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We’re running eight free training sessions for childminders and out of school childcare practitioners.

The first training session starts in April and you’re welcome to attend any sessions that interest you, you don’t have to do all eight!

Childminders and out of school childcare practitioners don’t get access to this kind of training and support very often so we really hope you can come along.

All the training sessions are on Saturdays and are designed to help you boost your skills and knowledge of play, including natural and outdoor play.

You’ll be able to pick up loads of useful ideas for great play activities for example, whilst having fun yourself!

All the sessions are designed around the Department of Education’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, which sets the standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to five.

Sessions will include all kinds of creative, adventurous activities and there won’t be a dull moment we promise!

Click here for full details of each session

Click here to download a booking form

Feel free to get in touch with us if you’d like to know more!

Many thanks to our volunteer Sarah Martins for talking to the Nottingham Evening Post about how she helps the toy library – and how that has helped her with her career.

Find out what it’s like volunteering with the toy library by reading the article in full

Seven lucky girls and eight lucky boys who regularly attend our play sessions we’re asked to test toys for Debenhams recently, so that the store could create a ‘top toys for Christmas list’ – based on real children’s views.

The full story is in today’s Nottingham Evening Post and it’s well worth a read!

Click here to read the story on the Evening Post website

Plus of course, you can find out what children really want for Christmas this year!

Debenhams donated £40 worth of toys to the toy library and gave parents vouchers and children goodie bags to thank us all for our time.

Read our response to the Barnardo’s report published yesterday…

Our response to Barnardo’s report revealing UK’s negative attitudes towards children

Why not come down to the Nottingham Contemporary art gallery in Nottingham city centre this Saturday at 11.30am for the launch of our outdoor play resources – designed by children who attend the toy library’s sessions?

Children from our Play on the Wildside outdoor play sessions have been working with artists from the Contemporary to design the resources, which you’ll be able to borrow free from the toy library from next week.

The resources have been created to help families have fun playing in the woods at Bulwell Hall Park and are suitable for children of different ages.

The magic of outdoor play - courtesy of Jo Wheeler

The children’s work has also inspired a new Play & Learn Trail at the Contemporary which you’ll be able to try out on Saturday.

The launch coincides with the Contemporary’s free Family Extravaganza weekend, on from 11am to 3pm on Satuday 22nd and Sunday 23rd.

Hope to see you there!

A range of free play resources for families – created by children who attend the toy library’s ‘Play on the Wildside’ sessions – is being launched at the Nottingham Contemporary on Saturday 22nd October at 11.30am – to help families explore and enjoy playing in the woods at Bulwell Hall Park in Nottingham.

The magic of outdoor play - courtesy of Jo Wheeler

Anyone who’s interested is very welcome to come along – and you’ll also be able to join in with the Contemporary’s free Family Extravaganza event, which is on from 11am to 3pm.

The resources will be available to borrow from the toy library from Monday 24th October and they’ll include a storybook based on real families’ experiences of playing in the Bulwell Hall Park woods, together with hands-on play activities for children of different ages and creative maps designed by children to give other young people a ‘child’s eye view’ of the woods.

For example, the maps include children’s favourite trees, great spots for hide and seek and lots of ideas for making up your own stories.

Artists from the Contemporary have helped to make our resources and their work with the toy library has also inspired a new Play and Learn Trail at the Contemporary, which will help children to explore the gallery’s exhibitions in a fun, inspiring way. The Trail will feature the toy library’s logo and the wording ‘inspired by work done with children from Bulwell Community Toy Library.’

A slide show showing a selection of photographs capturing the children and artists in action will also be available to view at the Contemporary.

Hope to see you at the Contemporary on Saturday!

We had a story in the Nottingham Evening Post on 8th August – about our mobile creche looking for new childcare workers.

Our mobile creche has been running for over a year now and it’s proving so successful it looks as if we’ll be doubling the number of sessions we provide from September. The creche was set up to provide affordable childcare for public and community sector organisations – to make it easier for them to provide childcare at events etc.

So if you’re a qualified childcare worker and you’d like to work for our mobile creche on a sessional basis – why not get in touch with us?

Read the Nottingham Evening Post article in full 

Find out more about the jobs available

As you may have heard, Nottingham City Council is thinking about changing the pattern of school terms and holidays in city schools and it’s asking parents and carers for their views.

Most schools in the city have a three-term year with each term divided in half by a week long ‘half-term’ holiday. The council is considering introducing a five-term school year instead, with a shorter four week summer holiday, terms which are more equal in length and half term breaks lasting two weeks instead of one.

The Council says five terms would be better because:

• It could reduce the impact of children ‘getting out of the habit’ of learning through the long summer holidays.
• Terms would be of more equal length, which would make it easier for schools to plan and deliver lessons more effectively.
• Providing regular two week holidays throughout the year would give families the chance to go on holiday at cheaper times, which would help to stop parents taking their children out of school during term time.

The toy library was featured on ITV Central News last night as part of a story on early intervention in Nottingham.

Graham Allen, Labour MP for Nottingham North and Patron of the toy library, has written a report on early intervention for the Government and is also campaigning hard for more money to be put into helping families and children from a young age. The Government has said it’ll respond to Mr Allen’s report in the autumn so watch this space for more news soon.

In a nutshell, early intervention means giving children the best possible start in life from birth, which is what the toy library aims to do.

Research has shown that providing support to children early on helps them to reach their full potential as they grow into adulthood.

Click here to watch the ITV Central News clip in full

For those of you who haven’t seen it, Steve Parkinson from the toy library wrote a column about play for last Saturday’s Nottingham Evening Post.

Here’s a snippet…

“We all know that playing is vital for a child’s development and lately we have realised that playing outdoors is an essential part of childhood.

Get them away from the computer and telly for a while, out in the fresh air meeting friends, running around, exploring their neighbourhood.

The health benefits alone are enormous quite apart from the many other developmental and learning opportunities that playing outdoors provides.

Now there is a growing interest in the benefits of “natural play” for children, a recognition that children need contact with nature to thrive.

We know that children in towns and cities are less likely to spend time playing in a natural environment and many believe this may have dangerous consequences…”

Read the article in full

What do you think? Do you agree that children should be given more opportunities to play outdoors? Please feel free to leave your comments below.