Little Explorers Childminding

Despite the on & off rain, we had a lovely walk at Alexandra Park for Family Hub At The Meadows weekly walk.

Emma & Nic gave the children a task of finding natural treasures to decorate their carnival mask with. They found lots of colourful & interesting things.

On our way around, we spotted lots of conkers on the trees. On further inspection there were some on the floor. We opened a few but inside the conkers were still white so not ready yet.

There where Apples & Acorns as well. We nearly stood on a Sycamore Moth Caterpillar. It’s big yellow fluffy body was crawling along the path.

Also we found some exploding seed pods belonging to the Himalayan Balsam flower. The children and adults all had fun touching & exploding them 😂.

With it being very wet we said our thankyou & goodbyes, we took our masks & natural treasures home with us.

Great weekly walk again with great company!

“Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” – Charles R. Swindoll

We took advantage of the sunny weather & got our sun cream on and off we went to the ‘Sandcastle’ park.

As expected it was very busy but the Little Explorers still had lots of fun. Their new favourite thing is the zip wire and grown in confidence using it.

So many things to climb on as well. Lots of energy burnt off with some children falling asleep in the car on the way home 😴.

“Keep your children wild, don't make them grow up too fast.” - Brooke Hampton

A lovely afternoon on the Family Hub At The Meadows weekly walk.

We met Emma and our new friends at the Car Park. This weeks theme is Carnival. Emma gave the children the task to decorate a mask with natural treasure what they find on their walk.

The children found lots of colour things along the way. We saw lots of animals too especially a really friendly big sheep.

The Little Explorers had lots of fun and we managed to miss the rain!

“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” - Joe Namath

The Little Explorers had lots of fun on Mesnes Park.

With rain in the air we got our coats on and headed to Mesnes Park. The children went on both parks. The sand one (for younger children) and the other one (for older children). They even saw and spoke to some school friends on there.

“I'm having fun. I'm being myself. I'm doing what I love. That's all that matters.” - James Charles

The Little Explorers have been to Haigh Woodland Park this morning.

We explored around the forest and woodlands. Then the children had a good play on the play area, they spent must of the time in the sand area.

We then had a round of Mini Golf. The children had so much fun on it. I don’t think we have any Tiger Woods’s in our setting but they all did well.

Now time for a picnic for our lunch in the woods.

"You’re going to make mistakes. The key is to learn from them as fast as possible and make changes as soon as you can." - Tiger Woods

We’ve had a fun packed craft day today with Emma & Nic from Family Hub At The Meadows.

This morning Little Explorers went to Clifton Street to do some crafts. It was similar to yesterday but we had different children today. They played with play dough, made sunshine faces and a wooden mobile.

Then this afternoon we went to Greenslate Farm for the weekly walk and some more crafts.

The children got to see lots of animals around the farm. As we walked around the farm the children had to pick up some bits and bobs of nature as once the walk was over they could do impressions & prints into play dough.

So much fun again making new friends and thanks to Nic & Emma for putting up with us again, always a laugh and great company. It’s not just a walk but an educational walk.

“There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family.” - Unknown

A lovely afternoon at Fur Clemt doing lots of crafts with Family Hub At The Meadows.

The Little Explorers played with play dough, did painting & some chalking. They also made sunshine faces, kites and wooden mobiles.

Great company with Emma & Nic and lots of laughs as per usual. Thankyou & see you soon 😊

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” - Maya Angelou

Well it was Dinosaur day Grand Arcade Shopping Centre, Wigan.

The Little Explorers really were excited. They got to interact with some dinosaurs. The children petted them, sat on Dinosaurs, sat in the Jurassic Park Jeep and had a go at fossil hunting. Luckily none of the children were ate.

Also whilst in Wigan, we had a trip to Wigan Libraries. We returned our books from last time, had story time, chosen some more books to take home with us and did some crafts.

“You have to get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side.” - The Good Dinosaur

What an amazing day & experience at The Trafford Centre today. Emergency Services Day.

All the children really enjoyed it as well as ourselves. So much going on and great friendly interaction with all the services. The Little Explorers got to go in an ambulance, saw police horses, tried on riot gear, held guns with the army, held the fire hose and tried on different kinds of helmets, spoke to lots of different organisations, met star wars characters and got to go on police motorbikes!

