So much has been written about closing the word gap. Recent research states the size of a child’s vocabulary at the age of 5 is an indicator of their level of academic achievement at 16 and a child’s success beyond the school gates. Read more

Two of our favourite Christmas recipes to try with your children! Chocolate Reindeer crispies and Meringue Snowmen are easy to make and need just a few simple ingredients. Read more

Treasure baskets make ideal conversation or topic starters. You can pre-fill them or allow children to create their own! Here we share 20 ideas for creating treasure baskets filled with provocations and treasures that are bound to spark children's imaginations and encourage speaking and listening skills. Read more

Sand and water play is not only fun but plays a vital role in early childhood development. Read this blog to find out about skills developed, practical tips and ideas, and setting up indoor and outdoor provision. Read more

Caroline Alliston discusses Girls in Engineering in this insightful post. Caroline studied engineering, and then spent 24 years as a design and development engineer in industry. She now uses her skills and experience to enthuse the next generation about engineering. Read more

We all know teaching is a bloody difficult job. The workload, hours, emotional rollercoaster and guilt, often take over from the sense of pride, achievement and the smiles and laughs the kids and colleagues give us. Read more

When first stepping into an early years setting or classroom, children have significantly different experiences and different knowledge. A lot of children will have had many positive experiences of the world around them, knowledge of their surrounding and wider environments, experiences of strong, loving relationships and exposure to rich language. This supports children on their path of learning and builds foundations for life. Read more

When was the last time you received a written letter through the post?  It could be argued that the era of letter writing is over and that there seems to be little point in teaching this skill in primary schools. Digital media has created a more convenient and high tech way to communicate with each other. Read more

These pine cone Christmas trees would look great as part of a larger wintry scene or as cute decorations on their own! Read more

Music provides pathways to success for all types of children in all sorts of subjects. They don't have to be professional musicians to feel the benefits. Read more

From tiny secret messages behind mysterious magical doors to the designing of your very own mystical castles and enchanted worlds, we have put together 5 of our most favourite ideas for sparking learning with miniature characters. Read more

In this blog, Alison Harris, a Lead Occupational Therapist, explores practical strategies for supporting your child with sensory activities at home. Read more

This project encourages children to investigate how air can produce movement and how this can be used in simple pneumatic mechanisms. Read more

Schools often struggle with a lack of outdoor space. Here we provide a selection of resources that will fit almost anywhere and will entice your children to make the most of their time spent outdoors. Some of these may also be useful for those who hire space and need to pack everything away at the end of each session. Read more

We recently ran a giveaway to win a multi-purpose podium stage. To win, we asked for your top ideas on how to reinforce good behaviour, success and achievement in your classroom and school. Your reward ideas were so inspiring, we decided to group them all together and share, you can find them in the list below. Read more

I’ll be honest, I never really enjoyed maths, physics or computing at school.  I always felt like they were far too restrictive and didn’t allow for much creativity.  But, since visiting Crich Infant School and seeing how they use our Bee Bots to teach programming, my mind has been, well, re-programmed! Read more