Little Tinks Childminding

This activity helps develop
fine motor skills
Sort count and sort operations
Innovation design
Some balance games
Taking turns

Foam wash station” with water, bubbles, scoops, tongs, and small sea animals. In EYFS, this activity supports multiple areas of learning and development.

Communication and Language

* Encourages children to talk about what they can see, feel, and do.
* Introduces vocabulary such as foam, bubbles, scoop, squeeze, float, sink, wet, slippery, whale, and fish.
* Supports conversation, questioning, and storytelling about the sea animals.

Physical Development

* Strengthens fine motor skills through:
* Using tongs to pick up objects.
* Scooping and pouring water and foam.
* Squeezing and manipulating bubbles.
* Develops hand-eye coordination and control.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)

* Encourages independent exploration and decision-making.
* Promotes turn-taking and sharing when completed with others.
* Can have a calming, regulating effect through sensory play.

Mathematics

* Opportunities to:
* Count sea animals.
* Compare quantities (“more foam”, “less water”).
* Explore capacity through filling and emptying containers.
* Use positional language such as under, on top, next to, and inside.

Understanding the World

* Encourages exploration of materials and their properties:
* What happens when foam is mixed with water?
* Which objects float or sink?
* Introduces discussions about oceans, sea creatures, and habitats.

Expressive Arts and Design

* Children can use their imagination to create:
* An ocean scene.
* A car wash, animal rescue, or underwater adventure.
* Supports pretend play and creative thinking.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

This activity particularly promotes:

* Playing and Exploring – investigating the foam and hidden objects.
* Active Learning – remaining engaged while searching, washing, and transferring items.
* Creating and Thinking Critically – solving problems, testing ideas, and deciding how to move or find objects.

Little tinks are supporting boro today come on boro

The children enjoyed a memorable community experience as they visited the airport to wave Middlesbrough FC off to the Wembley final. They met players, collected autographs and learned about supporting their local community. The experience promoted communication skills, confidence, social interaction and understanding of the wider world while creating meaningful opportunities for discussion, role play and creative expression back in the setting.”

The photographs shows a child meeting a player and receiving an autograph, which is a particularly valuable opportunity for building confidence, communication skills and a sense of community belonging. Middlesbrough FC

This World Bee Day activity gave the EYFS children lots of valuable learning opportunities through play. 🐝

They were able to develop:

* Number recognition – finding and identifying the numbers in the tray.
* Counting skills – counting bees, wheels, or matching quantities to numbers.
* Fine motor skills – picking up small objects and moving them carefully helped strengthen finger muscles needed for writing.
* Hand-eye coordination – placing and sorting items into bowls supported control and coordination.
* Language development – talking about bees, colours, numbers, and what they could see encouraged communication and vocabulary.
* Understanding the world – learning about bees and why they are important for nature and pollination linked to World Bee Day.
* Problem-solving and curiosity – searching through the sensory materials encouraged exploration and independent thinking.
* Social skills – sharing resources, taking turns, and talking with others during the activity.

The sensory aspect of the activity also helped keep children engaged, calm, and focused while learning in a fun and meaningful way.

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🥳 Here’s reason #6…

🧑‍🧒 If you’re a parent looking for help, you’ll find that here…

🔗 https://www.friendlychildmindershub.com/parents-area

🏡 If you’re a childminder, or someone looking to take the leap, and you are in search of reliable information, dedicated support and genuine connection, you’ll find all that and more inside the Hub! It’s a fiver month (just £1.15 a week) and the first month is free for new members. Have a nosey here to learn more…

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🤔 Why should parents choose childminders for their children?

🥳 Here’s reason #5…

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🔗 https://www.friendlychildmindershub.com/parents-area

🏡 If you’re a childminder, or someone looking to take the leap, and you are in search of reliable information, dedicated support and genuine connection, you’ll find all that and more inside the Hub! It’s a fiver month (just £1.15 a week) and the first month is free for new members. Have a nosey here to learn more…

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🥳 Here’s reason #4…

🧑‍🧒 If you’re a parent looking for help, you’ll find that here…

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🏡 If you’re a childminder, or someone looking to take the leap, and you are in search of reliable information, dedicated support and genuine connection, you’ll find all that and more inside the Hub! It’s a fiver month (just £1.15 a week) and the first month is free for new members. Have a nosey here to learn more…

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🥳 Here’s reason #3…

🧑‍🧒 If you’re a parent looking for help, you’ll find that here…

🔗 https://www.friendlychildmindershub.com/parents-area

🏡 If you’re a childminder, or someone looking to take the leap, and you are in search of reliable information, dedicated support and genuine connection, you’ll find all that and more inside the Hub! It’s a fiver month (just £1.15 a week) and the first month is free for new members. Have a nosey here to learn more…

🔗 https://www.friendlychildmindershub.com

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