'The Rainbow Fish' Activities

Using props and activities to bring a story to life can not only help to instill a love of reading and excitement around a book, but it also helps little minds to understand and follow a storyline better.  This blog post provides some ideas and resources for learning all about Marcus Pfister's 'The Rainbow Fish' story through play, including digital downloads.

  In the year when we saw Niall from Love Island 2018 talk about his ‘rainbow fish’ and seemingly describe a completely different moral to the story, here are a few activities that should hopefully help your little ones pick out the right message and also retain the plot of the book!

What is EYFS?

What is the EYFS? If you have children, or work alongside children, then the chances are you have seen the letters ‘EYFS’ quite a few times already – perhaps in reference to EYFS play, EYFS activities or even EYFS outcomes…but what is EYFS??

To give its most literal meaning, EYFS stands for the Early Years Foundation Stage – the period of time from birth to 5 years old. During this time, there are certain developmental milestones that children are expected to achieve. All adults who work with children in England are expected to follow these standards for learning, development and care, so that by the end of the EYFS children are meeting their ‘Early Learning Goals’ (ELGs) and are therefore ‘school ready’.

Music and Movement for Preschoolers and Babies

Did you know that movement helps us to hear music in detail and enhances our understanding not just of rhythm, but also of pitch and tune?  Experts believe that it can also be good for the brain, especially parts that deal with spatial and temporal reasoning. Learning to play an instrument may even increase your child's ability to do maths (Livingstone, 2005).

In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of music for young children, discuss music classes for babies and provide you with some musical activity ideas for babies and preschoolers.