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At My First Five Years, we know it can be hard to sift through all the information available online and find what you want to know to help you to support your child. That’s why we provide information you can trust, backed by years of experience, science and research.  

Have you been thinking about swimming? We've teamed up with Water Babies to answer you questions and tell you more about the benefits of swimming with your little one. 

What you need 

• Post-it notes or smallish pieces of paper 
• A pen 
• Two bowls or baskets 

The steps

• Write words or letters on half the post it notes. For the first few times you play, you can write the same word (or letter) on every note.  
• Draw pictures on the other half. They can be as simple (or as artistic) as you like!  
• Stick the post-it notes at random around the room (or house) in places your child will be able to find and reach them without help. 
• Show your child the two bowls. Stick a post-it note saying ‘words’ on one, and a post-it note with a picture on it on the other bowl. Place the bowls in the middle of the room. 
• Explain that they need to find all the post-it notes in the room, and each time they find one they need to bring it over and put it in the correct bowl. 
• Encourage them to keep searching until they find all of the notes you hid.  

Benefits for your child

• It’s important to remember that you’re not expecting your child to recognise the words at this stage. The game will help them learn to recognise the difference between letters/words and images on a basic level – they need to build this foundation before they can begin understanding how to decode the marks to read letters and words in the years to come.  

Building on

• Play again and again by getting your child to hide the notes for you to find (and then help you decide which bowl each goes in).
• Extend their learning by helping them to count how many post-its are in each bowl at the end of the search.

What you need

• A calm, quiet space to stretch out.
• You can do these simple yoga stretches on a yoga mat, or use a rug, playmat or towel to soften the ground beneath your feet.

Remember to only do what feels comfortable for your body, and your child.  

What you need

• A place for a walk where you can collect leaves, sticks or stones 

The steps

• Tell your child that you're going to collect some leaves (or sticks or stones) on your walk.  
• Ask them to look around and see if they can find one.  
• When they’ve found a leaf, ask, “Now can you find a bigger one?”  
• Collect a few then put then stop and put them all down, ask your child if they can put them in order from smallest to biggest.  
• Chat about the different sizes as they put their collection in order.  

Benefits for your child

• Talking about size and comparison is a cognitive skill as well as a language skill. They're learning to connect the meaning of these words to real life situations. 
• Being able to describe the differences between items sizes is an important foundational skill for maths learning later in life. 

Building on 

• Understanding the language we use to compare size can be confusing at first, if your child finds it tricky to notice the difference between items help them find ones which are very different - so a much bigger stick and a tiny twig - to start the conversation.
• As they get 

What you need  

• Music or a soundtrack with firework sounds – you can find these on streaming services.  
• Ribbons, streamers or pieces of fabric. 

If you like classical music look for Handel’s ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’. If you prefer something more modern, Katy Perry's 'Firework' is always a good choice!  

What you need 

• A coat 
• A friend, sibling or relative 

The steps 

• Ask your child to show someone else how they put on their coat.  
• If you this is another adult, ask the adult to comment on what your child is doing or to ask for more information about each step.  
• Step in and help if your child gets frustrated, but if they aren’t encourage them to keep trying when it gets tricky.  

Benefits for your child

• Showing someone else what they’re learning will help encourage your child to keep practising, even if they might still need a little bit of help to avoid frustration. 
• Explaining or showing others the steps helps your child remember the order of tasks and encourages them to think about how important that order is - which are important cognitive skills to practise. 

Building on

• If your child enjoys this, let them think of other things they can explain to other people. This might be putting on socks and shoes, doing a favourite puzzle or getting the table ready for a meal. Anything they enjoy and are proud to do!

According to Statista the average annual spend on toys in the United Kingdom in 2019 was £299.^[1] When taking into account gifts as well as toys bought by members of the household, another survey suggested the average spend per child per year was £750.^[2] If you’re thinking about spending a bit less this year, or just want to get good quality toys for your child, read on.  

The Toys That Inspire Mindful Play and Nurture Imagination (TIMPANI) study was a research study that took place from 2010 until 2019 in America.  

What you need 

• Small plastic animal toys, or small toy cars – they will get wet so make sure they can withstand some splashing 
• A set of plastic stacking cups, plastic food containers or other objects which will float in water

The steps

• On or just after a rainy day, find some puddles.  If this isn't practical fill a large container, like a bucket, with water or even do the activity in the bath.  
• Float the stacking cups in the water and show your toddler how you can add a small toy to the cup and keep the ‘raft’ floating. 
• Let your toddler add toys to the rafts and experiment with how many can be added before they sink, and which sized animals fit on each raft.  
• With experience they might show that they realise that smaller toys fit best on the smaller rafts, and bigger toys can fit on the bigger rafts. 

Benefits for your child

• This activity helps your child to begin to make sense of volume and capacity, as well as understanding what materials float and what sinks. 
• Giving them the chance to play with the items and experiment freely with the water and 'rafts' means your child will get real-life experience of these complex concepts, which is essential to support their understanding as they grow. 

Building on

• Offer your child smaller rafts, or larger items, and see how they adjust their expectations of what will float. 
• Try offering your child small items which are heavier than the ones they've been using. Will they be able to make these float?
  
  

Safety note: Never leave your child unsupervised around water, no matter how shallow the water is.