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Teacher and mum-of-two Katie Walden tell us why she’s passionate about stories for children, and how they boost learning and creativity Whatever your age, stories can be motivating, enlightening and inspirational. Even as an adult, I’m still amazed at how a good author can draw me into a book, so that I feel that I […]

Learning to write is a broad subject, which asks children to combine mechanical skills like letter formation and handwriting, with intellectual and imaginative ones like punctuation, spelling, grammar and creative writing. It’s a lot for a small person to take on board! As this is a series on starting school, we’ll focus mainly on pen

Free-range children – and their parents – can often get a bad press. The term has come to be associated with a kind of laissez-faire parental attitude, that turns a blind eye to bad behaviour and lets entitled children roam around outside unsupervised, putting them in danger and causing mayhem wherever they go. It’s ironic,

We love Lego. Our children, like almost all the children we know, have spent many blissfully quiet hours engrossed in Lego construction, both building the pre-designed sets and making their own imagined structures, from spaceships and houses to robots and riding schools. Duplo is Lego’s baby brother. The larger pieces are easier to put together

Ostheimer make some of the most special toys we offer. The company was founded by Walter and Adeline Ostheimer in Germany in the 1930s Germany, and the ethos behind their products remains the same almost a century later. The child’s imagination is at the heart of every toy they make. Ostheimer Wild Animals on Parade

Why is your child so captivated by her reflection in the mirror. It turns out that babies love looking at human faces, including their own, and playing with mirrors can offer a host of developmental benefits. In this article, we’ll explore the reasons behind babies’ fascination with mirrors and how mirror play can contribute to

Balls are useful play apparatus throughout early years development. Here’s how to get the most from a ball at key stages: Six months: Great for holding, squeezing, shaking and building grip and arm strength. Balls with bells inside help with visual tracking at a time when vision is not fully developed. 12 months: Rolling and

Animal figures are a perennial favourite. When children are learning to talk they are a great way to explore sounds and noises. As they get older, they can become part of small-world play and form the basis of hundreds of adventures, imagined and real. Playing with toy animals provides a structure to children’s small world

Understanding that something, or someone, continues to exist even when it’s out of sight is one of the most important concepts a small baby can grasp. It’s why babies take such delight in games of peekaboo. They believe (so the theory goes), that when you cover your face you wink out of existence. They don’t