New Term Checklist

Before you know it we will be knocking on the door of a new school year, and you’ll be racing around trying to find school supplies and uniform. This checklist helps you work your way through items you may need and offers you the opportunity to start chipping away at essential purchases before the end of the holidays start looming!

Uniform

Check your school’s website for a list of essential uniform items. 

Check what you have in already as some items may still fit and be in good condition, at least until after Christmas or the next growth spurt anyway.

Consider:

• School Uniform
• PE Kit
• Swimming Kit
• School Shoes
• Plimsolls/Trainers

Some schools and nurseries have their own variations and extras needed, such as book bags with the school badge on. Make sure you order these from the school stockists asap as they may take time to 

arrive.

Bags and Boxes

If your child isn’t using an official school book bag or if they are at nursery or similar they will need a backpack to store their water bottle, snack, lunch box and so on. Swimming kit bags and PE bags (or spare clothes bags for very little ones) are a must too.

• Lunch box
• Water/Juice bottle for lunch.
• Water bottle for during the day
• Snack box (something to put fruit/raisins etc in if your child’s school ask you to send in a snack)
• School Bag
• PE kit bag
• Swimming kit bag (if needed).
  

Tum Tum Lunch Bag

Other Essentials

• Name labels (this will save you a fortune in replacing lost items)
• Coat (we will soon be entering the autumn/winter season so make sure you have a suitable coat)
• Umbrella
• Wellies (a must for walking to and from school on wet days)
  

Umbrellas

At Home Items

Once you've organised your school or nursery items it might be worth having a look at what you have at home which will support your child's learning. We have a wide range of fun educational toys and tools that are great for helping with homework and for boosting their confidence.

Are you ready for back to school? We have everything from water bottles to name labels to help the transition into the new school year go as easily for you as we're sure it will for the children.

Fun Ways to Practice Numeracy Skills

Numeracy skills are important from a young age, being used for everything from cookery to telling the time. Learning and practicing numbers needn't be hard work or boring though. Have fun employing these learning through play opportunities.
Do you have any to add?

Cookery
Measuring out teaspoonfuls, using the scales, pouring the right number of drops, splashes or the correct volume of liquid ingredients makes for a great fun way to practice counting. If you do it right there is a good chance that there will be something delicious to enjoy at the end!

Making Numbers
Making your own number shapes offers a different way to learn to recognise and replicate numbers. Use playdough, trace, stencil, use cooked spaghetti or perhaps wool to form numbers and practice learning their names. Whatever the material this is a great fun way to practice your numbers.

Number Puzzles and Games
A great way to practice number recognition and work on number patterns is to play number related games. Everything from number bingo / matching games to fun number-related games and toys such as the Janod I Wood Hedgehog all offer great ways in which to merge fun and learning.

Dot to Dots
What better way to recognise numbers, number sequences and to practice mark making / drawing than to do so with a dot to dot book or using ones printed off from a number of online resources.

Singing Songs and Counting Rhymes
How many songs, poems and rhymes do you remember which involve counting? A fair few we bet! Enjoy a sing-song when walking to the park, on the way to the shops, in the car or just when you're enjoying some fun time together at home.

Outdoor Games
Outdoor games also offer a great number of opportunities for learning numbers and counting. Use outdoor chalk on the ground, play hopscotch or enjoy skipping games which involve counting. Even hide and seek encourages little ones to count.

Measuring
How many steps is it from the bed to the door? How many steps from the top of the stairs to the bottom? How many steps from one end of the garden to the other. These are all fun ways to practice counting.

Clock Play
The first step to being able to tell the time is of course to be able to recognise the numbers, to be able to count in fives (older children) and to know the difference between the big hand and the small hand. Teaching children that breakfast is at 8am, lunch at 12pm, tea time at 5pm (etc) also helps with the concept of time. Using visual clock aids to teach these skills while playing will help with skill development.

How do you practice numbers with your little one?

Tidy Up Time

One of the skills that seems to be the hardest to teach your children is to tidy up. When they are very young putting a few blocks or toys in a bucket with Mummy or Daddy seems very grown up however the novelty soon runs out. What's the alternative though? A lifelong battle which stretches into their teens and beyond or some clever early training which will *hopefully* turn the tidying tides in your favour? 

