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How to Teach Your Child at Home During School Closures

2020-03-20    
Heather Mactivity    
Children's Life Skills Learning Activities

These are unprecedented times and with school closures happening today in the UK, following school closures in Ireland and other countries, parents are naturally asking how they will ensure learning at home whilst schools are closed due to Covid-19. It’s very easy to become quickly overwhelmed as there is a lot of information flying about and lots of posts about homeschooling on social media, but first and foremost cut yourself some slack. Nothing terrible is going to happen if you don’t have your child learning all day every day, in fact, they probably only need a few hours every day just to keep things ticking over. If you’re home working it will make learning even more difficult to implement. Go easy on yourself, these times are hard enough as it is and emotions are running high. Most schools will of course be providing work for children to complete at home…    read more 

World Book Day Costume Ideas for Children and Teachers

2020-02-21    
Heather Mactivity    
World Book Day Ideas

If you’re looking for World Book Day costumes for children and adults alike – you’ve come to the right place! While researching this blog post, I was actually quite surprised about how little there is in terms of inspiration on the internet. But to save you trawling round looking for ideas, we’ve done the hard work for you! Children’s World Book Day Costumes First let’s start with the kids. I’ve added a whole heap of  World  Book Day costume ideas to my Pinterest board (feel free to follow us on Pinterest whilst you’re at it!), but for ease, I also thought I’d make a list here. Harry Potter Sherlock Holmes Very Hungry Caterpillar Rainbow Fish Fantastic Mr Fox Snail from Snail and the whale Knight from the King Arthur books Pirate from The Pirates Next Door The Mad Hatter Peter Pan Willy Wonka Oompa Loompa from Charlie and the Chocolate…    read more 

World Book Day Activity Ideas

2020-02-20    
Heather Mactivity    
world book day activities

Are you looking for World Book Day activity ideas, or perhaps World Book Day ideas for KS1 and KS2? We’ve done a round up of our favourite ideas that are easy and do-able for all abilities. World Book Day is a great excuse to get off timetable and really celebrate a love of reading – which I believe is the cornerstone of ALL learning. Encouraging a love of reading really is essential, and as a class teacher I would sit and read my own book whilst my class were reading, to emphasise that reading is a life long pleasure. Here are our favourite activities and ideas not just for World Book Day actually, but for general fun book related learning! Kapow Primary have got a great selection of demo videos and lesson ideas to bring more of a cross curricular approach to World Book Day – I love the story triarama…    read more 

Reading Corner Classroom Ideas

2020-02-18    
Heather Mactivity    
Book corner ideas for primary

I’m a great believer in savouring the summer holidays as long as possible, but I do have to say that making my classroom look beautiful was always a pretty cathartic experience for me, even if it couldn’t look beautiful for very long! But that’s the thing, children like to USE things, and inevitably with that use, comes an element of destruction. Nonetheless, coming up with ideas for your class reading corner or reading area can be quite challenging – you want to do something different to last year, something creative and inspiring, but either on a tight budget or for free – and where do you start? Luckily, we’ve got a selection of book corner ideas you are going to love – and that can easily be replicated in your own classroom. Let’s get started (all photos used with permission by the way). Book Corner Inspiration! We spotted these reading…    read more 

Chinese Zodiac Story

2019-12-16    
Heather Mactivity    

It’s almost time for Chinese New Year and children love hearing about the Chinese Zodiac Story and the story of the Great Race. Here at Mrs Mactivity, we have a range of Chinese New Year Resources to help children learn about Chinese New Year and the Chinese Zodiac.   The Story of Chinese New year Many years ago in China, the Jade Emperor wanted to measure time to work out how old he was. He decided to have a swimming race with different types of animals, so he could give a name to each year of the Chinese zodiac. The position each animal came in the race would decide which year was named after them. The Emperor invited thirteen animals down to the river to take part but he only needed twelve for his zodiac.   The animals were: A tiger, a snake, a rat, a rabbit, a monkey, a dog, a pig,…    read more 

