Please contact me if you would like your product reviewed, all reviews offer my honest opinion and, if necessary, constructive criticism, after I have used the item or read the book:

BOOK REVIEW - June 2010:

Poisonous Plants - A guide for parents and childcare providers

by Elizabeth A. Dauncey

(Kew Publishing, 2010) ISBN 978 1 84246 406 9, £15.00 available via www.kewbooks.com

Over the years I have looked at many books, online resources and information sheets in the search for information regarding various plants and their poisoning risks, I wish Poisonous Plants - A guide for parents and childcare providers had been available at the time, it is one of the most easy to use books I have come across with alphabetically listings for indoor and outdoor plants and a general section with information on toxicity and risks including the HTA (Horticultural Trades Association) risk code for each plant.

It is an excellent reference guide with over 230 full colour photographs and detailed descriptions of 132 of the most poisonous plants and plant groups which you are likely to come across in your garden, vegetable plot or when out and about in park and woodland.

I like the fold out symbol key which helps to quickly identify where you might find the plants, what type of plant it is and what would be the most likely attraction to children. At the back there is even a fold out measure to help with plant size identification!

The full colour photographs are excellent - it is ok knowing that a plant might be poisonous but how would you know if the plant that lurks at the end of your flower border is one of them without being able to identify it? The photographs do just that, not only of the plant but of seeds and pods too.

Plants are listed not only in their Latin names but also with various common names and family plant group.

I am more than happy to recommend this book to childminders, you could use it when doing your risk assessments and at just 9"x6" in size it is small enough to take out with you on an outing and use with the children to identify plants, discuss the risks and develop the child's understanding of why plants should be looked at but not touched or eaten unless you are fully aware of what the plant is and how it can affect you. Click pictures for larger image:

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BOOK REVIEW - June 2010:

Is That Cat Dead? and other questions about poison plants

by John Robertson - former warden of the famous Alnwick Garden Poison Garden.

ISBN 978-1-84624-425-4

Available to buy from the Childminding Forum's Amazon Shop - click here: Is That Cat Dead

Being a cat lover the title certainly got my attention!

This isn't an A-Z book of poisonous plants it is instead an informative, sometimes funny and very interesting insight into a variety of poisonous plants, the folklore that surrounds them and just how poisonous (or not) a plant can be.

As a childminder it might help to stem the flow of worry as to how many plants are lying in wait for little Johnny and whether you should allow children out to play in the garden for fear of them being poisoned by some deadly plant.

Like I said there are fun stories which have John travelling up the M1 with a class A substance in the boot of his car! Or little snippets like our ancestors mixing fly excrement with opium to get children to sleep! But then there is the more serious and disturbing information on plants which cause addiction.

You will learn how plants have been used down the years as medicines, poisons and recreation drugs and for murder and beauty. John uses his extensive knowledge to put all the information into a pleasant read.

....... and was the cat dead? I will leave you to find that out for yourself!

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BOOK REVIEW (June 2008):

Registered Childminding - The Secrets of Success (Second Edition)

by Tunja and Tamsin Stone

Available to buy from the Childminding Forum's Amazon Shop - click here:Registered Childminding the Secrets of Success

19 sections and over 300 pages cover just about everything you could need to know about Childminding. The authors are themselves Registered Childminders, the book is clearly written and easy to understand.

From starting out and becoming registered right through to supporting children with special needs this book give an excellent range of advice and references. The business side of childminding and record keeping is well covered as is observations, assessment and evaluation plus many other areas just too numerous to mention.

Ideal not only for those thinking about becoming a childminder, or new to minding, but also for the established minder to improve their skills.

My husband (who is also my Registered Assistant) said he found the book easy to read and full of information and, even though I've been minding over 25 years and he has always been involved in some way, there was information in the book which helped him to better understand some of the more practical aspects of Childminding.

Written in a way that makes it ideal to just dip into when you have a problem or question that needs to be quickly answered but at the same time equally good for a sit down with a coffee when you get one of those rare moments for relaxation!

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Product Review (July 2010):

Beep! - Activities for Early Years CD-ROM - suitable for PC or Mac

I first came across 'Beep!' at my local Sure Start centre where it was available for children to use while visiting our Childminding Group.

Now having my own copy to use with the children in my own setting is wonderful, it is an excellent educational resource. It comes as a CD-Rom and has 6 activities aimed at age range 3 - 5 years, although some 2 year olds can manage to use it with a little help and guidance.

The activities are brightly coloured and very engaging, sound and movement on screen helps to keep the child's attention. They help promote observation skills and also have fun games such as 'Wardrobe' , at the moment this is the favourite here! You dress a cartoon baby in whatever clothes/hats/shoes etc. you like, children find this really amusing as they create their own funny looking 'baby'.

Other activities include:

• Odd one Out - Children must identify the odd one out and click on it.
• Street Scene: Create a picture and watch it come to life
• Maze: Move an animal through the maze to reach a certain object
• Musical Paint Box: Every time a mark is made on the screen a different sound will play, representing the 'type' of mark, offering endless possibilities for creative music making.
• Word Robot: Drag words into the grid and hear the robot say them. You can also add new words and record your own voice. An excellent word recognition game which can also be used to build simple sentences.

All in all a great way to introduce ICT to your setting, children learn to use the computer and develop their mouse skills while having fun. Games can also be played using keyboard keys.

