EYFS: How I encourage early maths

Hello again, 

Childminders, like pre-schools, nurseries and Reception class in primary schools follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This is a curriculum devised by the Department for Education and covers development and learning for children age 0 to 5. I thought it would be interesting if I explained how I deliver parts of this curriculum. This post will focus on Maths because I love maths and have a strong mathematical background, although it is far more simplistic nowadays!

Maths is a huge part of everyday life, we use maths without thinking about it. Whether it is looking at a clock to find out the time, cutting a sandwich into quarters or counting the number of children you have with you on the school run! It's all maths as far as the EYFS is concerned and it's easy to incorporate into the daily routine and encourage the children to learn mathematical skills.  

Maths for very young children is simple; recognising changes in the number of items in a group up to 3, awareness of number names, an understanding that things exist when hidden - where's teddy gone? (I'm sure every parent/carer has played a similar game!), random counting - number names, organising items into groups e.g. size, colour, shape. Sensory play is really important for babies and young children as this is the start of mathematical skills in the form of shape, space and measure. Some activities such as counting games, shape sorting and matching are clearly related to the EYFS mathematics specific area, others such as daily routines aren't so recognisable.

Communication is key to children's development. I find it very natural to talk about numbers, shape, size, colour, amounts etc. and I'm sure most people do too, without realising! It's simple. Just describe everything you do!

Here's an example:

It's snack time. Tell the children the time - "It's 10 o'clock" Ask them what happens at 10 o'clock - "It's time for snack". More questions - "How many plates do we need?" "What colour plate you got?", "Is it a big plate or a small plate", "How many pieces of melon do you have?" "What colour...", "What are we going to do next?"

To begin with you might end up asking and answering questions yourself but as the children get older and develop their communication & language (C&L) skills (a prime area within the EYFS), they will answer for themselves.

Maths in the environment is another good way of teaching children. There are lots of ways you can do this: posters & pictures in your playroom or garden is an obvious one but, and this hinges on C&L again, asking questions whilst out and about.

Example:

On a walk you may count the number of cars parked in a line, you can also ask the children the colour of the cars you see. Ask the children what numbers on houses are, whether they can see certain numbers, what colour things are such as cars or front doors, count the number of steps, lampposts, dogs...you get the idea. From experience it won't be long before they start telling you these things when you're out and about. I won't forget how two children I used to care for would also describe the houses we were coming up to on our walk or call out the number of the local bus as it passed us. It is truly amazing how much children take in as you chat away to yourself. It's also rather rewarding!

I'm going to share a few of the mathematical resources I have in my setting.

Wooden numbers - small enough for little hands to explore in a Discovery Tray and good for practising number recognition skills.

Dice - regular six-sided cube and multi-faceted ones.

Pom poms / glass nuggets - these are great for counting and grouping

A big calculator - nothing fancy, something from Poundland is OK. It's not news that children like buttons to press.

Stories & books about numbers - one of my favourite, which I've used for about 8 years is called The Yummy, Yummy Cake Trick by Colin Fletcher. I bought it for about 20p from the local library when they were selling off old stock. There's counting, time telling, sharing, adding and of course lots of different baked goods!

Grimm's wooden toys - if you follow me on Instagram or have read one of my recent blog posts you'll know I love these toys. They are a good way to teach colour, shape and size. The children count the different layers of the rainbow, match the colours of the mushrooms and talk about big & small.

In the garden I use laminated numbers, air-flow balls (set up in an abacus style), plastic tubs and bath toys - especially ducks in the water table.

I'll do a follow on post to this later in the year when I'll write about some specific activities that I do with the children.

Thank you for reading, I hope you've found it useful.

@dottyduckschildcare

This post was first published by Dotty Ducks Childcare in April 2018.

For more information about my childminding service please click here.

Messy Play: Easter Themed Shaving Foam & Glitter

Welcome to mess central! This is an activity I have scheduled for Wednesday 25th March 2018, based on the children who are expected to attend my setting. Not all children enjoy messy play but for those who do, this is one to try. As with most of the activities I do with the minded children, it's simple. First of all I wouldn't advise trying this in a room with a carpet. As with all messy play I either do this in my kitchen or the garden.

The first thing you should do is protect the floor with a plastic cloth, then either use a large tray or of tuff spot and squirt a good amount of shaving foam - I always use the sensitive ones. Then, depending on the ages and abilities of the children taking part in this activity, you can add glitter yourself or put some glitter in bowls of shakers and leave the children to explore the tray and add it themselves. 

It's a great sensory activity and there's always lots of communication and language skills being developed as the children play. You don't need to add anything else but you could leave a selection of cups, spoons, different shaped containers, dolls, plastic figures etc. on the tray too.

