Ash & Claire Childminders

30/10/2025

Day 4, our final Halloween adventure! 🎃

We spent the day at Sunnyfields Pumpkin Patch, just a stone’s throw from where I grew up, so we picked up my mum (known all day as “your mum” 😂) and our family friend Anna to join in the fun. Huge thank you to them both for their help 💛, children loved you.

We chose pumpkins, tackled three spooky mazes, climbed Pumpkin Hill, rode the Halloween train, and took plenty of spooky photos 📸👻
There was lunch (with a few of my chips mysteriously disappearing 😅), and of course, plenty of wheelbarrow races and giggles along the way!

A fantastic day and the perfect end to our Halloween half term 🎃✨

29/10/2025

Day 3 of our Halloween half term adventures 🎃

Today we returned to 4 Kingdoms Adventure Park Hampshire; and what a day it was! 🚜🦖

We met up with Claire’s family, Finley, Gracie and Ashley, who the mindees instantly clicked with. A huge thank you for all the fun and laughter. the mindees had the best time playing with you 💛

We met “Pumpkin Man”, explored dinosaurs and animals, rode the tractor and train, and of course, spent plenty of time in soft play (from 1 right up to the 40+ 😄). Super proud of the little ones doing the drop slide too.

It was also lovely for Claire and me to be back where we used to work and catch up with some familiar faces.

28/10/2025

Day two of Halloween half term. 🎃

This time off to the Vyne for a Ghost Hunt 👻
The mindees walked, run, hide and climbed round the grounds searching for the ghosts and trying the games out.

Plenty of giggles, a few spooky surprises, and not a single ghost escaped us! 😄🕵️‍♂️👻

27/10/2025

First day of October half term 🍂
Our mindees were so excited to see the school mindees back again!

We had a lovely walk through the forest, lots of sticks collected, “jail” dens explored, and “hills” conquered 🪵🌳
Then an afternoon at the park meeting new friends and burning off that extra half-term energy 😄

24/10/2025

We had such a great day today at the zoo seeing all our favourite animals 🦒🐼🦁🐆, getting more confident at the playground and finding the monkey which the boys thought had a beard like a santa 🧑‍🎄 😂

23/10/2025

Two of our mindees are also part of my Squirrels group, and last night they were invested as official Squirrels 🐿️✨

It’s been lovely watching them grow in confidence each week; trying new things, making friends, and now proudly wearing their new uniforms 💛

A fun (and very lively!) Halloween evening to finish off the week 🎃

22/10/2025

Monday we spent the day exploring The Lookout Discovery Centre and what a day.

A day full of curiosity, teamwork and discovery!
What looks like play is really little minds exploring science; testing ideas, trying again and learning how things work (with plenty of giggles in between).
These are the beginning concepts of science and hopefully it'll create curiosity in our mindees little minds.

21/10/2025

One of our parents shared this the other day,
I agree completely, it's nice for them to have things to open on Christmas day, but memories and experiences can last a lifetime.

One of our school leavers recently said she wants to go back "to the garage to change the tyres", visit the woods and go to the zoo. It's so amazing that she remembers these moments and they made such an impact even if they don't feel a lot to us.

🎡🐘

19/10/2025

In the last year we reduced how much we put out for the mindees everyday and I think this video sums up why.

Having less around helps the mindees focus, use their imaginations more and really engage with their toys and what they're doing more.
It's amazing how much more creativity, imagination, conversation and problem solving when they have less.

Sometimes less really is more.

18/10/2025

It’s been a busy week full of fun and adventures 🌈

We’ve been to the Army Flying Museum 🚁, got our hands muddy at gardening club 🌱, and joined in with toddler club fun 🎶
The mindees have made roads with magnets, explored under the sea with water play 🦈🐠, and enjoyed plenty of Shark in the Dark reading time 📚
Add in lots of drawing, sticking, and a good bit of puddle jumping for good measure, it’s been a great week all round 💛

14/10/2025

We went on a new adventure today, to the The Army Flying Museum and it was brilliant. 🛫 🚁
The mindees got to sit inside a real helicopter, explore loads of planes and displays, and listen to people talk about flying. The mindees even got braver when the really loud helicopters flew overhead. 🚁
The best bit though was watching an Apache swoop around the field while we played in the aeroplane park.
Add in soft play, Lego, colouring, stickers, interactive displays and toys; for a car full of happy and exhausted children.

14/10/2025