a child's day based virtually their own time scales. Set the clock to the time mummy/daddy/carer will be collecting and let them compare it to a real clock - this could then be linked to their EYFS minutiae for example: Personal, Social and EmotionalMinutiae- Anticipate specific time-based events such as mealtimes or home time. I used it with 4 children age 4 - 8 years and they all appeared to enjoy the activities discussing the options on where to put Alex the monkey at unrepealable times of the day! I felt that the smaller cards could have been printed on slightly thicker wafer-thin as they are easy to wrench in little hands but if you were going to use this often with lots of children you could laminate the cards yourself to make them increasingly robust. The clock and jigsaw are on very thick vellum and it would be nonflexible to wrench these. The clock was the most popular with a variety of times stuff set and discussions well-nigh them, including what time we all get up and what time we have meals. The possibilities for other activities are uncounted and could link into many areas of the EYFS, for example: Knowledge and Understanding of the World (KUW) - Time:Begin to differentiate between past and presentTalk well-nigh past and future eventsUse time related words in conversation Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy (PSR&N) - Numbers as Labels for Counting:Use some number names and number language spontaneouslyBegin to count vastitude 10  ______________________________________________________________ when to top Product Review (August 2011): Early Track - EYFS Tracking Supplied by Early Track Early Track is an using which uses Microsoft Excel to electronically track the EYFS, Every Child A Talker, Observations and Next Steps for each child. Background Information: The system was designed by Ben Parker, currently (August 2011) a university student inward his 3rd year, his merchantry was funded by the merchantry soft-heartedness UnLtd and Higher Education funding for young people and undergraduates. Ben started working at a nursery based in a children's centre, running children and parents activities on a weekend, and sports and play schemes for KS1 children over the holidays and for several years as a play and learning assistant. It was during his job, which entailed Early Years Foundation Stage tracking, Every Child a Talker tracking, Observations and Next steps that he realised the need for something electronic as paper copies could not be taken home for fear of loss or damage. With Early Track it is possible to send the tracker home for families to view via printing to pdf format or on a memory stick, with the safety of knowledge that the original reprinting was backed up on your computer. Where necessary the child's folder can moreover be printed off in keeping with OFSTED requirements. Ben moreover became enlightened that childminders, usually a single person business, spent much of their evening and weekends filling in the trackers, not having as much spare time would goody from using Early Track.Well-nighEarly Track: Each section contains all the aspects for each of the minutiae stages through all age groups. This allows you to colour lawmaking each stage as it is reached and add your own observations, including photographs if you wish and next steps. This gives a good visual track and you can identify any gaps in minutiae or any areas where the child excels. These can then either be printed for your files or stored on your computer. Equally they can be shared by print out, memory stick  or plane email with parents. A big plus point is not having to refer when to the EYFS handbook for each of the age group/stages or to have printed sheets separate for each age group, which is something I do and it can wilt a bit of a paper minefield! A negative point is that it is only misogynist for PC and you must have Excel installed but hopefully it might wilt misogynist for other spreadsheet/computer systems in the future as Early Track becomes popular.Flipsideplus point is that it is a one off payment. You buy the software and it is yours to alimony and use. No monthly outlay or yearly fee which is helpful as you never know when your income will suddenly waif if children leave.  Ben is once planning for any future changes to EYFS which will be incorporated into Early Track with self-ruling updates for existing customers. Delivered on CD  in a handy little pack with instructions and help leaflets, plus there is telephone support misogynist if necessary. Find our increasingly here, including screen shots: www.earlytrack.co.uk System Requirements:  PC with Microsoft Excel installed Not uniform with Mac ______________________________________________________________ when to top Toy/Resources Review (May 2011):TemperaMirrors Supplied by Mungai MirrorsClick photos to see larger image I've just tested out the Jigsaw shape mirror, however they do have a wide variety of other shapes and sizes on sale. The jigsaw mirror gives a good nomination as regards positioning; you can stick them in a square, in a line, on an angle. The tempera is 3mm thick and individual pieces measure approx. 