It's Easter on Sunday so this week I will be setting up this activity and adding those plastic eggs from Poundland (I've also seen them in Sainsbury's) for the children to incorporate into their play. I'm sure it won't be long before they figure out how to open them up and begin filling them with foam and glitter. I'm going to use gold glitter and perhaps add some food colouring into the shaving foam to give them a pastel colour - very seasonal.

Top tip - always have a bowl of warm water, hand wash and towels close by. It makes cleaning the children a lot easier than taking them to a sink.

Follow me on Instagram to see this activity in action...it's scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Exciting stuff.

Thanks for reading.

First published March 2018 @dottyduckschildcare

If you are looking for a childminder please click here for more information about my childcare service.

New Resources: Grimm's Wooden Toys from Babi Pur

Hello there.

Spring has arrived (even if it's still a little chilly at times!), which means it's time to freshen up with a few new resources. The children in my setting tend to play with the same toys so I thought I would introduce a few new ones from a company based in North Wales called Babi Pur. This company specialises in ethical shopping for kids.  I found this company when I was looking for a small wooden rainbow, which they stock and I was so impressed with the range of wooden toys on offer I placed an order. There are so many beautiful toys on offer, many of which are suitable from birth. I bought the small rainbow and some rainbow mushrooms - not a big order I know but I wanted to see how well these went down in my setting. I was drawn to this brand because I wanted open-ended resources and each child has their own way of playing with these types of toys. 

First of all, the order was dispatched and received quickly. Secondly the quality of these products from Grimms was excellent - well made and suitable for the ages of the children who I provide childcare for. Finally, these toys have been played with non-stop since I received them. The older children like to incorporate them with existing toys such as cars, dolls and other wooden blocks - they have been using the rainbow to make a tunnel across the train tracks and pens for small animals. The younger children have been using them as a stand alone resource - making towers, counting and colour recognition.

So based on usage over the past couple of weeks I decided to take a further look at what was on offer. I asked some of the children who I care for, as well as my own children what they liked and why they liked it. I made it clear I wasn't going to order everything but if we could have one new piece what should we get and how could be use it. I would honestly order everything it means allowed it, these toys are fantastic and I would highly recommend them as gifts for babies and children. The children I look after range from 2 years to 10 years and they all play with these beautiful toys.

I was surprised at how quickly the older children agreed what our next purchase should be. The children wanted to order the Water Wave so that's what I've ordered. This product, as with quite a few in the range, comes in different sizes. I've gone for the larger sized one (priced at £22.94) because I thought it would work better with the other products we had from Grimms, part of me also wishes I'd bought the slightly larger (17cm) rainbow, which was why I decided against the small water wave. Have a look on Babi Pur's website, there are loads of example how this toy can be played with.

The children can't for this product to arrive - they are going to love it! 

Check out my Instagram to see how we use these fantastic resources. I know I will be ordering more from Babi Pur and Grimms in the future.

Thanks for reading!

@dottyduckschildcare

This post was first published in March 2018

For more information about my childminding service please click here.

There are no affiliate links in this post. All opinions are my own. All products have been purchased with my own money. This is not sponsored post or an advertisement.

What is a Discovery Tray?

One of the most used resources at my setting are the Discovery Trays, which I make up for the children to explore. I have a range of resources within my setting, which the children use in their own way to play and learn. Some are purpose bought toys and games whereas others are everyday objects that I use to encourage different skills to aid learning and development. Every child is unique and each has their preferences when it comes to choosing the toys and resources they want to use. However, one resource that all the children enjoy are the Discovery Trays that I put together, but what is a Discovery Tray?

It is very simply a tray (or basket) that contains a few items - not necessarily toys, but items specific to a theme. For example, around the time of Chinese New Year I put together a basket filled with red & yellow coloured blocks, ribbons and toys. Each child approaches these Discovery Trays in different ways. Some will pick out bricks for example and build towers, others will line up or group items of the same colour, some will pour or spoon items into other containers.

These trays are known as open-ended activities because they can be played with in multiple ways - each child will approach them differently. They are ever so easy to put together, you can make one from items you have around them home. I prefer not to put too many items in the tray as I think the child can get distracted and confused with all the different textures, colours, shapes etc. There is no time limit as to how long a child should play or interact with the tray but if you want to fill a gap or 20 minutes they are an excellent resource. 

These are the items I like to include:

Something colourful - plastic blocks such as Duplo/Lego/Mega Blocks, scarves, ribbons, plastic cogs, bit of other toys such as the marble run (as seen in the Chinese New Year basket), small toys e.g. Happy Land figures, cars.

Textures - fabric, cardboard, wooden items such as blocks, smooth wooden shapes e.g. cones, cubes, spheres, metal objects e.g. spoons, egg cups, measuring cups, plastic pots.

Glass beads.

Plastic gems - available from craft suppliers.