Natural Resources Early Years

2019-12-16    
Heather Mactivity    
NATURAL RESOURCE IDEAS IN THE EARLY YEARS

In recent years, there has been a huge emphasis on using Natural Resources in the Early Years. The reasons for this are simple. Moving away from an emphasis and reliance on plastic materials is not only good for the environment, it’s also cheaper, produces less waste, and is very engaging and inspiring for children. Best of all, since natural materials, especially in our outdoor environments, change all the time, there is a natural sense of movement and difference that we can take advantage of as educators – in a way, the activities plan themselves. At Mrs Mactivity, we are convinced that wooden and natural resources are more likely to result in creative play and activity for children, as children have to be naturally more curious and and open minded in how they play. Play is less prescribed and is more about the children’s own interests and natural creativity. Coupled with…    read more 

Year of the Rat Activities

2019-12-16    
Heather Mactivity    
Year of the rat activities

What is the animal for Chinese new year 2020? 2021 is the year of the rat in the Chinese lunar calendar, and at Mrs Mactivity we have plenty of year of the rat resources, year of the rat lesson ideas, and year of the rat worksheets! Not forgetting all of our other Chinese New Year resources and ideas that will help save you time in your lessons, or use with your children at home.  It has actually been such a blast coming up with the ideas for our Chinese New Year crafts and worksheets, and we’re really excited to share these with you! Before we go onto our year of the rat resources, we wanted to show you our NEW and existing Chinese New Year worksheets and activities. Chinese New Year Dragon Craft We love the Chinese New Year Dragon Craft from last year! This one was so popular and…    read more 

Easy Year of the Pig Crafts and Activities

2019-12-09    
Heather Mactivity    
year of the pig activities

It’s that time of year again – Chinese New Year – and there are so many possibilities! Chinese New Year is the perfect excuse to a) eat lovely food and b) get super crafty and inspire young minds – so what are you waiting for! Let’s get started! We’ve lots of easy crafts and resources that anyone can do – from age 3 and beyond. Best of all they require hardy any preparation and are either free or super cheap. Though for some of the Year of the Pig resources you will need a Mrs Mactivity Premium subscription, though at only £9.97 for 12 months, with access to ALL of our boutique resources, it’s a total bargain. Where to begin? Chinese New year paper plate puppet craft This one is so popular already and totally unique to Mrs Mactivity! Make your very own puppet craft for Chinese New Year using…    read more 

Very Simple Chinese New Year Activity Ideas!

2019-12-02    
Heather Mactivity    
Chinese new year activity ideas

Chinese New Year is one of my favourite festivals for lots of different reasons. First of all it comes just after Christmas when everything seems a bit gloomy, with not much to look forward to. It’s a great excuse to get together with friends and family, cook something a bit different and celebrate (again!). It’s also something quite easy to introduce to children – even if they are unfamiliar with Chinese culture. There are so many interesting things you can do that involve fun learning opportunities. This one is easy and fun for all the family. Use our Chinese New Year Mindfulness Colouring sheets to really relax and chat whilst spending time together.  As it’s year of the dog this year, younger children will find this especially fun. Make a Chinese willow plate! For this you will need to buy some paper plates from your local supermarket and either use…    read more 

24 Days of No Mess Christmas Activity Ideas

2019-11-23    
Heather Mactivity    
24 days of no mess Christmas Crafts

Advent is almost here, and with it the chance to do lots of fun festive crafts to get ready for Christmas! With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of 24 days of no mess Christmas craft and activity ideas suitable for both home and school, that anyone can do! With the cold weather outside, spend some quality time together preparing your own Christmas crafts and decorations to make your home or Christmas display look absolutely splendid without getting glitter everywhere. Most of these ideas are low prep and low cost or free, with items you already have at home. Easy peasy and fun Christmas ideas for each day of Advent – or whenever you like! Day 1 Make your own Advent Calendar with our super easy template! Make a kindness calendar, or draw pictures behind each window. Day 2 Make an elf cupcake liner craft from The Gingerbread House….    read more 

Phonics Play Ideas

2019-11-20    
Heather Mactivity    
phonics games and activities

Coming up with Phonics play ideas is actually easier than it sounds! Since children who are learning phonics are usually in the 3-7 age range, it also makes total sense to make any phonics learning activities as fun and playful as possible. But how to do it – how can you make phonics fun and ensure that learning takes place too? We’ve come up with some great ideas that might help! Since the arrival of letters and sounds a few years ago, there have been various approaches to phonics, and we’re excited to announce that we will very shortly be launching our new fun phonics games, fun phonics activities and much more! Keep an eye on our Phonics resources to be the first in the know What is phonics? For the uninitiated – what is phonics? Put simply, it is a systematic approach to learning to read, write and spell words….    read more 

What is Continuous Provision?

