Universal Credit provides essential financial support to individuals and families in the UK, particularly those who are on low incomes, are jobless or are unable to work. One crucial aspect of this support is childcare funding. In today’s detailed guide, we will delve into the details of free childcare through Universal Credit, explain who is eligible, what funding is available to those who are, how to claim, and more.
What is Universal Credit?
Universal Credit is a Government welfare benefit that was introduced to streamline the support available to eligible individuals and families. Its primary goal is to provide financial assistance to those who need it, taking into account various aspects of an individual or family’s financial situation.
Without getting too bogged down in unnecessary detail here, Universal Credit is thus named because it is replacing several existing benefits, including Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (‘JSA’), Child Tax Credit, and others. Today, however, we’ll focus purely on the childcare funding element.
Who is Eligible for Childcare Funding Through Universal Credit?
Childcare funding through Universal Credit is primarily intended for parents on low incomes who require childcare services to either maintain current employment, increase working hours, or transition into paid work within a month. Eligibility caveats for you — and your partner if you have one — include the following:
- Except for a few exceptions, you usually both have to be in paid work, or have an offer of paid work for a position starting within a month.
- Earnings and income must fall within specific thresholds to qualify.
- The childcare provider you use must be officially registered/approved by OFSTED or equivalent.
- You must be living in the UK.
- You must be 18 or over, although there are exceptions for some aged 16 or 17.
- You should be below State Pension age.
- You must jointly have no more than £16k in savings or investments.
- The child(ren) for whom you are applying must be below the age of 17 (eligibility ends at the end of the August following their 16th birthday).
How Much Childcare Funding Can You Get Through Universal Credit?
The amount of childcare funding available through Universal Credit varies according to your individual circumstances. Generally speaking, though, Universal Credit can cover up to 85% of your childcare costs as follows:
• The maximum available for one child is £950.92 per month;
• The maximum available for 2 or more is £1,630.15 per month.
(Correct at date of publishing, late September 2023).
What Can the Childcare Funding be Used For?
Universal Credit childcare funding can be used for various childcare services, so long as they’re properly registered (e.g. with OFSTED or their equivalent in Wales and Scotland). Permitted types of childcare provision include:
- Nurseries: Licensed nurseries that provide care and early education for young children.
- Childminders: Individuals registered to provide childcare services in their homes.
- After-School Clubs: Organised programmes that offer care and activities for school-age children after school hours.
- Holiday Clubs: Similar to after-school clubs but available during school holidays.
- Preschools: Educational settings for children aged up to 5.
- Approved Childcare Providers: Some approved providers outside traditional settings may also be eligible for funding.
As well as funding standard nursery/preschool-type childcare sessions that allow you to work, the funding can also be used for other types of childcare provision that will help you transition back into work. It can potentially fund settling-in sessions before work to help your child transition into a new childcare setting, childcare provision for your child while you commute to your job, childcare required because of changing work patterns as part of a zero-hours contract, and childcare provision during the month following the loss of a job.
Caveats:
You can claim Universal Credit for Childcare at the same time as:
You cannot claim Universal Credit for Childcare at the same time as:
• Tax credits
• Tax-Free Childcare
How to Claim Your Childcare Costs Via Universal Credit
Except in special circumstances, you will need to pay for your childcare up front and then claim back the eligible part of it through the scheme. To successfully make your claim, you’ll typically need to:
- Keep records of your childcare provider’s registration number and contact details.
- Document your childcare costs with receipts or invoices.
- Provide evidence of your work or job offers.
- Claim within 2 months (latest) of incurring the childcare costs otherwise you may miss out.
- Regularly update the Universal Credit system with any changes in your childcare situation.
- To get started, apply for your online Universal Credits account here.
More information is available through the official Government website or via the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644.