29x29 cm and with all four pieces together it makes a mirror approx. 49 cm square, this is measured from the longest points (i.e. from the edges of the interlocking 'bumps' of the jigsaw shapes), so it does not squint as big when in situ as you might think, the very main reflection zone (minus the 'bumps') is increasingly like 36 cm square. It is supplied with wrapper pads to stick it to the wall. I wanted to make a full length mirror for next to the dressing up box, it works well but I think perhaps two sets would requite a wider zone for the children to see themselves. Mungai Mirrors offer an uncommonly large variety of designs for home and children including dinosaurs, princess and shapes such as heart, alphabet and geometric to name but a few. A good range of prices too, small mirrors start at just a few pounds right up to bendy mirrors for creating those 'hall of mirror' effects! The mirrors are unscratched - the most important factor for anyone caring for children - made from tempera with no sharp edges and they are shatterproof. Make sure you remove the protective mucosa which covers the mirror otherwise it will not have the spanking-new reflection, it is a bit tricky to get off, I found it difficult to find a point to get started as I was worried I might scratch the mirror squatter but persevere and you will do it! I've tried to create mirrors in the past by using sticky when mirror roll, but it never gives a very good reflection and is cloudy and distorted expressly if the surface overdue is not smooth so I think these tempera mirrors are spanking-new and gives as good a reflection as a glass mirror without the worry of having glass in a play setting. Click here to search Amazon for a variety of their designs   ______________________________________________________________ when to top Equipment Review (April 2011) : GenesisMeatyFootmuff Supplied by GenesisMeatyFootmuffsClick photos to see larger image The Genesis Compacts are a trademark new product designed mainly for spring/summer day trips but platonic in my opinion for any time that you need that bit of uneaten warmth for a child. I knew the GenesisMeatywas going to pack small but I was still surprised to find just how small! As you can see it has its own yank string bag and fits hands on the palm of my hand and takes up very little space when hanging on the buggy or pushchair. It goes hands when into the bag which is a generous size. It weighs less than 300g yet when unpacked it is a full sized 36 inch footmuff well-constructed with harness points suitable up to toddlers size. The front zips fully off if you wish, so the marrow can be left on as a buggy liner and the front zipped when on if it turns cool. There was plenty of room for the child's legs when I tried it with a 3 year old.Platonicfor the kind of weather we have had recently, where it is extremely hot during the day but come evening it turns a bit chilly, you can protract your day out without worry that your victual or toddler will finger cold. If you are a keen walker or hiker this would be perfect as a lightweight item hands carried in your rucksack and fitted to your all-terrain buggy or any buggy/pushchair, should the weather change. The outer imbricate is wind and showerproof too so your little one can be kept dry as well as warm. The inner fabric is soft polyester fleece material which is both cuddly and warm yet breathable. It can be machine washed too which is perfect for anything to do with children!s For a childminder it is an spanking-new piece of kit because, as we know, we siphon just well-nigh everything with us on a day out so anything that packs small and lightweight is an spanking-new nomination in my opinion.Flipsideunconfined idea is that there are ties at the corners of the top edge. I find it really difficult sometimes to alimony a footmuff in place while at the same time trying to get a child into the harness, these ties midpoint that you can fit it to the uprights of your pushchair or backrest (anywhere that will help to hold it in place) and it will not alimony slipping lanugo overdue the child. The GenesisMeatyshown here is navy undecorous but they do come in a vast range of colours, both plain and patterned including zoo design, daisies and cowboys, to name but three!     ______________________________________________________________ when to top Equipment Review (April 2011): BuggyBoard Maxi Supplied by Cheeky Rascals Ltd - buy through Amazon here: - Buy BuggyBoard MaxiClick photos to see larger image In all my 30+ years in childcare I have never used a buggy workbench so this was an interesting wits for me and one that I welcomed. I must shoehorn that I had unchangingly though they would zinger on your ankles and you would be kicking it as you walked withal so never really bothered with them. Having now tried the BuggyBoard Maxi I was really pleased that none of that happened. The initial installation of the connectors is easy and took me well-nigh 15 - 20 minutes, once fitted the connectors stay in place on the pushchair and fitting/removing the buggy workbench can be washed-up in seconds. You don't need any tools, the connectors come ready assembled and it is just a matter of fixing the straps virtually the uprights of your buggy, pushchair or pram. They fit most pushchairs and you can squint online to trammels if it will fit yours: BuggyBoard Info It fits both my Graco Century umbrella fold buggy and my Mamas and Papas Pliko forward facing pushchair. The connectors come off if necessary, quite hands too, so you could move them between pushchairs if you wanted. The workbench itself adjusts both in width and length to make it easy to fit to all sizes of pushchair, buggy or pram. Fixing the buggy workbench to the connectors is simple and it was just a matter of pushing it lanugo into the clips, which spike over the stovepipe of the workbench to stop it coming off. Just as quick and easy to take it off - pull when the prune and hey presto it comes off. When not in use the BuggyBoard can be fastened up out of the way, no having to siphon it on top of the pushchair as I have seen with other models. As regards walking with it: I did finger like I might zinger my ankles as I walked, but I didn't! I think it was increasingly psychological and once I got into my stride it was easy to walk with it, it just takes a bit of getting used to. Going up and lanugo the kerb was not a problem, I had expected it to be difficult but the workbench just followed the pushchair and the two large wheels and fixings kept it very stable. Downhill was probably the hardest, I had expected that to be the easy part but holding when the weight of pushchair, victual and toddler on the workbench meant that I had to lean when a little to take the weight and stop it feeling like it was going to roll yonder without me, this meant that my feet were quite tropical to the workbench and I did tumor it a couple of times, however it wasn't a problem and I think with time and practice it would soon wilt easy to do. It was moreover a very steep hill. How was it with a toddler on board?: Well I had fully expected them to get in the way of the handles but they didn't. My buggy has turned in handles and I couldn't see how a child would be worldly-wise to ride between them but there was no problem at all and they stood hands between my stovepipe and could see over the top of the buggy. It was still possible to hang my bag between the handles which I thought would not have fitted with the child there so that was a bonus. It was a really heady wits for them and they kept shouting out to people "look at me!" as we went along. The workbench has plenty of space to stand and there was no problem with them falling off or getting too tropical to the edge. It didn't finger like there was a lot increasingly weight to push, obviously it made me a bit slower going up hill but one good thing is that if it were a problem you could take the child off the workbench for a moment, fold the workbench up and prune it out of the way while you got up the hill, and then put them when on at the top. I've been told by the supplier that a lot of people ask why buggy boards don't have seats and it is something I have wondered myself, the reason is it puts the child's hands too near to the wheels and the risk of stuff trapped if they touch them - the weightier reason I can think of for not having a seat!   ______________________________________________________________ when to top Equipment Review (March 2011): Bubblebum - Inflatable Car Booster Seat Supplied by Cheeky Rascals Ltd - buy through Amazon here: - Buy BubblebumClick photos to see larger image Suitable for children 15 kg - 36 kg (approx. 3 years - 11 years) Car Seat Group 2 - 3Note: It is suitable only for use with 3 point sultana seatbelts and must not be used in passengers seats with airbag. Bubblebum is ECE Regulation R44/04 tried - see here for safety standards This is a really unconfined idea, an inflatable child's car booster seat which packs yonder into its own drawstring bag!Platonicfor childminders, expressly if you don't have your own young children as it can be packed yonder at weekends rather than filling the marching of your car or your garage with the solid, plastic booster seats, I know considering we do it regularly! The Bubblebum is not as wide as a normal plastic booster so is much easier to fit slantingly the larger victual car seats. On the right you can see two pictures, one is of a standard booster seat which will not fit the gap between two victual seats, yet the Bubblebum fits hands but is still large unbearable for an older child. It is brightly coloured and soft to the touch and considering it is inflated I can imagine it stuff much increasingly well-appointed for a child giving them a much softer seat than the rigid plastic boosters. Two clips, one each