Nadia's Childminding. Top Grade Childcare Facility

30/08/2025

We’ve had a busy time with lots of creativity, exploration, and learning. The children enjoyed making Woodland scenes and animal masks using autumn 🍂 colours, painting with leaves and natural treasures we find…. exploring textures through sensory play. These activities support creativity, fine motor skills, and early mark-making as they experimented with colours, shapes, and patterns.

Outdoors, we’ve been noticing the changes in the season, collecting natural treasures and using them for program be learning beyond the initial find. Trips to the polytunnel and a farm shop gave children the chance to see seasonal crops.

Autumn 🍂 is a wonderful season for learning.

23/08/2025

🍂 August 🍂 so far…

The children have enjoyed a wide variety of activities, both indoors and outdoors, supporting their learning and development across all areas of the early years curriculum.
Fossil hunters – digging, brushing, and exploring.
The solar system, weather, bugs, and bees …. early science.
Created summer/ autumn wreaths.
Shared role play, building games, puzzles, and mark-making – supporting communication, and social skills between age groups.
Sand play, balance and outdoor exploration – building strength, confidence, and risk awareness.
Watched combines and balers at work in local fields – connecting children with their local environments

Curiosity and problem-solving (STEM)
Nature, seasons, local environments 😍

16/08/2025

Active August 😊…. the week before schools go back.. ❤️
The children both old and new starts have been busy experiencing the world in so many hand on ways. All have been so settled and the older children so welcoming I am so proud of them.

Aquarium and beach adventures where they explored and developed early science skills, and experiencing our local environments.

Giant tomatoes and using trugs to harvest of cucumbers and other produce , the children are building knowledge of healthy eating, sustainability and the seasons. We also watched the local farmer cut and make the hay bales.
Nature collages, role play, and messy water fun, the microscopic world were included for early STEM experiences.
Learning stations were set up ….. play with tills, balancing games, and number puzzles, symmetry… the children built confidence in early maths, literacy, and social skills.

Curiosity, creativity and imagination 😍

12/07/2025

Joyful July 🌞🌻… The children have been busy exploring, creating, harvesting, and playing both indoors and out with great interaction between age groups.

From picking our giant courgettes and juicy peas in the polytunnel to spotting buzzing bees 🐝 on our towering sunflowers, the children have been hands-on in learning about how food grows and the role of insects.

Tinkering & Tool Use have been a highlight
using screwdrivers, padlocks, and keys developing patience working things out and fine motor skills.

They made nature inspired face collages using flowers and grasses, to water and foam play with lots of creative inspiration.

STEM and Schema combined activities :

Water trays, dam and waterfall systems stomp rockets, ramps and car races

Calm Moments & Social Time have been enhanced with additional Calm corner and emotional regulation resources including a ‘Galaxy’ they jump into.

20/06/2025

13/06/2025

The children explored a variety of learning experiences indoor and outdoor environments.
They engaged with Montessori puzzles, building concentration, coordination, and problem-solving skills.
At the water table, they experimented with flow, floating, and funnels, developing early science.
In the polytunnel, children observed the growth of fruits and vegetables, harvesting and tasting their efforts—promoting healthy choices and learning about where food comes from.
Our nature walks were filled with discovery, with an explosion of green, wildflowers, and birds supporting seasonal awareness, including the beach and aquarium where they watched the sharks 🦈 and stingrays being fed

Indoors, we introduced new sensory materials and a calming galaxy projector to support emotional regulation and self-awareness. We shared the beautiful book ‘KIND’ 🤗

02/06/2025

🌿✨ Rare Preschool Childcare Spaces – as of July 2025 ✨🌿
Nadia’s Childminding – Baldinnie, Fife

I now have a rare space available for a preschool-aged child from July 2025.

💚 If you’ve been looking for a high-quality, warm, and educational childcare setting in the countryside, this could be the perfect opportunity. I would be so grateful if you could share with any local families who might be interested.

🌼 Fully funded by Fife Council for eligible 2–5 year olds
🌱 Based in a beautiful rural setting with a polytunnel, field, and nature-based learning
Hands-on experiences with loose parts play, outdoor adventures, gardening, crafts, STEM, and seasonal exploration
🏡 nurturing home-from-home care where every child is truly seen and supported

To chat or arrange a visit, send me a private message or text/call me directly on 07867811776.
You can also take a look at what we get up to here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1A84oFsHcg/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Nadia's Childminding

30/05/2025

We’ve had an inspiring few weeks of discovery and connection with nature. Here’s just a few of our learning experiences in various environments…

🌿 Polytunnel -
The children have been monitoring temperature changes in our polytunnel and observing how sunlight and warmth affect plant growth. Our sunflowers are now taller than some of our little gardeners. We’ve also been monitoring our growing fruit and vegetables and learnt about Compost making.

Learning outcomes includes exploring the natural environment being aware of the world around us.
Caring for living things and understanding about plants.
Understanding seasonal change

🦕 Creative Crafts & Science…
From crafting “dino bones” while learning fascinating dinosaur facts, to creating alphabet snakes that support early literacy, and exploring the inside of flowers to understand their structure.
Knowledge of letters and sounds and exploring the features of living things.

Botanical Gardens Discovery Sensory…
A day filled with inquiry and movement! We examined plants and pond life, made patterns and sequences with natural materials, and practiced safe climbing and descending on slopes with ropes and balancing on beams. The children also used acorns to count and sort.
Describe and create sequences plus active play and balance.

🦌 Deer Centre
From observing the of birds of prey to feeding deer and learning about animal habitats, our visit to the Deer Centre was full of wonder and wildlife.
Understanding caring for animals and respecting wildlife.

We journeyed through rose gardens, Japanese landscapes, and magical fairy spaces. Played with the wind using streamers and being Wind Superheroes using capes.
The children’s enthusiasm and confidence is growing as they explore their world 🌍💚

23/04/2025

We’ve been busy exploring nature and celebrating the season! The children collected daffodils from our field, planted wildflowers, and spotted bees and dandelions noticing how the landscape is turning more yellow. Baby lambs have also appeared across the field.
We’ve had woodland adventures, Earth Day activities with books and posters, and looking at plant cells and pond life under the microscope. Bubble blowing in the wind, egg and spoon races and pin the tail on the bunny.
Lots of laughter, learning, and outdoor play.

29/03/2025

A few items for our next theme. 🐛🍎🍏🌈Exploring the world through colour, movement, and curiosity….. these sensory materials encourage exploration, fine and gross motor development and colours. The wind streamers teach wind forces and will be lots of fun! 🌞🐛🌈

22/03/2025

We celebrated Science Week with a range of hands-on investigations, fostering curiosity and scientific thinking.
The children explored the microscopic world, examining cells, pollen, insects, and pond water samples under a microscope, developing observation.
At the pond, they excitedly spotted frogs and frogspawn, which will led to Life Cycles.
We introduced early meteorology by identifying the four main cloud types and simulating rain using foam, water, and food colouring.
Cloud spotting during our nature walk linked beautifully to seasonal changes, as we observed new buds, spring flowers, and bird nests. The children also scattered bird seed in the field and spotted birds.

We celebrated World book Day and St Patrick’s Day achieving Social outcomes and literacy.

Through these activities, the children developed observation skills, curiosity about local environments, teamwork and exploration…. ready for future development ❤️