Nursery Places at Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery, Edgbaston, Birmingham
At Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery in Edgbaston, we support all Government-funded childcare schemes so, even if you don’t qualify for free childcare support through Universal Credit, you may qualify for one or more of the alternative childcare funding schemes. These are there to help families with affordability, which nowadays is more important than ever. Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery offers a first-class childcare and early education service for babies, toddlers and preschoolers under five, offering them the very best start in life in a warm, nurturing environment. If you would like to explore the possibility of your child having a place at Leaps & Bounds, please do get in touch using one of the following options:
Rated as a Good Provider of childcare and early education by OFSTED, Leaps and Bounds is a nursery/preschool located in Edgbaston, near Birmingham, Ladywood, Bearwood, Harborne and Smethwick. We also operate our own Forest School, enabling children to benefit from everything that nature has to offer.
Information in this guide is given in good faith and is believed to be correct at the time of writing (late September 2023). Please check the Government website for the most up-to-date information.
As new parents, there’s an endless array of incredible moments you’ll experience as your baby grows. One of the most mesmerising changes to witness is the transformation of their eye colour. Those initial weeks of gazing into your baby’s eyes might reveal shades like brown, blue or grey, but have you ever wondered why those initial hues often defy expectations and evolve into a completely different colour? In this article, we’re going to delve into the enchanting world of baby eye colour changes to unravel the science and magic behind this captivating phenomenon.
For the purpose of this article, eye colour refers to the appearance of the iris, the coloured ring immediately surrounding the eye’s pupil. The iris is like a diaphragm that controls how much light can enter the eye at any given moment.
Generally, nature is often guided by the principle of adaptation in order to optimise survival. The evolution of eye colour is no exception. In regions with high levels of sunlight, such as near the equator, darker eye colours are more prevalent. This is due to the increased need for protection against the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays —with dark irises like brown ones having more protection than lighter irises, like blue, grey, or green. As humans migrated across different environments back in ancient times, changes in eye colour are likely to have provided advantages in terms of UV protection as part of adaptation to new habitats. The pigmentation and UV protection are accomplished through something called melanin.
While the colour journey is strongly affected by the melanin effect, genetics also play a significant role in laying the groundwork. While predicting eye colour solely on the eye colour of parents offers a fair estimation, eye colour inheritance is really a much more complex thing. At a cellular level, it involves one specific chromosome that affects iris colour and multiple genes, which control aspects like the initial amount of melanin in a newborn’s eyes and how the melanocyte cells behave in respect to further melanin production. With genes being passed to the child from both parents as well as the parents’ ancestors, the child’s final eye colour is not easy to 100% predict based purely on parental eye colour. Indeed, eye colour can sometimes ‘skip’ generations and surprise us all!
Heterochromia is a rare condition, affecting less than 1% of people, where an individual has two different coloured eyes or two different colours in one eye. It can be genetic or caused by injury, disease, or medications.
Wiggly 
Palettes or Spare Wood: Families can build a simple compost bin using palettes or spare wood. This creates a cosy space for your compost to break down. Ensure there are gaps between wood slats, so that minibeasts can come and go as they please.
Fruit and vegetable scraps — those banana peels, apple cores and carrot tops are perfect for composting.
Meat, seafood and dairy — keep these out as they can attract pests and make your compost smell unpleasant.
Become a compost hero by helping collect kitchen scraps. Ask parents for a special container to store things like fruit peels, vegetable scraps, and eggshells. Once it’s full, take it to the compost bin with a big smile, knowing you’re making a difference!
For Your Family — Composting not only teaches children about nature, recycling, and caring for the environment but is also a wonderful opportunity to observe and learn about the various 
The Big Butterfly Count is an annual event that takes place each summer across the UK. Anyone can join in and it’s not just for adults — it’s perfect for children too. What’s more, it can take as little as 15 minutes. It’s an exciting and very worthwhile nature-themed activity that’s guaranteed to engage little ones. As well as getting closer to nature and to these enchanting little creatures, children can become little ‘citizen scientists’. That’s because the Big Butterfly Count gives them the opportunity to actively contribute to butterfly and nature conservation while taking part in this fun outdoor activity. In today’s article, we’ll explain how even the youngest nature enthusiasts can get involved in this inspiring event.
The organisers of the Big Butterfly Count have developed a free, user-friendly smartphone app that makes participation accessible and fun. It includes information, a butterfly identification guide, interactive features for recording sightings, and helpful resources for learning more about butterflies. The free smartphone app is available on Android and Apple IOS. Here are the download links (below):
The UK is home to around 60 species of butterflies of which around 22 can be found in gardens. Each species has unique characteristics, colours, and wing patterns.
Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery is pleased to be able to include 
Our talented early-years practitioners offer high-quality teaching. This is backed up by Ofsted who, in their latest Ofsted report, said, “The quality of teaching is good. Staff are skilled and use children’s interests to challenge what they know and can do … Staff pose questions that help children to begin to problem solve.”
The setting at Leaps & Bounds is purpose-built for childcare and early years learning and development. It is extremely well-equipped, both indoors and outdoors, with a wide variety of equipment, facilities and resources to suit babies and children aged up to five. Inside, there are several light and spacious age-specific rooms, along with a separate communal room accessible to all. Outside, there are two well-designed and highly interactive play areas which offer children boundless opportunities for learning through play. 
Food, healthy snacks and drinks are included in the nursery’s fees and special diets are catered for, for example, vegetarian or vegan options. The nursery has a 5-star food hygiene rating and food is freshly prepared by an award-winning early-years catering company. Only the most fresh, locally sourced and nutritious ingredients are used.
Our poster only includes 40 popular birds out of potentially hundreds that can be found in the UK. With that in mind, here are several other ways for children to identify wild birds, perhaps with the help of a supervising adult:
Daffodils are a classic sign of spring in the UK with their bright, blooming buds breaking through the gloominess of winter. Daffodils begin to grow and flower during the month of February and should be in full bloom throughout March and all the way into May.
If you live near a park with a pond or happen to have one in the back garden, a definite sign of spring arriving is the presence of frog spawn. Initially, this can look like hundreds of little black dots sitting on the surface of the water. If your little one keeps an eye on these over the course of March (under supervision, for safety, of course), they will see these dots gradually turn into tadpoles, which will get bigger and bigger. A fun activity for your children is to get them to look at the frogspawn twice a week, under supervision, and to draw it on a piece of paper. Then, once the tadpoles have turned into frogs, they can look back at their own artwork to see the journey of spawn to fully-fledged frog! Alternatively, if your children aren’t at drawing age, you can take a photo on your phone each week and then compare them together once the tadpoles have grown. It’s a great way for them to learn about nature and life itself.
When it comes to the learning and development of children, a good parent-nursery partnership is absolutely vital to maximising their short- and long-term success. In the mid-term, it also ensures they’re ‘school-ready’ by the time they leave our care. We therefore work together with parents¹, in close partnership. By doing so, children will receive a consistent, ‘joined-up’ approach to the tailored curriculum and the shared goals that we create for each of them. Sharing goals for children both at home and in the nursery will ensure the strengthening of strong areas as well as bolstering any weaker areas that children may find challenging.
Play dough will be a popular choice for little ones, especially if shape cutters and a rolling pin are brought into the activity. Play dough is entertaining to use, it’s creative and children will learn about colours, shapes and three-dimensional form as they go along.
This can be played inside or outside where the child has a bit of space, for example a long hallway would be perfect. Let your child pretend they are walking of perhaps even driving. Give the commands “Stop!” and “Go!” and perhaps even “Freeze!”. They’ll probably find this highly amusing, particularly if you give them feedback and encouragement. Another twist on this activity would be for them to do the activity whilst dancing. You could then abruptly stop the music and shout “Stop!” and so on.
This hidden objects activity could involve hiding almost anything for the child to find. You could start off in one room only to make it easier initially. Show your child the object before hiding it. Once they start looking for it, you could use words like near, far, yes, no, warmer, colder and so on. Once they have mastered finding one object, perhaps add more for them to find. Then perhaps reverse roles and try to find objects the child has hidden for you. Ensure they also use the clue words like warm and cold etc. You could even set up some kind of reward to make it more exciting. For example, if they ‘win’ they could get a treat of some kind, like a funky sticker or trip to the swings.
Beneficial outcomes: Arts and crafts are said to use multiple areas of children’s brains and encourage the use of fine motor skills. They also stimulate the imagination and boost creativity.
