Today’s post is all about this wonderful new minibeasts poster for children to download. It’s free and features 30 small creatures that children, including under-fives, can try to spot when they’re out and about. It’s a great introduction to just some of the thousands of minibeast species found throughout Britain. In a typical year, children should indeed be able to spot many of the minibeasts we show, as they’re mostly quite common. Printing the poster out for them, either as A3 for display or reduced to A4 for them to take on outings, is a great way to encourage them to take an interest in nature and The Great Outdoors. As we’ve said before, spending time around nature is extremely beneficial to children, as is outdoor play, so this is a very worthwhile and beneficial children’s activity. It is fun, interesting, educational, supports the EYFS curriculum, and a whole lot more. Read on to learn how to quickly and easily download the free poster for your child.
Download the Free Minibeasts Poster
Right-click the preview image below or this link and you can then save a high-resolution version of the poster. Once the file is saved, open it in Acrobat Reader ∞ to view it on screen and, from there, you will be able to print it out for your child. Some browsers also allow you to view the PDF on screen by left-clicking, however, availability of this option will depend on your device set-up and browser settings.
About Minibeasts
Although there are differing definitions of minibeasts, think of them simply as small creatures for the purposes of this activity and poster. We’ve featured 30 fairly common minibeasts that we think are most likely to be spotted by children and families. Indeed, many will be present from time to time in people’s gardens if you know where and when to look (that’s perhaps a topic for another separate guide in due course). Examples include beetles, worms, bees, moths, woodlice, ants, millipedes, larvae and many more. Note that we’ve only included one image for each, so be aware that those you or your child spot may not look exactly the same as shown. After all, there are as many as 25,000 species of minibeast in the UK and we couldn’t feature them all! So, take a look at the poster and encourage children to get minibeast-spotting, under suitable supervision of course, when they’re next playing outdoors. It’s a fun, free, and educational activity!
Look, Don’t Touch!
Teach Respect & Empathy for Wildlife
Remember to supervise children, especially the very young, for the sake of their safety and that of the minibeasts too. Each minibeast is an individual, with its own feelings, needs and the right to get on with its life peacefully. With that in mind, remember to teach children to respect all other creatures and to “look but don’t touch”. They’re busy little beings, going about their business, and no doubt do not want to be disturbed or manhandled — they’re very delicate too. Kindness, respect, care and empathy are wonderful lessons to teach children.
A tip is to perhaps get children to give each minibeast they spot a name. For example, Brian for a bee, Sally for a spider, or Wally for a worm. This reinforces the message that each one is an individual in their own right.
Our Forest School Programme at Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery, Edgbaston
Children at Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery in Edgbaston also get to benefit from our Forest School programme. With a focus on nature, this gives children under five the chance to learn and benefit from spending time in the natural environment locally. As well as learning about the world around them, it teaches them about other creatures, plants, trees, the seasons, life cycles, food chains and, most importantly, about their own place in the world. Forest School is fun, educational, transformational and incredibly beneficial to children and, for this reason, we also include Forest School resources on-site at the nursery itself. This includes things like seed and plant-growing areas, where children cultivate plants and vegetables.
Your High-Quality Nursery in Edgbaston, Birmingham
Why not consider Leaps & Bounds for your child’s weekday childcare? Rated as a ‘Good Provider’ by Ofsted, we are a nursery and preschool in Edgbaston, near Birmingham, with our own Forest School. Subject, of course, to available spaces, we also accept eligible families that use Government childcare funding schemes. Register for a place, arrange a tour or ask a question and we’ll be happy to help.
Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery and Preschool is located in Edgbaston, near Birmingham, Ladywood, Bearwood, Harborne and Smethwick.
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:
Nature is one of our focuses at Leaps & Bounds Day Nursery in Edgbaston. Children get to enjoy and learn about nature through our 
Toddlers, and indeed children of all ages, absolutely love having stories read out loud to them. After all, it’s fun, captivating entertainment for them. However, it is also very valuable and beneficial — particularly to young children. The benefits of being read to are actually profound for little ones when you take time to look at them. So, today, that’s exactly what we do in our new guide, ‘12 Benefits of Reading Out Loud to Little Ones.’
When we read a story out loud, the plot usually unfolds over many pages. This gradual revealing of the storyline promotes an increased attention span in the children. It’s exciting for your child to hear what happens next to their favourite character, or to wonder how the story is going to end. Being read to is a slower process than, say, watching television and this slow reveal encourages the child to keep focussed and patiently wait for the story to unfold.
Reading out loud with a child can truly promote closer natural bonds between the parent/caregiver and the child. After all, this is quality time that they can spend together, with full focus, no distractions and 100% of attention shared between adult and child.
Quality story time allows children to become fully immersed in the story. This diversion of attention potentially represents a great stress reliever for the child. It’s a chance to sit down and relax while the story is being told and is often a great way to distract children from things that have perhaps made them stressed or anxious during their day. And, of course, exactly the same can be said for the parent or caregiver that’s doing the reading.
perhaps snuggle together under a blanket.
Have you ever noticed that children are naturally happy when music is playing? They also seem to be instinctively aware that music is fun and interactive. Whether singing along or jigging to the beat, an affinity with music is natural to most little ones. It is simply something to be enjoyed. However, the benefits of music go much deeper than simple enjoyment. So, today we give you the top reasons why every child should take music a step further and learn to play a musical instrument. Doing so will help in their learning and development, teach them new skills and enrich their lives profoundly. The benefits are simply amazing …
Learning to play a musical instrument helps with so many aspects of the EYFS, which governs the excellent curriculum for under-fives in England. In fact, it helps towards all seven focus areas contained within the EYFS education and development framework. From helping with reading, mathematics, communication, creativity, understanding the world, personal and social development and much more, music ticks all the EYFS boxes. As such, it’s a powerful tool to help children reach their best potential — in many different areas.