Probably one of the best days we have had childminding. Keep up the great work, we are so lucky to have all these heroes and volunteers risking their lives everyday!

This afternoon the Little Explorers Childminding went to Family Hub At The Meadows weekly walk down at Greenslate Farm.

First we met the fantastic Nic & her sidekicks in the car park. We then went onto some grass and the children did some pirate themed crafts. They all made a Treasure Chest each.

Next Nic gave the children a handmade camera to take on their walk. On the walk we seen a few animals such as Pigs, Chickens, Donkeys and Sheep.

We’ve never been there before but we will definitely return again.

Thankyou for a lovely weekly walk Nic, see you soon

“Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.” - Captain Jack Sparrow

A fantastic sunny day down at AppleCast Farm. The Little Explorers loved it. They fed & petted lots of different animals such as Cows and Deers.

Before we left we couldn’t leave without a quick go on the children’s play area.

On the way home we stopped off at Redwood Park in Orrell for a picnic in the sun and a play on that park.

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” - Anthony J. D'Angelo

The Little Explorers had a stroll around Orrell Water Park today. It was lovely weather as well.

The children explored all the paths & bridges, we came across a waterfall, played in the long grass & spotted what animals we could find.

You get some really nice views of the lakes walking around.

“Sunset is still my favorite color, and rainbow is second." - Mattie Stepanek

Today was the last play group, Tea & Tots, at St Jude's Catholic Primary School. The Little Explorers enjoyed themselves greatly.

They did some mark making, played with bricks, played on ride ons & peekaboo in tents. The children also read every book what was out. The pre school teacher read them a book.

Thanks to all the staff involved in running this each week, the children have loved every minute of it. Have a great summer.

Once finished, we made most of the weather and we all took a trip to our favourite park.

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.” – Abraham Maslow

This morning we had a walk near the brick stadium (Home of Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic). We followed one of the Little Explorers’s map they brung in today.

We seen a family of ducks in the canal. The children spotted & went on quite a few bridges. They even spotted a big crane. As we got to the stadium, we noticed that there is a rugby match on tonight and workmen was carrying all the cables and monitors into the stadium.

On our way back to the car, we noticed that berrys had started to grow and change colour.

“Ancient & Loyal.” - Wigan Warriors

We was disappointed that our older Little Explorers sports day at school got moved to the hall last minute due to the weather so we couldn’t watch & cheer them on. We still took the opportunity to get out which is what we love doing best and thats exploring our world around us!

We had a lovely walk around the flashes & canal, it’s so scenic around here. The children loved seeing all the animals especially seeing Swans & their Cygnets. They even counted them and 8 in total.

“Wilderness is not a luxury but necessity of the human spirit.” – Edward Abbey

The Little Explorers went to their weekly playgroup Tea & Tots at St Jude's Catholic Primary School. This weeks theme was ‘Summer’.

The children were so engaged and engrossed that they played in the sand pit most of the time. They filled up buckets with sand, used tractors to play with, dug with spades and did some team work helping out other children.

Today was our Teddy Bear’s picnic day as stated in this months newsletter. Thankyou to the children who brung their teddy bear in from home. For dinner the children had a picnic and lots of fun.

“If you go down in the woods today you're sure of a big surprisez If you go down in the woods today you'd better go in disguise.” - Teddy Bears Picnic

With the weather sunshining the Little Explorers headed to their favourite park.

They burned off lots of energy by sliding, running, climbing and playing on all the equipment. As you can see the children had lots of fun smiling away.

“At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day.” - Simone Biles

The Little Explorers went on an adventure to Haigh Hall. The children loved exploring the woods. They climbed on fallen trees practicing their balancing. Picked up various size and shape sticks. Ran around in the long grass. We took in the lovely views as well and even saw lots of Squrriels.

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you; You have to go to them sometimes”. – Winnie The Pooh

Today the Little Explorers went to AppleCast Farm. In this months newsletter we mentioned about animals and farm trips etc.

The children always love it here. Getting up close to the various animals by feeding & petting them. Also learning about them. The children played on the play area there too.

