Get ideas for the last weekend of our dark nights play kit
Festive lights are beginning to appear and now it’s dark early, a late afternoon walk could be the perfect activity for babies, toddlers or children.
For all children something as simple as a walk after dark gives them lots of new experiences, which can feel magical and give you the chance to use lots of new words – which helps your child’s vocabulary to grow.
Tips for reading and sharing stories on dark nights
Lots of what we see about learning to read focuses on phonics – and this is important. But enjoying books is the key to a lifetime of reading, and unlocking a vast array of ideas and knowledge.
Parents who look at books with their children are described as transforming attitudes to reading.[1] Much of that transformation is connected to the warm, positive emotions of cuddling up together to enjoy a story.
What does tennis have to do with your child's development?
Well, strictly speaking, not very much actually. But there is one phrase that’s important for both a successful game of tennis and developing children’s social, cognitive and communication skills – ‘serve and return’.
Just like in tennis, when we talk about serve and return interactions in child development we are talking about two people passing something back and forth – and paying attention to make sure it keeps moving for as long as possible.
It’s festival season! How to hold your very own family fest at home...
Summer festivals are in full swing! This might mean your family is getting ready to attend one (or more) together... or it might mean you’re watching on with a mixture of awe and horror at the idea of camping at a noisy festival with the whole family!
The good news is that your child can benefit from the joy of a festival wherever you are. We’ve gathered some ideas for making the most of music and movement to plan your very own festival, and research shows it’s good for everyone to join in.
Staying safe in the sun: what you need to know to keep everyone healthy
Many of us look forward to summer, but when we have really hot weather, especially with long periods of hotter-then-usual temperatures, it can start to feel like there are a lot of new worries to juggle.
Knowing your child is staying healthy is one of the biggest worries. Are they drinking enough? How will you know? What about suncream, how often do you reapply? What do the symbols on the bottle actually mean?
How to keep your cool on hot days out
Most of us love the welcome return of the sun. It’s so good to get outside and feel its warmth on your skin after a winter swaddled up against the cold...
... But it brings its own set of challenges when you’re a parent.
Managing eggspectations – the inevitable Easter chocolate meltdown and how to avoid it
Can you imagine Easter through the eyes of a young child? All those brightly coloured eggs dotted around your garden for you to find, that turn out to be made from chocolate, that you get to eat? It sounds like the stuff of dreams!
How you celebrate Easter (if you celebrate) varies from family to family, and so does how much chocolate you decide to give your child.
Should you adjust your child’s sleep when the clocks change?
What’s not to love about the start of British Summer Time? The evenings get lighter, the days get longer, and spring is on its way. Which is all lovely, unless you have young children to convince that it’s night-time when the sun is clearly still very much up, and did we mention losing an hour’s sleep?
We love spring but as parents we often feel like we need all the sleep we can get, so it’s hardly surprising if you aren’t relishing the thought of losing an hour when the clocks change on the 31st of March. You might also be worried about how lighter nights will affect your child’s sleep, so we have a few tips for sleep in spring.
