Resources for Parents

We have held a coffee morning in our setting. We invited professionals from the community, e.g. SSBC and gave parents access and information regarding what is available to them, such as cooking classes, sensory, communication and play sessions. The experts shared their advice and resources, which are free online and face-to-face sessions using interactive tools and activities.

Talking Two’s was a fantastic project as it is so important for us to support our families with communication and language being the city’s most lacking developmental area of childhood. We have offered parents to come in and do 1:1 play sessions with their child to support their engagement and share our experiences. We also have an assigned ‘language and communication lead’ practitioner who covers his area and works with parents.

We offer a range of strategies to support parents at home, including assistance with paperwork and GP letters. For families seeking additional help with their child’s language development, we recommend exploring ‘home talk’ resources. Additionally, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in the United Kingdom provides an excellent opportunity for enhancing your child’s reading journey.

This program offers free, age-appropriate books for children from birth to 5 years old. Each book is thoughtfully selected, beautifully wrapped, and delivered directly to your child at no cost. To benefit from this service, certain criteria must be met. Click the link to discover reading tips from Dolly Parton and learn how to receive these wonderful books.
Link: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, United Kingdom

Our stay-and-play sessions enable parents to meet one another, build up friendships and share experiences. We talk about all the things that make up communication actions, eye contact, gestures, and facial expressions. There is a lot more than just verbally communicating.

We share lots of links and advice on our nursery social media page, as this is the most popular way to engage with parents and share the available resources. We always recommend and share our knowledge of the surrounding areas, such as Bulwell and Hucknall. We will give our opinion on choosing schools, and the information parents should be asking or looking for. We have held a parent networking meeting previously to purely discuss school admissions, how to choose a school and getting our children ready for school by working together in partnership.

Links for parents below using the SSBC website. There is lots of courses and workshops available for free!!
Small Steps to your English | SSBC (smallstepsbigchanges.org.uk)
Busy Bodies | SSBC (smallstepsbigchanges.org.uk)
Home Talk | SSBC (smallstepsbigchanges.org.uk)
The Toy Library (toy-library.co.uk)
Ask Lion

“How do I get my child engaged?” A top tip is to offer them real, tangible experiences. For instance, compare a plastic tea set’s intrigue with a tray filled with real plates, freshly cut fruit, water for pouring, and actual biscuits for a teddy bear party. At Angels by Day, we advocate for replacing plastic toys with real objects in play activities.

This has been a huge success in the children’s behaviour and engagement. It’s not about purchasing expensive items; in fact, about 70% of our resources are recycled. Allowing children to experience various textures and smells encourages more interaction and descriptive language. For example, real fruit, as opposed to a plastic fruit set, invites questions like “What does it feel like?”, “How does it smell?” or “Where do you think it was grown?” This method, known as The Curiosity Approach, is a fantastic approach to play and will give you lots of play ideas at home using the authentic resources you already have or recycled objects.

If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk. We promote and encourage our parents at Angels by Day to provide healthy options for their child/ren in their pack lunches and support this with a list of options. We also offer healthy options at snack times. Examples for you could be

• Raisins
• Breadsticks
• Carrot/cucumber sticks with dips
• Fresh fruit
• Rice cakes

Get help to buy food and milk (Healthy Start)

This is a great video on how to brush your child’s teeth correctly: How to brush your teeth | Dental Wellness Trust 2020 – YouTube

We support oral health with activities for the children, joining schemes and giving them free toothbrushes and toothpaste. We previously had a dental mobile bus come into our setting, and the children enjoyed the process. We have recently had a nurse come into our setting and deliver the nasal flu spray to the children who had permission. This was successful as it made the children comfortable in their familiar environment.