2019-11-08    
Heather Mactivity    
Continuous provision ideas

This is a blog post written by Early Years specialist Sophie. Sometimes deciphering all the different words in Early Years can be challenging – this blog post aims to decode some of the key phrases to help those new to the profession, or more experienced staff who fancy a refresher. Continuous Provision – what does that mean? The phrase ‘Continuous Provision’ refers to the resources and areas laid out in your classroom to provoke learning through play and exploration. The resources should be freely accessible to the children in the classroom during any designated ‘free play’ time and should stay the same throughout the school year. The resources you provide in each area should be engaging and relevant. They should challenge and promote critical thinking and problem solving, while remaining open-ended. Why don’t I need to change the resources in Continuous Provision? The purpose of Continuous Provision is to provide a…    read more 

Phonics Scheme of Work

2019-10-05    
Heather Mactivity    
Mrs Mactivity phonics scheme

Are you looking for an exciting, hands on, child centred Phonics Scheme of Work for your school, setting or home? Then we’ve got you covered! Mrs Mactivity have been busy creating a phonics scheme starting with phase 1 phonics, giving you a weekly and daily breakdown of phonics activities and sounds for each day. Our phonics scheme of work for primary schools is aimed as a letters and sounds phonics scheme, to be used in Early Years and KS1, going from phase 1 right up to phase 6. The phonics sounds have been split into sets to be taught right from the beginning of phase 1, introducing tricky words and spellings alongside the phonics scheme of work. Our phonics scheme can be used as stand alone phonics resources, or be used alongside the phonics scheme you are already using, as well as with any reading books that comply with letters and…    read more 

CBeebies’ Sid Sloane to Open Childcare Expo Midlands!

2019-08-20    
Heather Mactivity    
Childcare Expo Midlands 2019

Childcare Expo Midlands is returning to the Coventry and putting on even more of a show for Early Years & Primary professionals. To celebrate Childcare Expo’s 10th birthday, CBeebies presenter Sid Sloane will be opening the show and providing entertainment for visitors. Sid has decades of experience in children’s entertainment, and was one of the original presenters who launched the CBeebies channel in 2002. He recently founded children’s project, Roots4Kids, as a way of empowering children from low socio-economic backgrounds, so expect some powerful, motivating stories. Sid is also hosting a workshop on children’s mental health on Friday 27th September and will be entertaining the crowds throughout the day, so be sure to say hello during your visit! Alongside Sid, there are some great suppliers, innovative products, interactive activities, and a full two days of seminars designed to inform and inspire! Your very own Mrs Mactivity is running an action packed…    read more 

How to Use Provocations and the Reggio Emilia approach in the Early Years

2019-07-10    
Heather Mactivity    
How To Use Provocations And The Reggio Emilia Approach In The Early Years

This is a blog post written by experienced EYFS leader Sophie Pickles. The term ‘provocation’ is being increasingly used in Early Settings and with home educators across the country. At Mrs Mactivity, we are passionate about learning through play and we have been exploring what a provocation is, where the phrase first began and why you should be using them with your children… What is a Provocation? A provocation is simply an activity or stimulus set up to provoke thought, curiosity, exploration and conversation. Provocations come in many forms depending on the stimulus and required outcome, but they are all created with these purposes in mind. These invitations to play are usually set up to help children expand upon an expressed interest, thought or idea, although may occasionally stem from the necessity to practice skills or consolidate learning. The term ‘provocation’ has arisen from the Reggio-Emilia approach to learning and child-led education…    read more 