At Little Explorers we love taking the children outdoors, experiencing the world around them and going on trips out to lots of different places. It certainly beats looking at the same 4 walls everyday.

“Fill your life with experiences, not thing. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” - Tiny Buddha

Today the Little Explorers went to their Wednesday play group at St Jude's Catholic Primary School Tea & Tots.

This weeks theme was ‘On The Farm’. The children really enjoyed the farm toff tray what was set up. They played on ride ons, created mark making pictures, played with toys and read books.

“The farmer’s in his den,
The farmer’s in his den,
EE- I- AD-I-O,
The farmer’s in his den.” - Farmers In The Den

This morning the weather didn’t put us off and we went exploring in the woods.

We crossed over to the otherside of the canal via the bridge which we haven’t gone over before. Whilst crossing the bridge a barge was opening and closing the locks which the children found very interesting.

On our hunt through the paths and trees, the children picked up different sized, shaped and coloured sticks. We then found one of the smaller flashes with a Swan. The children fed the Swan which was friendly.

“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.” - Hal Borland

Today the Little Explorers went to Wigan Libraries.

We returned our books & chosen some new ones. The children had story time. They also did an hungry caterpillar colouring sheet as well as playing in the play zone with some toys.

Before leaving we went on a footballer hunt. We had to go around the library and search for footballers on our list. The children found this very fun.

“One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and -pop!- out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.” - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

It’s Wednesday so the Little Explorers went to their play group Tea & Tots at St Jude's Catholic Primary School.

This weeks theme was ‘The Gingerbread Man’.

The children decorated their own Gingerbread men using icing and edible decorations. They did some Gingerbread Man colouring in. Played on ride ons. Made music with a mini drum set. Slid down slides and played in tents.

The Little Explorers always enjoy themselves here.

“Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man!” - The Gingerbread Man

The Little Explorers went to The Red Pond today.

We got our suncream & hats on and took our water bottles as it’s another hot day.

The children had a run around the grassy fields. They counted how many dragonflies they could find. We visited the pond and fed the Ducks/Swans. We even saw a little baby Coots.

“Babies smile without any reason. Be like a baby.” – Debasish Mridha

Today the Little Explorers went to the park. We don’t often go to this park even though it’s close to our setting so it was a nice change.

With the sun out & getting hotter, it was crucial that we applied suncream to each of our little explorers before we left to go the park. Also the children wore sun hats and had their drink bottles with them to help keep them cool & hydrated.

Whilet on the park, the children had so much fun. They ran around, burnt off lots of energy by swinging, climbing, sliding and spinning.

“It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives.” - Fred Rogers

Happy 4th Birthday to Little Explorers Childminding. Jenny set her business up back 4 years ago and Lee came along just over 3 years ago. We have grown it ever since. Proud of what we have achieved in this time. We love our Little Explorers. Thanks to all the families past & present as well as the links in the community we have created. Heres to the future!

Today with it being very warm we had some water play to cool ourselves down in the back garden.

The children did lots of pouring, measuring and mixing. We looked at shapes as well. They loved the mini canal set with locks and gates. They played on both small and big slide.

“The highest form of research is essentially play.” – N. V. Scarfe

Today the Little Explorers went to their play group Tea & Tots at St Jude's Catholic Primary School.

The children had so much fun. They played with their favourite playdough and used the tools to make it into all kinds of shapes. They read a book and played games. Played on various ride ons. Also did some mark making.

The children always look forward to Wednesdays. Thankyou to the lovely staff for continually running this amazing play group. We highly recommend it. Every Wednesday term time only 9:15 to 10:30.

“If you want children to continue dreaming to the moon and beyond, then dream with them, both by sharing your fervent dreams, and by diving heart first into their own.” – Vince Gowmon

This morning we tried to dodge the rain and went to Redwood Park in Orrell. We was in search of the beautiful wooden animal sculptures there.

The children went along the paths and found an Owl, a Fox, an Eagle & a Squirrel. We were about to go on the play area when it decided to bounce down heavily and had to come home for dinner.

“Wood carving is such an amazing skill and very underrated; once you cut it, it's hard to go back.” - Jonathan Anderson