Similarly, children will love looking for — and finding — ‘treasure’ hidden in a sandpit or sand box. Bury some pretend treasure in the sand and then let your child rummage through the sand to discover the hidden objects. You could make it more challenging by saying, for instance, that there are 5 treasures in the sand. Encourage your 3-year-old to count them as they come out as well saying what they are. You could also do this activity with the child blindfolded, so they have to feel the objects and guess what they are once found.
Not only is this a fun activity for your child, but it also helps the local wildlife. There are lots of different 
Get your child to help with pulling up weeds, or planting new seeds and plants. Give them set instructions or a demonstration to follow and ensure you stress the importance of caring for the plants and seedlings.
Baking cakes, biscuits, cookies and breads under your supervision* will be a fun and educational activity for 4-year-olds. What’s more, they’ll end up with something they can actually eat! During the process, try to explain the importance of measuring, doing things in the right order, waiting the right amount of time and so on. Ask them at the end about it, to ensure they have grasped the concepts.
In our last post 
which are present in the air that the child breathes. The child’s immune system treats such allergens as invaders, defensively reacting to them by releasing the protein histamine into the bloodstream as part of its wider physiological response. It is this specific protein that triggers the unwelcome symptoms experienced by the child.
The symptoms of seasonal allergy are similar, but not identical, to what we often refer to as having ‘a cold’. The most common symptoms of a seasonal allergy include nasal congestion, a clear, runny nose, an itchy nose, throat and/or roof of the mouth, sneezing and a ‘postnasal drip’ (dripping of mucus from the back of the nasal cavity directly into the throat). The latter can also cause persistent coughing, perhaps accompanied by wheezing and shortness of breath. Although similar to a cold in many respects, the symptoms of seasonal allergy are different in that they do not include a fever, any cough is usually a ‘dry’ one and nasal congestion is clear and watery rather than thick and cloudy as you might expect if the cause was a cold. Another difference is that a seasonal allergy may persist for weeks or even months, unlike a cold, which generally goes within a fortnight or so.
Children’s eyes can also become red, puffy or watery during an episode of seasonal allergy. They may also exhibit dark circles under their eyes and little ones may also seem more irritable, restless and generally fatigued. Another symptom often seen in children with a seasonal allergy is breathing with their mouth open — simply because their noses are so congested. Children with the disorder may also have trouble sleeping, develop headaches and even get itchy ear canals.
Although seasonal allergies can develop at any age, it’s important to stress that they are very rare among babies and infants aged up to 12 months. The earliest that seasonal allergies tend to start, if at all, is once children reach the age of 1 to 2. At that age, the seasonal allergen itself is most likely to be an indoor allergen like dust mites, mould or pet dander rather than outdoor allergens such as pollen or grass. If a child is going to develop a seasonal allergy, it’s much more likely to begin between 3 and 5, although most young children who do develop seasonal allergy may only start noticing symptoms as they get closer to the age of 10. Others may develop it as late as 20.
If the problem is pet dander, pets may also need to receive regular baths or showers (where appropriate and safe for them to do so) to remove dander from their fur or feathers — perhaps once a week. If the child’s allergy to dander is severe, it may even mean that pets and children need to keep to their own areas around the home, and children taught not to cuddle or stroke them.
Mould is also a common allergen. Try to keep children away from it anyway (it’s not healthy) and, better still, eradicate it completely. Any leaks, plumbing or drainage issues should therefore be fixed, including outdoor defects if present, as they might otherwise allow the ingress of moisture to the indoors. Dehumidifiers will help to remove moisture from the air indoors, and adequate ventilation around the home will help to stop any mould taking hold (that’s if ventilation is practical, should the child also be allergic to pollen). Extractor fans in bathrooms, showers and kitchens will also help to vent moist air to the outside. Anti-mould paint, grout and sealants are available too, for problem areas like bathrooms, although bathroom and shower walls, tiling, shower curtains or screens etc. will be less likely to become habitats for mould if they’re squeegeed and dried after use. Drying damp towels and flannels in tumble driers will also help, rather than leaving them lying around. Also be mindful not to over-water houseplants, which should be kept away from affected children, and ensure any firewood is stored outdoors. Lastly, keep washing machine doors ajar when not in use and regularly clean the door seals as these can otherwise harbour mould.
