Abi Pollard Childminder

29/07/2025

We had a brilliant morning with friends at Woodlands Park, Pickering. What a fantastic park it is!

25/07/2025

📚 We had a great time reading books at the library yesterday and sharing them with our friends.
One of the stories was all about libraries and wonderful books. We'd like to encourage everyone to sign up to the holiday reading challenge and to join in with a walk next Thursday (31st July)

24/07/2025

🐟 Well! ... we went to feed the ducks at Thornton-le-Dale duck pond, and thought we might do a bit of pond dipping. We caught baby water snails, some mayfly larvae, lots of water boatmen, and a little fish. THEN we spotted a huge shoal of little fish, and with the help of a big boy, we caught some to put in our pot to watch! There were hundreds and hundreds of fish!

23/07/2025

A lovely visit to the Walled Garden with friends this morning. We spotted lots and lots of mini beasts, and admired the beautiful scented flowers.

22/07/2025

We've had an 'amazing' day exploring at the drystone wall maze at Dalby Forest and finding all the different letters and stone carvings. We then found some mazes at home, and made our own mazes at home out of duplo and on paper.

20/07/2025

💫COMPETITION TIME💫

🎉 To celebrate our launch we are running a giveaway for two of our lucky followers to win a free adult & children ticket for one of our Kirkbymoorside sessions on Sunday 27th July 😃

To enter you need to:

1) LIKE this post
2) FOLLOW our page
3) TAG a friend below who would love to play in the Village (1 comment = 1 entry)
4) SHARE this post

Giveaway closes at 8pm on Wednesday 23rd July with the winner announced on Thursday morning via a random number generator.

17/07/2025

🎉🎈🐐 A birthday trip to the farm for me today! Lots of animal cuddling and feeding, not to mention alpaca kisses, cow licks, and fusses from the goats! 🐐🎈🎉

16/07/2025

Well, I don't know what happened to the children! I looked outside, and I had acquired a tall giraffe with blue teeth, a stripy tiger, a jungle lion, and a snipping snapping crocodile!

15/07/2025

😍🎵🎶🎵 Another fabulous music session with Kathy at the Shuttleworth Gardens in Scarborough this morning. We all had a brilliant time and loved the instruments, marching, dancing, and 'swimming in the sea'. Thank you. 🎵🎶🎵😍
(and the rain held off !)

13/07/2025

They’re Not Falling Behind — They’re Being Let Down 💔
This week’s DfE comments about 4-year-olds “not being school ready” and struggling to sit still have been weighing heavy on my heart.

Let’s be clear: young children are not meant to sit still all day. They are meant to move, to explore, to play, to wonder. Movement is learning. Play is learning.
Childhood is not a race — and yet here we are, rushing our youngest citizens through it, as though meeting checklists matters more than protecting their joy and well-being.

So many other countries start formal education at 6 or 7 — when children are developmentally ready. And what do they prioritise in the early years? Play. Connection. The outdoors. Rest. Imagination. 🤩

In the UK, we often talk about “school readiness” without really talking about what children need to thrive. Instead of asking why 4-year-olds can’t sit still, we should be asking why on earth we expect them to…

It’s time for a shift. One rooted in child development knowledge, scientific research, and — most importantly — deep respect for the children themselves.

We need less pressure and more presence.
Less testing, more trust.
Less ‘ready for school’ and more ‘ready for life’.

The future of our children — and their mental health — depends on it. 🌈❤️

I’ve written more about this here in the following article — https://earlyyears.blog/2025/07/06/not-built-to-sit-still-defending-childhood-in-an-age-of-pressure/

Do you believe the current UK approach to "school readiness" supports children's long term wellbeing? 🤔 Whether you are a teacher, educator, parent or simply someone who cares about protecting early childhood — I would love to know your thoughts! 💭🫶🏻❤️

Keir Mather MP Department for Education Coram PACEY Coram PACEY Cymru Early Years Alliance Nursery World Magazine Teach Early Years Childminding UK

10/07/2025

oooo yes! 😍

We've got "summer legs" over here!! ❤️❤️