Dummies can be a helpful way to comfort and settle babies, especially in the early months. However, as children grow, it’s important to balance dummy use with lots of opportunities to talk, listen and interact. These tips will help staff to support parents to make confident, informed decisions about when and how to use a dummy and how to reduce reliance on… Continue reading Top tips: Supporting parents with children’s dummy use
Blog Tag: MyNDNA
Early years activity: Caring for our planet
This sensory play activity provides young children with a hands-on opportunity to explore caring for the environment. Through imaginative play, children are introduced to the idea that oceans can become polluted and that they can help to make a difference. The activity encourages curiosity, cooperation and early awareness of looking after the world around them in a simple and… Continue reading Early years activity: Caring for our planet
Early years activity: Gardening Week – Supporting Communication and Language
Gardening week is a wonderful opportunity to support children’s communication and language as they take part in a range of sensory activities in both the natural outdoor environment and indoor environments. Learning aims Resources Activity outline Extension ideas Create a small flower garden, either in pots or in a section of your outdoor space. Encourage children to take responsibility… Continue reading Early years activity: Gardening Week – Supporting Communication and Language
Top tips: Cultivating Curiosity through Gardening
There are numerous benefits of involving children in gardening experiences, including access to the natural environment, sensory rich activities, working together, promoting curiosity and observing cause and effect. NDNA products to support you with this activity Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be risk assessed, including for allergies or choking. Children must always have… Continue reading Top tips: Cultivating Curiosity through Gardening
Top tips: Conducting productive team meetings
Effective team meetings are essential. Well-structured meetings help staff stay informed, feel valued and work together more efficiently. By making meetings purposeful and engaging, leaders can strengthen teamwork and improve daily practice. Top tips for conducting productive team meetings NDNA products to support you with this tip Supporting Well-being in the Early Years Workforce – Online course Effective Leadership and… Continue reading Top tips: Conducting productive team meetings
Early years activity: Fruit Salad
Encouraging healthy eating habits from an early age is essential for children’s growth and development. Making a fruit salad provides opportunities for children to explore different tastes, textures, weights and colours while developing positive attitudes towards nutritious foods. Fruit salad learning aims Resources you will need for this activity Fruit salad activity outline How to extend this activity Create a ‘fruit chart’ where children can… Continue reading Early years activity: Fruit Salad
Top tips: Menu planning
Menu planning in nursery settings helps ensure children receive healthy, balanced meals that support their growth and development. A well-planned menu provides a variety of nutritious foods, allowing children to experience different flavours, textures and food groups while developing positive eating habits from an early age. Explore our top tips for successful menu planning. Top… Continue reading Top tips: Menu planning
Early years activity: Outdoors dance time
Bring movement, music and imagination together with this fun outdoors dance time activity. Children are encouraged to explore creative expression as they move like elements of the natural world – from swaying trees to fluttering butterflies. This activity supports physical development and gives children the freedom to express themselves in fun and imaginative ways. Outdoors… Continue reading Early years activity: Outdoors dance time
Top tips: Following the child’s interests
Children learn best when they are motivated, curious and deeply engaged. By following children’s interests, practitioners create meaningful learning experiences that build on what children already know and care about. These top tips for following the child’s interests support early years teams to remain responsive and reflective while keeping the child at the centre of practice. Top tips for… Continue reading Top tips: Following the child’s interests
Early years activity: Number rhyme time
Developing confident mathematicians with a positive attitude and interest in maths starts in a child’s earliest years. Before children can understand and count purposefully, they need to develop a sense of number (what numbers are, what they mean, what different numbers look like as a physical concept and what they can do with them) and singing number rhymes will support… Continue reading Early years activity: Number rhyme time
Top tips: Ensuring staff know and understand your policies
On average, early years settings have over 100 policies in place that set out the setting’s practice. Polices are underpinned by legislation and should reflect a setting’s daily practice. Read our top tips on how you can ensure all staff know and understand your policies. Top tips for ensuring staff know and understand your policies NDNA products to support you with this tip NDNA… Continue reading Top tips: Ensuring staff know and understand your policies
Early years activity: Loose parts art-faces
This loose parts art activity encourages children to create faces using a variety of open-ended materials. They are then able to describe their faces and perhaps their emotions that they have included in their art. Loose parts art-faces learning aims Resources you will need for this activity Provide a wide range of loose parts, including but not limited… Continue reading Early years activity: Loose parts art-faces
Top tips: Maintaining effective communication with parents
Strong communication between nurseries and parents is essential for supporting children’s well-being, development and sense of security. When families feel informed, listened to and valued, it builds trust and creates a consistent approach between home and nursery. Clear communication helps practitioners share important information, celebrate achievements and work together to support each child’s individual needs. Top tips for supporting new staff Support your team… Continue reading Top tips: Maintaining effective communication with parents
Top tips: Supporting new staff
A supportive start for new staff can help them feel confident and valued and know your expectations from day one. Consistent guidance helps practitioners settle faster, follow routines more accurately and build stronger relationships. This early support boosts quality of practice, improves teamwork and can help to reduce stress and staff turnover. Here are some tips to support you. Top tips for… Continue reading Top tips: Supporting new staff
Early years activity: How do I feel
By noticing and naming feelings, children start to understand their emotions and those of others. This playful ‘faces and feelings’ activity helps to build empathy, confidence and extends children’s emotional vocabulary. How do I feel learning aims Resources you will need for this activity How do I feel activity outline How to extend this activity After identifying feelings shown on picture cards, sort… Continue reading Early years activity: How do I feel
Top tips: Making Reading Fun at Home
Reading with your child is one of the most valuable things you can do. It strengthens your bond, supports their learning and development, and most importantly – it’s fun! Whether you have five minutes at bedtime or a little longer on a quiet afternoon, those small moments together can make a big difference. The key is to keep reading… Continue reading Top tips: Making Reading Fun at Home
Early years activity: Little Gardeners – Cress Caterpillars
Bring a little nature indoors with this fun and simple Cress Caterpillars activity. Children will love creating their own cheerful caterpillar while exploring how plants grow and change. As they care for their cress each day, they’ll observe tiny seeds transform into fresh green shoots, building curiosity, responsibility and a sense of achievement along the way. Little Gardeners – Cress Caterpillars… Continue reading Early years activity: Little Gardeners – Cress Caterpillars
Top tips: Encouraging reading at home
Research tells us that one important thing that parents can do to help their child’s education is to share books with them. This can help to develop a lifelong passion for reading and enjoyment of stories in their earliest years. Parents will have a range of experiences of early reading and formal schooling and this may affect their confidence towards reading with their own child. To… Continue reading Top tips: Encouraging reading at home
Early years activity: World Book Day
World Book Day is an annual celebration that offers a chance to celebrate children’s favourite story books and characters. Our activity encourages children to share books they cherish while discovering the favourites of others too. World Book Day learning aims Resources you will need for this activity World Book Day activity outline How to extend this activity NDNA products to support you… Continue reading Early years activity: World Book Day
Top tips: Time management and prioritsing tasks
Effective time management helps the team stay calm, responsive and focused on what matters most: the children. As a nursery manager, leading good practice in prioritising tasks supports staff well-being and the effective running of the nursery. Top tips for time management and prioritising tasks NDNA products to help you with this tip Disclaimer: Activities with children must always be… Continue reading Top tips: Time management and prioritsing tasks