Playing an instrument is a great outlet for emotions. A carefully chosen piece can let a person lose themselves in the beauty of a melody or, at the other end of the scale, vent anger or frustration via through a louder, more energetic piece. This outlet for emotions is really healthy and one that’s hard to beat when you think about it. Expressing your mood in such a positive way can only improve well-being and reduce stress. It can also be virtually meditative when you really get into playing certain types of musical piece.
Mastering a piece of music on a musical instrument will give children a great sense of achievement. In so doing, it’ll boost their confidence and self-esteem amongst both their peers and adults. This alone may give them the courage to keep going and get even better — and to try other new skills.
Coordination of arms, hands, fingers and also hand-eye-coordination are all needed when playing a musical instrument. Indeed, playing an instrument requires immense cooperation between the brain and body. Practising the playing of music can only help a child to improve their coordination and the synapses that control it.
Learning to play music teaches children important life lessons like practise makes perfect, the benefits of trial and error, the value of collaboration and so on. Each of these can often lead to real, tangible results. Learning that something that looks difficult can be overcome through persistence, patience, focus and effort is incredibly important for children to grasp. It can also be applied to many other areas of their learning.
Sometimes it can be almost impossible for working parents to juggle their jobs with complications associated with parenting. Occasionally, an unexpected need arises in relation to your child’s welfare and you simply have to deal with it — even though you’re trying to hold down a job. For this reason, working parents in the UK are protected by law and are entitled to a fairly generous amount of unpaid parental leave from work, without their jobs or employment rights being threatened as a result. While such absence from work is unpaid, time off can be an absolute godsend when your child’s welfare is at stake. Today, we take a look at eligibility and rules around unpaid parental leave for UK parents.
Entitlement to take unpaid parental leave from work comes down to the need to look after the welfare of your child under 18. Some examples may help to illustrate a few of the possible scenarios:
There are a few, simple rules around entitlement to unpaid parental leave in the UK:
By law, employers do require sufficient notice from you when you’re planning to take unpaid parental leave. Legally, they require 3 weeks’ notice (21 days) before you can begin to take the time off. You will also usually need to confirm an end date. In practice, though, some employers are lenient when an unexpected emergency occurs and such notice may not be possible, for example a child suddenly becoming ill and no other childcare being available on such short notice. They are not obliged to be lenient in this way, however.
In today’s article, we take a look at the best ways to prepare children for starting school. Leaving pre-school and starting Reception Year at primary school is a huge step for them. It’s also a big step for parents/carers, of course. So, it’s wise for everyone to be as prepared as possible for the first day and week in particular. Preparing well will ensure that the transition goes as smoothly and as stress-free as possible. So, how do we go about preparing children for starting at school? Let’s take a look …
everything they need to know in order to be ‘school-ready’ by the time they leave and start school. As well as encouraging independence and a level of self-confidence, the preparation at pre-school will also include introducing them to reading and writing and a good grounding in understanding the world. These and many other aspects of early eduction will all stand children in good stead, so they can hit the ground running from the moment they begin Reception Year at school.
One very obvious way to help is to ensure that, even when at home, parents/carers work in partnership with the child’s pre-school, i.e. work towards the same learning and development goals for the child. Working on any weaker areas at home will help the child in terms of school preparedness.
Finding out which friends are also going to the school will benefit them. If there are none, then a play date can be set up if you can get to know another family whose child is starting on the same day. Knowing one or more friends, who are going at the same time, will be good moral support for all parties. It’ll also stop them feeling isolated, alone or even abandoned, particularly in the first couple of days once they start.
Similarly, social skills like having good manners, being polite, knowing the difference between right and wrong, empathy for others and, of course, good communication skills will all help children thrive more easily once they’re at school. Parents/carers can help them with this.
Nearer the start date, run through what’s likely to happen on the first day with your child, so they’re mentally prepared. Again, be positive about it all.
When the big day comes, ensure that you are both fully prepared so that the start of school is stress-free for both you and your child. This includes:
Dyslexia can really hold children back. Because it affects children’s ability to read and write, it can adversely affect their overall education and impede their life chances once they’re older. That’s despite the fact that many dyslexic children are highly intelligent individuals with no other limiting conditions. As such, it’s a very unfair affliction for children to have to deal with. Thank goodness, though, modern society has recognised the condition and education professionals and parents now have a much clearer picture of both the early signs of dyslexia and the measures available to help children affected by it.
To give those without the condition an idea of its effects, words and letters are often described as ‘jumbling up’ or ‘moving around’ in such a way that they are unintelligible. Clearly they are not physically moving in reality, though — the condition is a neurobiological one.
There is no cure for dyslexia, but it’s adverse effects can be mitigated and the earlier diagnosis is made, the better. Once diagnosed, parents, nursery/pre-school staff and education professionals can put measures in place to help the child cope and indeed overcome many of the barriers that dyslexia presents. It’s also heartening to note that many dyslexic children end up absolutely excelling in other areas:
As a matter of course, our nursery staff will look out for possible signs of dyslexia and other SpLDs. We will discuss any concerns with parents and take appropriate action whenever required. If positively diagnosed, our tailored programme for learning and development will build in measures to help any children affected, in any way we can. These are bespoke programmes that are made-to-measure for each individual, so making allowances for SpLDs is all part and parcel of what we do at the nursery.