side, hold the seatbelt in place making it quick and easy to fit and remove. The first time you use it it needs fully self-glorification up, I did it in just 5 breaths but without stuff used it is scrutinizingly self-inflating. If I had one criticism it would be that the inflating valve could do with stuff a non return valve so that air does not escape as you wrack-up it up (but it wasn't a big problem, just a bit fiddly trying to tropical the valve while still blowing). One thought was "wouldn't the child unshroud it as you travelled?" Well, firstly the valve is out of the way at the when so would be very difficult to reach and the valve is sealed with a screw top so if washed-up tight unbearable it would not be undone by a young child but, the most wondrous thing is that it does not unshroud when the valve is unshut anyway! You can squash it and the air rushes when in as soon as you let go meaning that it would not go lanugo plane if the child did manage to undo the valve. Fantastic! Fairly easy to pack away, just undo the valve (left) and roll up and squash to squeeze out the air, tropical the valve to stop the air rushing when in, then pop it into its siphon bag, which could perhaps do with stuff a touch larger but it did fit with a bit of squashing. Small and meaty when packed away, you can see it here photographed on the right with an world to requite an idea of size.Platonicif children are stuff picked up from school in a variegated vehicle, they could siphon it with them into school and inflate it when their pick-up arrives.Unconfinedfor mentor travel too as increasingly and increasingly coaches, buses and school minibuses have seatbelts stuff installed. I can imagine it stuff useful too for holiday travel between airport and hotel in taxi cars etc. It is surface washable and comes in fun unexceptionable purple coloursMeasures approx. 32 cm x 32 cm when inflatedMisogynistthrough Amazon: Bubblebum   ______________________________________________________________ when to top Equipment Review (March 2011): Korbell Nappy Disposal System Supplied by Cheeky Rascals Ltd - buy through Amazon here: - Buy Korbell Plus Nappy Disposal SystemClick photos to see larger image A nappy bin with a difference it can convert to a normal waste bin when the children grow up! Ready to use straight out of the box, no towers or fitting together, it plane comes with the tons ready inserted for use. Nice smooth surfaces, making it easy to alimony wipe there are no nooks and crannies to harbour dirt and germs. It looks nice and in no way looks like a nappy bin but increasingly like a conventional rubbish bin and looks modern and sleek. Oval in shape it fits neatly in any corner yet holds a lot of nappies! Pedal moves smoothly, no jerky movements and you can waif the nappy in hands one handed. Special inner flap helps to seal the slum and alimony smells inside, the flap can moreover be locked. Inside the Korbell is an inner section which holds the bin liner. To requite it a good test I left a couple of VERY dirty nappies inside for two days, there was no smell at all as you passed the bin. Once it is full you simply unshut the door at the front and pull lanugo the bag wearing it off on the cutter built inside the door, then simply tie up the end and you are ready to use your bin again. Bin liners - Comes well-constructed with bin liners, refills are misogynist to purchase separately. There is no wastage on the bin liners, they cut to size on the special (safe) cutter inside the bin, as described above. They have a soft-hued scent which is not overpowering. The tons are thick and strong to alimony in the smells and prevent bursting. For any mum, dad, carer or childminder one of the problems is having to go outside to the main rubbish bin to dispose of nappies without each change, this can be many times a day, either that or have them inside where they can smell dreadfully! Sometimes it is not possible to leave little ones vacated while you go, expressly if the bin is lanugo the garden or if you live in a unappetizing so the Korbell can help solve that problem by storing dirty nappies safely and hygienically until it is user-friendly for you to go out to the bin. One of the weightier features of this bin for me is the fact that once you have finished needing it as a nappy bin it quickly and hands converts to a normal waste bin and would squint lovely in any kitchen with it's sleek modern lines and coordinating white and grey colours. 