Make it Fun 

Organising and tidying is at the end of the day a chore however when you incorporate fun-looking as well as practical storage solutions into the mix children are more likely to want to help out. Use buckets, boxes and even wall-hanging storage which will keep toys and books tidy while adding to the cool or cute look of the room.  

These fabulous Tidy Books book storage solutions both look fabulously fun and offer a substantial amount of storage. Many parents especially like the fact that children may so easy view the front of the books rather than just the spines as they would on a traditional bookcase.

Reward Charts 

Showing your children in a very visual way that they have achieved something or suceeded at a goal is a great way both congratulate them and motivate them further. Reward stickers and charts work wonders when it comes to building good habits, showing progress and saying well done. Whether there is a treat at the end of a complete row of stickers or not is up to each individual parent obviously. Reward charts are used in a wide number of settings from at home to schools and with great success.

Ready, Steady Go 

Anyone who has watched a child painstakingly put one toy away after another in a very deliberate and very slow way will appreciate the need for speeding things up (many swear savvy little ones do this so that us grown up will get impatient and take over!). Use a clock, an egg timer or simply start a tidying up "race" to get things moving!

Nurture a Sense of Pride in Their Space 

Even little ones appreciate good interior design, be it based around their favourite theme or character or because their room is now "grown up". Let your kids choose their theme where appropriate and take some part in making their room special. This gives them a sense of ownership and pride in their space and further encourages them to want to keep it it looking nice.

While some would say that children should tidy up because they are told to, not because they receive a sticker or praise we believe that making tidying up and being organised fun and a good habit early on can only be a good thing longer term.  

Making Mealtimes a Fun Learning Experience

There has been a lot in the press over recent years about how the British are losing their grip on the meal time traditions that were once considered the norm. Sitting together as a family is so important as not only is it a great opportunity to get the whole family sitting down together at least once a day, it also offers the opportunity for children of toddler age and up to see and mirror your eating habits. 

From Pinterest

Feature picture credit

Learning new skills and doing things for themselves are both extremely important. Making mealtimes as fun and as grown up as possible certainly helps when teaching little ones to be big boys and girls at the table. 

Picky Eating 

There are few thing as frustrating when it comes to parenting than having a child who will eat everything and anything one week and only red food the next (how many of you are smiling and nodding or gritting your teeth at the memory of this stage just now?). There are a number of ideas for how to get past the picky stage, from hiding vegetables in sauces and other foods, taking a firm stance or not forcing the issue as your little one will dig their heels in prolong the "I don't like any of this" stage. 

Regardless how you and your family have decided to tackle this fun stage many report that injecting fun into the mealtimes often helps. Food arranged by colour, to make faces, or patterns and more turn boring grown up food into something kids want to try. Many parents find that allowing your child to help shop for ingredients, to choose and to help prepare food also breaks down some of the barriers they've put up. 

The Right Utensils 

A large part of learning to eat with the grown up is all about using the utensils right. These rather lovely Zootensils from Skip Hop are brilliantly designed, making it easy for little hands to grip them properly and over time practice and develop their gross motor skills enabling them to move food to mouth properly with ease. 

They also look great! 

It's Only Mess 

Easy to say I know but it doesn't matter how quickly our children are going to get to grips with eating like big boys and girls, there is going to be a fair but of mess along the way. Bibs and aprons are a must and a great idea for saving time and effort when it comes to clearing up is to place an opened bin bag or messy mat under the highchair or grown up chair to catch the majority of anything dropped. 

Sitting Up at The Grown Up Table

It is very exciting for children being able to sit properly at the table with their family. Swapping a highchair for a booster seat signals the next stage of development. Setting a place for the children with their own dinner mat, own special plate, cup and utensils will go a long way to encouraging them to practice their eating skills. 

As with anything, the more fun and interesting we as parents can make learning something new, be this eating like a big boy or girl or even sleeping in a big bed for the first time, the more likely the transition will be a smooth one. 

Happy mealtimes!