Jumbo sequins - available from Baker Ross.

Wooden numbers.

Wooden letters.

Smooth stones.

Seashells.

Natural sponges.

Synthetic sponges / Bath roses (body puffs - available from chemists & supermarkets)

Nail brushes.

Napkin rings.

Curtain rings.

Nail brushes.

Spoons - different sizes & materials.

Small books specific to the theme of the tray e.g. a book on colours.

Interesting & unusual items.

Pieces of fabric e.g. corduroy, net, velvet.

Wooden or plastic 3D shapes.

Small pots with lids.

Pom-poms.

Feathers.

The list goes on. Have a look around Dunelm or Ikea for items. Items that look nice, make a lovely sound or have an interesting feel make good items to put on the tray. It's also nice to have a special tray to put the items on. I bought a shabby-chic style tray from eBay for about £8. It's common sense but never leave a small child unattended with a discovery tray and always check that what you are putting in the tray is safe and suitable for the child you are preparing it for. 

Here are some of the Discovery Trays I've put together recently - none of these items have been bought especially for the trays. I must remember to take photographs of the Discovery Trays I put together in the future. At the time of setting these up I did not think I would be writing any blog posts about my childminding service. 

Chinese New Year

Sharing a Shell

Colours

Number Recognition / Counting

Autumn

I hope you've found this post interesting and perhaps given you some ideas about what to put in a Discovery Tray. Check out my Instagram page to see what we get up to at Dotty Ducks Childcare. Click here for the link. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

@dottyduckschildcare

Published March 2018

Click here for more information about Dotty Ducks Childcare.

Welcome to Dotty Ducks Childcare

About Dotty Ducks 

Dotty Ducks is a friendly childminding service located in the heart of the picturesque village of Parkgate. 

I aim to provide a fun filled structured day for your child and a homely and safe environment where I am confident to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and encourage learning through play.  

The activities on offer are exciting and stimulating, imaginative and non-repetitive. As well as activities based in my home and garden, I am also able to take children on walks to the park and Neston library as well as other places of local interest.     

I am ideally located for drop offs at Parkgate Primary School and Parkgate Preschool. I am able to offer care for your child before school. 

There are lots of fun & exciting activities for children of all ages at Dotty Ducks.

About Me

I am married with two children of my own.

Before I decided to become a childminder I worked for the NHS for 12 years in informatics, service improvement and managerial roles. I studied Mathematics at university and gained a 2:1 degree classification. I decided to become a childminder whilst on maternity leave with my son. I wanted a rewarding career working with children, where each day was different and fulfilling. I do like routine and found that although I spent a lot of time doing different activities with my own children I had developed a structure, which is what I’ve based Dotty Ducks around. 

Delivering the EYFS at Dotty Ducks 

I am confident to deliver the new EYFS to a high standard. I carefully plan activities to ensure they are age-appropriate and all areas of the EYFS are covered. For example (expressive arts & design): a 1-year old may like to shake maracas during song time, where as 4-year old will is more likely to sing along using the correct lyrics as well as play musical instruments in time with the song.  

  

I like to use the outdoor setting as much as the indoor setting when delivering the EYFS.  

  

I am a creative and imaginative person and I encourage a range of different activities and resources to deliver this framework. Every child matters and there will be something for everyone at my setting. We can learn a lot from each other and I will do my best to incorporate personal experiences, beliefs and customs into my activities.  I have developed policies to ensure all children and their parents/carers feel welcome and valued at Dotty Ducks. 

  

I will provide each child in the early years age group with a learning journey, which will contain key information about what they have done whilst in my care. The learning journey will be available for you to take away and look through and is also a good tool to communicate with me. I will use the learning journey to assist with any assessments I am required to carry out, such as the Two Year Check. 

  

The Two Year Check is a progress check for children aged two to three, which entails a short written summary of the child’s progress against the three prime areas of the EYFS. 

  

  

Care for Older Children  

Dotty Ducks is not just aimed at children who fall into the early years age group (i.e. 0-5), before school care (wrap-around care) is also on offer. I put equal planning into activities for children who are at school as I do for those following the EYFS. In addition to planned activities, older children may prefer to spend their time with me reading books or doing homework (which I am only too happy to assist with if need be).

Open Hours & Fees 

Childcare is available from 8am until 3pm Tuesday, Thursday and Friday term-time only. Should you require childcare outside of these times please do get in contact either via my Facebook page or e-mail.

I charge £5 per hour (part hours charged accordingly) but any childcare outside of my core opening hours will be charged at a higher rate.

Thank you for reading, if you would like to know more about Dotty Ducks Childcare click here to visit my Facebook page. I post a lot of information about the activities you can expect from a quality home from home childminder.

Last Inspected April 2016

Page updated: 30.12.18