Winter is often a tough time for wildlife. As we pack our shopping trolleys for winter feasts and hunker down with our slippers, we also need to spare a thought for the wildlife in our back gardens and find ways to help them through this difficult time. In winter, food is scarce, the days are shorter, and the temperature drops significantly. Many animals rely on their fat reserves to make it through, but some just can’t survive without a little help from us. Taking care of wildlife during winter doesn’t just help them survive harsh conditions, it also sets them […]
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Gardening Things To Do In January
Brrr… it’s cold outside! Yes, it’s that time of year when we’ve eaten our fill, exhausted our supply of box sets and the thought of one more “waffer thin mint” will send us into apoplexy! However, there is an easy and positive solution to this January lethargy, and that is to look outside and give your garden a little seasonal care. So here are some gardening things to do in January. Starting the year off right means giving your garden a fresh look and some much-needed love after the holiday hustle. Whilst much of your beloved plants and wildlife will […]
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Encouraging children to sing: top tips and tricks
Encouraging children to sing? Singing is one of the most joyful activities we can do. It’s been a part of our human heritage for thousands of years. Encouraging children to sing and helping children to develop their own voices is a great way for parents to support the growth of self-assured and confident youngsters and to give them a creative outlet to express themselves. So read on to find out some tips and tricks. The benefits of singing There are many benefits of singing that have been identified over the years, not just for individuals but for communities too. Singing […]
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Easy ways to prevent childhood obesity in young children
Let’s face it, lockdown has not been kind to many of us in terms of our mental health. We have struggled with isolation or missing loved ones. For some of us, there has been a double negative blow to our health as we piled on the pounds with lack of exercise and general movement. Many of us comforted ourselves with food and our bodies have paid the price. As adults, we can be more conscious of this and finally return to the gym or reduce our calorie intake. Many of our children are still suffering with maintaining a healthy weight. […]
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Make the best of British Science Week 2022
When you think about science lessons, what is your first thought? Crusty old chemistry lesson, blue-flamed Bunsen burners, and baffling physics equations? Or eco-powered racing cars, competitive robot wars, and new ways to explore space for example? If you answered ‘yes’ to the first set, then it’s clearly been a while since your last science lesson, because things have changed a lot. In the 20th century, most pupils studied science as separate, individual subjects (chemistry, physics, and biology). Researchers found however, that in many schools, girls tended to drop physics early, and boys often stopped biology when deciding their GCSE […]
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Write a letter to Queen Elizabeth II for her Platinum Jubilee
Have you ever thought about writing a letter to The Queen? Do you know how to address it? What would you like to say? And if you don’t already know, The Queen has multiple residences, so where would you send it? Every year, Queen Elizabeth II receives hundreds of thousands of letters, not only from her British and Commonwealth subjects but from many different people across the world. A lot of the letters that The Queen receives come from children, and every letter gets a personal response. So in this platinum jubilee year, is it time you wrote to Her […]
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How to deal with rude people
Rude people! Don’t you just love them? You know the ones I mean – the ones who always push in front of you in the checkout queue or the ones who just can’t resist talking over you, AND they never listen to anyone but themselves. And boy, they don’t half think they’re right all the time. Moaning on about just how terrible you are and how they know best and would do things so much better than you. It’s enough to curdle the milk! But they’re the ignorant ones, right? They’re the ones who need to grow up. Let’s face […]
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Children’s Mental Health Week 2022
There has been a lot of coverage in the media about mental health in recent years which we welcome as the topic finally comes off the ‘taboo’ list. The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem as people have struggled with lockdowns, redundancies, and loneliness. However, there has also been increasing concern across many factions about the deterioration in the mental health of our children. In the last year, we may have developed treatment strategies, coping mechanisms, and vaccines to tackle the virus, but we are also still years away from understanding the full impact that restrictions, school closures, and limited […]
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National Storytelling Week 2022
National Storytelling Week 2022 “Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.” 29th January – 5th February 2022 Do you remember hearing this phrase as a child and understanding that it meant a story? Even if you are too young to remember the original children’s BBC radio programme called “Listen with mother”, which this phrase came from, or you do not live in the UK, you can appreciate that for over 30 years, it was the cue for children of all ages to settle down and listen to nursery rhymes, songs, and of course, stories. Stories and storytelling telling are immensely […]
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Celebrating the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere
One month of the year that we all look forward to is June – warm weather, lighter evenings and hopefully, a long-awaited summer holiday if COVID and travel restrictions allow! But we love June in our house because It is also the month of the Summer Solstice – a ‘magical’ day called ‘the longest day of the year’ which officially marks the start of summer. Here’s the astronomy bit Sometimes, we humans can be a little ‘slow to catch on’. It was only in 1543, that the astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, explained his then ‘radical’ theory of the universe in which […]
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