THE BIC® KIDS YOUNG ARTIST AWARD IS BACK

2019-07-06    
Heather Mactivity    

Is your child’s imagination constantly running away with them? Are they always drawing on any scrap of paper they can find? After receiving 1,000+ amazing entries and over 20,000 votes last year, the competition that gives budding young artists a chance to let their creativity shine is now open for 2019. This summer, the BIC® KIDS Young Artist Award is giving proud parents across the UK and Republic of Ireland the opportunity to see their child’s drawings graduate from the fridge door to billboards! Open to all 5 to 11-year-olds, entrants are encouraged to exercise their artistic flair, let their imaginations run wild and draw with complete freedom. Entrants should draw a landscape piece on plain A4 paper, use pencils, pens and/or crayons and not draw any famous characters or logos to be eligible to win. Judges will award points for everything from creativity and use of colour, to composition…    read more 

World Nursery Rhyme Week 2019

2019-06-27    
Heather Mactivity    
World nursery rhyme week

Well! It’s here again and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be involved! Last year marked our first year as proud partners of World Nursery Rhyme Week, together with organisers Music Bugs and partners Piccolo Music, and now, we’re at it again! We have provided a plethora of free resources and activities to celebrate the week, which takes place from the 18th – 22nd November 2019. This year, to add to the excitement, World Nursery Rhyme week has a new sponsor –  Little Baby Bum – who make nursery rhyme videos. Registration is actually now open – and when you sign up, you can access the free resources straight away, even though the event is not until the Autumn. The importance of nursery rhymes Nursery rhymes are absolutely essential to children’s development and are an essential part of early education. By singing nursery rhymes, children learn about rhythm, pronunciation, rhyme,…    read more 

Registration now OPEN for Childcare Expo Midlands 2019

2019-06-26    
Heather Mactivity    

For the tenth year running, Childcare Expo Midlands is preparing to return to Coventry to celebrate the show’s milestone birthday on 27th– 28thSeptember. Now the longest-running exhibition in the early years and primary education sectors, the organisers have announced that registration for the last event of the year is now open. Returning to the Ricoh Arena, Childcare Expo Midlands will host a number of inspiring speakers and special guests for visitors to learn from and interact with throughout the two days. The show will provide a full programme of CPD seminars, with a range of topics including Ofsted inspections, speech development, SEND, team motivation and the future of EYFS. A brand new feature area has also been announced for the event, where visitors will be able to get hands-on and learn how to make their own creative phonics activities to take back to their school or setting. The Mactivity Activity…    read more 

Father’s Day Card Ideas

2019-05-21    
Heather Mactivity    
Fathers day card ideas

Are you looking for easy Father’s Day cards and crafts to make either at home or school? We’ve put together our favourite ideas for Father’s Day this year with DIY gifts that dad will love! It’s always so much nicer to make your own DIY cards for Father’s Day as they are so much more meaningful and personalised for dad. It’s a great day for making a fuss of dad and all that he does – and it doesn’t have to be aimed at dads either. Plenty of grandads, uncles, brothers, family friends, mums and sisters fulfil the role of dad too. Here are our best ideas for simple Father’s Day cards and crafts for ages 3-11. Father’s Day Card Templates For something super simple, you can’t beat our Father’s Day card templates. These are super ink friendly and come in four different designs so children can choose their favourite…    read more 

Classroom Must Haves

2019-05-20    
Heather Mactivity    
Classroom must haves

One of the questions we get asked quite frequently both as teachers and resource providers is – what are my classroom must haves? Obviously this differs between age groups, but we thought it might be useful to provide a sort of definitive list of some essentials you need for your classroom, especially useful if you are an NQT or just looking for some new ideas! Some of these resources we have, some we are making in time for the new year, and some are non printables. Either way, hopefully you will find something useful here. Classroom Management Essentials Common exception word mats -laminated and put on each table, especially for years 1 and year 2.  Maths and English working wall display. A visual timetable. Some sort of calendar display – especially for KS1. Conjunctions displayed on the wall (coming soon!). Wipe clean number lines to 100. Bead strings Class set…    read more 