The activities can easily be linked to all EYFS Early Learning Goals during your observations.

To find out more visit the Q&D Multimedia website: http://www.q-and-d.co.uk/beep.htm where you can find screenshots of some of the activities and more information plus the opportunity for a free 28 day trial.

System Requirements:

Windows:
Pentium 600 Mhz

Mac:
G3 or above
128 Mb RAM
16x CD-ROM drive
16 bit colour display
OSX 10.1.5 or later

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Product Review (August 2010):

Big Book Little Book Cardboard Box - Book Storage

www.bigbooklittlebookcardboardbox.co.uk

Perhaps like me your first thought was "well it is just a box and I can get a box for free from the supermarket!" However, you might be be surprised when you see one. I was amazed how strong it is and I don't think anything from the supermarket could compare for strength and durability. In fact to test it out I tried standing on the sides - quite a balancing act I can tell you and not to be recommended! but it took my weight so should stand up to the rigours of a variety of children using it over a long time.

Measuring 53cm in length x 32cm deep it has two compartments of different sizes for large and small books. The front is slightly lower than the back at 11cm and 15 cm respectively, thus allowing for the books to be stored face forward and made easy to flick through. Most of our books fit into it but not all so it might be nice to see them made in different sizes in the future.

As it comes plain and undecorated it offers another angle of being turned into an activity for the children if they are allowed to decorate it themselves, the activity could then be easily linked to the EYFS learning areas.

It has been in use in our playroom now for two weeks, yet to be decorated but still looking as good as new.

I will report back at a later date as to how it is going and how long it lasts!

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Product Review (September 2010):

Jofli Bears - Travelling Teddy Bears

www.jofli.com

This is our travelling teddy - Walter - named after Walter Raleigh the famous explorer. (This allowed for a great history lesson!) he is a Jofli Bear and came complete with his own Story, Log Book, Backpack and Pen. The backpack is detachable and he has a removable hat and scarf.

He has his own ID registration to access interactive online features on the Jofli website where you can also purchase extra log books and pages, clothing and accessories.

The quality of the Jofli bear is excellent, very plush and cuddly just as a bear should be! The backpack is very high quality, made from a strong canvas with metal zips, carry handle and shoulder strap. It is like a normal rucksack but in miniature. 4 zip compartments which also have inner pockets, allow the children to carry things along with them as well as the supplied Log Book and pen. The backpack attaches to the Jofli bear with strong plastic squeeze clips, just like a normal rucksack and by using the supplied strap the child can use the backpack on its own or can fix it to the bear and then carry bear and backpack at the same time by threading the strap through the top handle to make loops.

The Log Book is a child size ring binder and comes with loose leaf sheets for recording various things including My Adventures, Hopes and Dreams, and Favourite things, a lovely way to record information about a child which will be interesting to read as they get older. The diary pages allow the children to write about where the bear has been and what he got up to, there are photo pages too and Scrap pages for drawing your own pictures.

The Jofli Bear comes complete with a unique ID number which allows you to go online and log into a secure area where there are more activities and printables.

I am happy to recommend Jofli Bears and would rate them very highly, they are far more than just a toy, they can become a companion and memory book rolled into one!

Using a travelling bear within a childminding setting:

Well I think it is a rare child that doesn't like a teddy bear! Bears are loved by many an adult too for that matter, I know that I am one of them!

I find that some children will often interact more readily with a toy or puppet than with an adult so using a travelling teddy gives children the opportunity to think about and discuss where they have been and what they have been doing. It is great to animate the bear by using silly voices and making it move by waving it's arm or moving it's legs to dance, children quickly want to be involved and can get carried away in thinking it is real! Sometimes they will talk to it, show concern and laugh with it, a great way to explore relationships, emotions and feelings.

As a childminder you can allow the children to take the bear on holiday, a visit home for the night or weekend, to school and nursery (if they permit it) and on outings. This will give a wealth of occasions for the child to discuss what the bear did, where they took it etc.

Within a childminding setting there is also an opportunity to extend this further by sending your bear to another childminder in your area. Perhaps via your local childminding group meetings it could be arranged to have a 'bear swap' where the bear goes to visit another setting and comes back with his Log Book competed with stories and photos of what he got up to. You in turn would then have a bear to visit and the children can do activities with it and record them. There are several members on the Childminding Forum who post their bears to other members so they can have adventures in other settings.

For older children you can enhance their writing and reading skills by allowing them to fill in the Log Book, take photos and print them.

Using travelling bears covers just about every area of EYFS, these are just a few of my ideas, there are many more:

Physical Development - Fine manipulation skills for dressing and undressing the bear, opening and fastening the back pack, turning pages of the log book and holding the pen.

Creative Development - Expressing ideas and using imagination on where the bear should travel, designing the pages in his log for text and photos.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World - Learning of the places the bear travels, how he travels e.g. train, car, boat plane, ICT skills using the interactive on-line option. Learning about their local community as they share the bear with others.

Communication, Language and Literacy - Discussing what the bear got up to, reading about his travels, writing skills to complete the log.

Personal, Social and Emotions Development - Making choices, sharing toys, meeting others, sharing ideas and exploring emotions e.g. did the bear have a nice time, did he miss you, was he happy or sad, all these help build the child's own confidence and self-esteem. Creating a log of their personal preferences.

Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy - Learning about distance the bear travels, how to get him there, the number of visits he has had.