Exploring and playing with objects - Treasure baskets and heuristic play
You might have heard people talking about heuristic play or seen adverts for various different treasure baskets and wonder what exactly people were talking about. In this blog, we will explore some of the ideas that underpin treasure baskets and heuristic play and give some suggestions about how you could use some of these ideas at home.
Serve and return! Playing with your baby
At My First Five Years, we know that babies, toddlers and children learn through play, but what does learning through play look like for your baby? In this blog, we will explore play and young babies, thinking about how you can play with your baby and how this play supports their development.
Crying: Your newborn baby's early communication
When they are born and during the first few weeks crying is an important way for your baby to communicate their needs. They will, in the next few weeks, start to smile, look and move as a means of communicating but crying will remain an important part of their communication. In this blog, we will look at what is known about crying and young babies and some of the things that might soothe your newborn baby.
Getting a grip - Your baby's grasp reflexes
A moment that many of us remember is the moment our newborn baby gripped our finger for the first time. Your baby curling their fingers round your finger is one of several primitive reflexes, these develop in the womb and are present for weeks or months after birth until your baby develops the strength and control to make voluntary movements. In this blog, we explore three reflexes that could be described as grasp reflexes and consider how these link to your baby’s development.
Do you remember this? Learning from some favourite games!
At My First Five Years, we spend lots of time talking about babies and children and how they develop and learn. We also talk about how, very often, parents are doing things that support their children’s learning without realising.
Advice from our grandparents and great-grandparents
One of the things that you often find when you are first a parent is that everyone wants to give you advice. This advice is often well meant but perhaps one of the first lessons that we learn is to choose what advice we take!
Nursery Rhymes and Gross Motor Skills
Oh, there is so much fun to be had when singing nursery rhymes with young children! Some children love nothing more than to move around and have a feeling of freedom and energy. Many nursery rhymes are active and naturally promote the physical instinct of getting up and moving to the words. There is a natural beat and rhythm in nursery rhymes, offering the youngest of children the opportunity to join in by wriggling, bouncing, smiling and giggling.
Your child is really just a cave person - but cuter!
We so often get asked as a parent 'are they good?'.
Now ask me that at 2:30 pm on a busy Saturday in Asda following the mother of all meltdowns because I won’t let my child open the family size bag of Monster Munch!
Self-confidence and self-awareness in early childhood – what is it and how can families support this development?
Personal, social and emotional development is one of the prime areas in the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. It is an important aspect of development in young children and underpins all seven areas of learning.