15+ Mother’s Day Activity Ideas

2019-05-06    
Heather Mactivity    
Mother's Day activity ideas

This time of year is great for seasonal and celebration activities and Mother’s Day is one of our favourites.  There are lots of Mother’s Day crafts and activities that kids love and that mum appreciates, and we’ve come up with our favourite Mother’s Day activity ideas that anyone can do. These ideas are simple, easy and full of fun. If you are familiar with Mrs Mactivity, you will know that we hand draw all of our resources, and they are all totally unique to us. No stock images here! We pride ourselves on creating very high quality printables, crafts and activities that are super high quality, whilst at an affordable price. Anyway, let’s get started! Make a Mother’s Day Plate Bouquet Craft – paper plate is optional! This is a super easy craft that also looks super impressive! Just requires a bit of cutting precision and glue. Make a Mother’s Day…    read more 

How to Make an Obb and Bob Phonics Sorting Game

2019-05-01    
Heather Mactivity    
Obb and Bob Phonics sorting game

Phonics games are fun! And here’s one that’s super easy to make both for teachers and parents at home with their own children. We’ve put together an Obb and Bob Phonics Sorting Game resource pack for you to try, either for preparation for the Phonics Screening Check or just for consolidation in your phonics sessions.  The pack contains “stickers” that can be cut out and stuck onto a suitable mini bin, as well as word cards to be used during the game. It’s worth noting that these particular words are taken from the previous two years year 1 Phonics Screening Checks. Instructions 1. Purchase two mini bins – you can either choose the same colour or two contrasting colours – it’s up to you! I chose two different colours as I thought they would look better in photos. These two came from B and Q (though perplexingly they are not…    read more 

Phonics Screening Check 2019

2019-05-01    
Heather Mactivity    
Phonics screening check resources

Do you want a fresh approach to the Phonics Screening Check 2019? Need some phonics screening resources that are a bit different to what you used last year? Then you’ve come to the right place! We’ve been working really hard to make phonics screening resources  that give you the information and content you need, and that children love! All hand drawn by us. Here we go! Start with our super cool Phonics Screening Check PowerPoint! Show to your children either in class at home and go through the nonsense words so children are familiar with the concept.   Or how about using some of our Alien Words Flashcards? Useful in small groups or 1:1, or with your own child at home.   It’s also worth practising both handwriting and reading with our Year 1 Common Exception Words Handwriting Activity and Year 2 Common Exception Words Handwriting Activity.   It’s also…    read more 

Spring Activities for Early Years

2019-04-19    
Heather Mactivity    
Spring Activities for Early Years

It’s time to get into Spring! The weather is officially looking up, the blossoms are coming out, rabbits are hopping in the fields and shops the world over are filling up with Easter eggs! What’s more, it’s a great time of year to engage kids, take on new aspects of learning and be inspired. As educators, there is nothing better than teaching something that you are genuinely interested in and excited to be covering, and we’ve included some spring ideas that are not only suitable for Early years age children, but in fact all ages. Spring Activities for Kids First up, this is a super popular activity that is quite simple – Sunflower Size Ordering Activity – but also very effective – especially popular with childminders. Put the sunflowers in size order as a warm up activity to growing your own sunflowers in your garden or just in a pot….    read more 

Alternative Jobs to Teaching

2019-04-16    
Heather Mactivity    
alternative jobs for teachers

Since setting up Mrs Mactivity I’ve had quite a few messages from other teachers asking me about my change in career and asking for ideas for alternative jobs to teaching. Giving up teaching was the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make. I loved being with children and can honestly say they gave me joy every single day. Yes there were hard days when I was tired or run down or had startings of flu, and I honestly didn’t know how I was going to get through the day. There were kids I think I probably failed, especially in the early days, and I am definitely haunted by the memory of that. But there were plenty of kids that I helped, inspired and championed and hopefully they will remember me in a positive way. Really as an educator that’s the best compliment anyone can pay you. But over time I…    read more 

How to Make an Easter Pop Up Card

2019-04-04    
Heather Mactivity    
Easter pop up card

It’s Easter time – and we’ve lots of Easter craft cards to choose from – but if you want to make your own, we’ve got some instructions for you to follow to make the best and easiest Easter card EVER! You can choose to either download our Easter pop up card template – DOWNLOAD HERE – or you can draw your own designs and use plain card. The choice is yours! How to make a DIY Easter Card What you need:- A4 card, either white or coloured – depending on what you have or prefer. A4 paper Scissors Glue Our Easter card printable available to download here.  First of all, get everything you need together in one place, if you are using our template, simply fold it down the middle. If you are doing your own version, decorate the front of your card then fold it down the middle so…    read more 