26 litres topics measures approx.: 57 cm high. 33 cm wide and 23 cm deep at the widest points of the oval shapeMoreoveravailable in a smaller 15 Litre capacity: Korbell 15L   ______________________________________________________________ when to top Toy/Resource Review (March 2011):FingerGood Journeys - Relaxation CDFingerGood Friends, The visitor defended to making children finger good well-nigh themselves and their world - www.feelgoodfriends.comClick photos to see larger image This is a gentle, calming musical CD using visualisation techniques and including positive affirmations and thoughts to help children finger good well-nigh themselves. Children are taken on 4 variegated journeys (best to do one at a time). The 4FingerGood Friends: Pippin Pocket, Tiggy Tutu, Betty Brightstar and Roly Rainbow each take the children on an imagined journey. In this rented rush virtually world it is nice to find something that gives children the endangerment to be wifely and relaxed, many activities these days stimulate rather than relax. In an imagined world children get a endangerment to use their own visualisation skills, they can interpret the spoken words and imagine the world stuff described however they wish. For instance in 'Roly's Comfy Cloud' children imagine colours as they travel withal with Roly through a rainbow. They hear his unravelment and imagine him in his brightly coloured hat with clouds hanging from it, they are surrounded by colours and hear descriptive words to help them visualise. They hear sounds of running streams and birds in the sky. The calm, softly spoken words requite a feeling of warmth and cosiness which made me finger wifely and relaxed so it is good for adults too! Children are used for the weft voices which will help children relate to the story. I think the activities are helpful to pre-readers as we need to be worldly-wise to visualise descriptions as we read and this will help develop that skill ready for the future.   ______________________________________________________________ when to top Toy/Resource Review (March 2011):FingerGood Faces -WorkbenchGameAge Range: 5 - 10 yearsFingerGood Friends, The visitor defended to making children finger good well-nigh themselves and their world - www.feelgoodfriends.com This is a workbench game with a difference, it is a team game and there are no winners or losers! The idea of the game is to turn all the sad faces to happy ones. As you go withal you move your piece over brightly coloured 'stones', occasionally there are 'stones' which relate to one of the 3 packs of cards. Depending on which vellum you pick you have to do variegated things. Although aimed at 5 - 10 years we played this with children weather-beaten 3 - 7 and it was quite easy to transmute and help the little ones join in. There is a timer for those worldly-wise to understand that they need to wordplay questions within a specific time but for little ones you can just let them take their time, it all adds to the stillness of the game. It certainly gets children thinking well-nigh their feelings, what they are good at and how they think. It was a good laugh too as you not only see the children trying to act out a particular feeling (using only deportment and no sound) but you have to do it yourself! This gives children a really good role model to see adults vicarial out feelings too.Consideringit is a team game, with everyone working together you do not have that frustration often associated with workbench games when someone feels they are losing and walks off or tries to disrupt the game.   ______________________________________________________________ when to top Toy/Resource Review (March 2011):FingerGood Cards -StressingCardsAge range 4 - adultFingerGood Friends, The visitor defended to making children finger good well-nigh themselves and their world - www.feelgoodfriends.comClick photos to see a larger image This is a set of 28 stressing cards and 4 worriedness cards, plus ideas on how to use the cards and their benefit. The main idea overdue these cards is for children to segregate a vellum and for the sultana to help them think of examples in their own life that relate to it, helping them finger confident and increasingly positive well-nigh themselves by repeating the affirmation. I must shoehorn that when I first opened the cards and looked through them I didn't expect them to work too well with the children I had at the time who ranged from 3 - 8 years in age, I thought they would not hold their interest for long. I'm pleased to say I was totally wrong! We looked through a few of them and I explained what they were, I read one out "I am lucky" and asked if the children thought they were lucky. One said "yes considering we go to school", they then went on to talk well-nigh how children in other countries are not so lucky, how they do not have the books and equipment that we have and that we should be very happy. The other children listened and were keen to add their own thoughts on what else made us lucky. They could be useful to use at the end of the day when you are looking for something to just wifely things lanugo surpassing home time, giving a focus and a endangerment to talk over feelings and how children finger well-nigh themselves. Light and easy to siphon you could pop them in your bag to use at any time that you felt the need to get children's attention; long journeys, while waiting for buses, waiting for school to open, waiting in the car etc. there are many opportunities. There are 4FingerGood Friends: Pippin Pocket, Tiggy Tutu, Betty Brightstar and Roly Rainbow giving fun figures for the children to relate to.   _______________________________________________________________ when to top Product Review (January 2011): Noble Minder - merchantry support package for Childminders Note: Noble Minder ceased trading in April 2012 so therefore this review has been removed. _______________________________________________________________ when to top Product Review (September 2010): Jofli Bears - Travelling Teddy Bears www.jofli.com This is our travelling teddy - Walter - named without Walter Raleigh the famous explorer. (This unliable for a unconfined history lesson!) he is a JofliWithstandand came well-constructed with his own Story, Log Book,Walkaboutand Pen. The walkabout is detachable and he has a removable hat and scarf. He has his own ID registration to wangle interactive online features on the Jofli website where you can moreover purchase uneaten log books and pages, suit and accessories. The quality of the Jofli withstand is excellent, very plush and cuddly just as a withstand should be! The walkabout is very upper quality, made from a strong canvas with metal zips, siphon handle and shoulder strap. It is like a normal rucksack but in miniature. 4 zip compartments which moreover have inner pockets, indulge the children to siphon things withal with them as well as the supplied LogTypesettingand pen. The walkabout attaches to the Jofli withstand with strong plastic squeeze clips, just like a normal rucksack and by using the supplied strap the child can use the walkabout on its own or can fix it to the withstand and then siphon withstand and walkabout at the same time by threading the strap through the top handle to make loops. The LogTypesettingis a child size ring folder and comes with loose leaf sheets for recording various things including My Adventures, Hopes and Dreams, and Favourite things, a lovely way to record information well-nigh a child which will be interesting to read as they get older. The diary pages indulge the children to write well-nigh where the withstand has been and what he got up to, there are photo pages too and Scrap pages for drawing your own pictures. The JofliWithstandcomes well-constructed with a unique ID number which allows you to go online and log into a secure zone where there are increasingly activities and printables. I am happy to recommend Jofli Bears and would rate them very highly, they are far increasingly than just a toy, they can wilt a companion and memory typesetting rolled into one! Using a travelling withstand within a childminding setting: Well I think it is a rare child that doesn't like a teddy bear! Bears are loved by many an sultana too for that matter, I know that I am one of them! I find that some children will often interact increasingly readily with a toy or puppet than with an sultana so using a travelling teddy gives children the opportunity to think well-nigh and discuss where they have been and what they have been doing. It is unconfined to vivificate the withstand by using silly voices and making it move by waving it's arm or moving it's legs to dance, children quickly want to be involved and can get carried yonder in thinking it is real! Sometimes they will talk to it, show snooping and laugh with it, a unconfined way to explore relationships, emotions and feelings. As a childminder you can indulge the children to take the withstand on holiday, a visit home for the night or weekend, to school and nursery (if they permit it) and on outings. This will requite a wealth of occasions for the child to discuss what the withstand did, where they took it etc. Within a childminding setting there is moreover an opportunity to proffer this remoter by sending your withstand to flipside childminder in your area. Perhaps via your local childminding group meetings it could be serried to have a 'bear swap' where the withstand goes to visit flipside setting and comes when with his LogTypesettingcompeted with stories and photos of what he got up to. You in turn would then have a withstand to visit and the children can do activities with it and record them. There are several members on the Childminding Forum who post their bears to other members so they can have vita in other settings. For older children you can enhance their writing and reading skills by permitting them to fill in the Log Book, take photos and print them. Using travelling bears covers just well-nigh every zone of EYFS, these are just a few of my ideas, there are many more: PhysicalMinutiae- Fine manipulation skills for dressing and undressing the bear, opening and fastening the when pack, turning pages of the log typesetting and holding the pen. CreativeMinutiae- Expressing ideas and using imagination on where the withstand should travel, designing the pages in his log for text and photos. Knowledge and Understanding of the World - Learning of the places the withstand travels, how he travels e.g. train, car, wend plane, ICT skills using the interactive on-line option. Learning well-nigh their local polity as they share the withstand with others. Communication, Language and Literacy - Discussing what the withstand got up to, reading well-nigh his travels, writing skills to well-constructed the log. Personal, Social and EmotionsMinutiae- Making choices, sharing toys, meeting others, sharing ideas and exploring emotions e.g. did the withstand have a nice time, did he miss you, was he happy or sad, all these help build the child's own conviction and self-esteem. Creating a log of their personal preferences. Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy - Learning well-nigh loftiness the withstand travels, how to get him there, the number of visits he has had. _______________________________________________________________ when to top Product Review (August 2010): BigTypesettingLittle BookWafer-thinBox -TypesettingStorage www.bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox.co.uk Perhaps like me your first thought was "well it is just a box and I can get a box for self-ruling from the supermarket!" However, you might be be surprised when you see one. I was amazed how strong it is and I don't think anything from the supermarket could compare for strength and durability. In fact to test it out I tried standing on the sides - quite a balancing act I can tell you and not to be recommended! but it took my weight so should stand up to the rigours of a variety of children using it over a long time. Measuring 53cm in length x 32cm deep it has two compartments of variegated sizes for large and small books. The front is slightly lower than the when at 11cm and 15 cm respectively, thus permitting for the books to be stored squatter forward and made easy to flick through. Most of our books fit into it but not all so it might be nice to see them made in variegated sizes in the future. As it comes plain and undecorated it offers flipside wile of stuff turned into an worriedness for the children if they are unliable to decorate it themselves, the worriedness could then be hands linked to the EYFS learning areas. It has been in use in our playroom now for two weeks, yet to be decorated but still looking as good as new. I will report when at a later stage as to how it is going and how long it lasts! Update January 2011 - Still going strong and looks as good as new!   _______________________________________________________________ when to top Product Review (July 2010): Beep! - Activities for Early Years CD-ROM - suitable for PC or Mac I first came wideness 'Beep!' at my local Sure Start centre where it was misogynist for children to use while visiting our Childminding Group. Now having my own reprinting to use with the children in my own setting is wonderful, it is an spanking-new educational resource. It comes as a CD-Rom and has 6 activities aimed at age range 3 - 5 years, although some 2 year olds can manage to use it with a little help and guidance. The activities are brightly coloured and very engaging, sound and movement on screen helps to alimony the child's attention. They help promote observation skills and moreover have fun games such as 'Wardrobe' , at the moment this is the favourite here! You dress a storyboard victual in whatever clothes/hats/shoes etc. you like, children find this really witty as they create their own funny looking 'baby'. Other activities include: Odd one Out - Children must identify the odd one out and click on it. Street Scene: Create a picture and watch it come to life Maze: Move an unprepossessing through the maze to reach a unrepealable object Musical Paint Box: Every time a mark is made on the screen a variegated sound will play, representing the 'type' of mark, offering uncounted possibilities for creative music making. Word Robot: Drag words into the grid and hear the robot say them. You can moreover add new words and record your own voice. An spanking-new word recognition game which can moreover be used to build simple sentences. All in all a unconfined way to introduce ICT to your setting, children learn to use the computer and develop their mouse skills while having fun. Games can moreover be played using keyboard keys. The activities can hands be linked to all EYFS Early Learning Goals during your observations. To find out increasingly visit their website www.busythings.co.uk/cd-rom-beep.php where you can find screenshots of some of the activities and increasingly information plus the opportunity for a self-ruling 28 day trial. System Requirements: Windows:Pentium 600 Mhz128 Mb RAM16x CD-ROM drive16 bit colour displayWindows 98SE or whilom Mac:G3 or above128 Mb RAM16x CD-ROM drive16 bit colour displayOSX 10.1.5 or later   Custom Search We use cookies to make this site as useful as possible. They are small text files placed in your browser to track usage of our site but they don't tell us who you are. By standing to use this site you are consenting to cookies stuff placed on your computer. 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