How to Make Easter Baskets out of Paper

2019-04-03    
Heather Mactivity    

One of the questions we get asked a lot at Mrs Mactivity is about our paper crafts – and this Easter, we are getting a lot of people asking the same thing – how to make Easter baskets out of paper. A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to run a workshop at the incredible Childcare Expo in London, and met lots of lovely Early Years practitioners and teachers and guess what we did – made Easter baskets using our pre created Easter basket template! It was so popular we wanted to share our tips and tricks with you, so you can make the best Easter basket crafts ever! Easter Basket Template What you need to make your Easter basket:- Our Easter Basket printable available here, or you can use some plain or coloured card cut into a square. We also have a Free Easter Basket Template right here. scissors glue decorations…    read more 

St Patrick’s Day Activities

2019-03-10    
Heather Mactivity    
St Patrick's Day Activity pack

As you know, we love fun and creative crafts here at Mrs Mactivity, and St Patrick’s Day is a perfect time to celebrate! We’ve got lots of fun St Patrick’s Day ideas, crafts and resources for all ages, that anyone can do. If you’re after some St Patrick’s Day worksheets, these might not be for you – but we are always open to suggestions and if there’s anything you need, please email hello@mrsmactivity.co.uk and we will do what we can to help. Anyway, onto St Patrick’s Day activities! St Patrick’s Day Activities Super easy St Patrick’s Day bookmarks – there are 40 designs of these in total and you can print in either black and white or colour. Something for everyone and a great St Patrick’s day activity for children to take home. Make your own St Patrick’s Day puppet show! Make St Patrick’s day playdough with Mimi Rose and…    read more 

Easter Activities for Children

2019-03-07    
Heather Mactivity    
Easter activities for children

Easter resources are so fun to make, and we love this time of year – there are just so many fun Easter crafts and activities that we can make – and we know children love them too. We’ve put together a list of our favourite fun Easter activities just for you – save time, be creative, have fun! Our Easter Lego STEM Challenge Cards are a great activity for all ages over the Easter period. Cut out, place face down and ask children to work in pairs or individually on each challenge. Can be used in an after school club, at home, or in your classroom environment. A great STEM challenge that also incorporates an Easter theme.   If you’re after a super easy Easter craft or activity, then these Easter bookmarks are definitely for you. Simply cut, colour then glue and you’re done! Laminate to make this into an…    read more 

British Science Week 2019 Ideas

2019-02-20    
Heather Mactivity    
British Science Week Ideas 2019

British Science Week 2019 is coming up on the 8-17th March, and we’ve got loads of ideas you can do either at home or at school, these ideas are either free or very cheap and what’s more, kids love them! We love these 5 minute STEM activities from The Brick Castle – lots to choose from and easy to do short ideas! A fun activity for all ages, this human body lift the flap activity can be differentiated for all ages, and best of all, kids love it! Try this EPIC colour changing flowers science experiment from Messy Little Monsters – an absolute classic. With Easter almost upon us, how about investigating life cycles? We’ve got this super fun chick hatching paper plate craft that anyone can do. Or how about looking at human life cycles with our human life cycle activity craft. Make grass heads with our friends at…    read more 

Half Term Activity Ideas for Kids

2019-02-14    
Heather Mactivity    
Half Term Activity Ideas

It’s half term – and that means the kids are off school, and you might be looking for ways to entertain the kids that don’t cost the earth, and preferably have some educational value too. Don’t worry, we’ve already thought of that! We’ve got some ideas that will keep the kids entertained for hours, and even provide an opportunity to spend some quality time together – should you so wish. Half Term Activity Ideas Craft craft CRAFT! Kids love it, it’s fun, cheap, doesn’t involve getting muddy (though getting muddy is fun sometimes!) and adults can join in too! Spend quality time together, make memories! Or think about saving the world, colour in, dot to dot – so many options! We made this 20 Ways for Kids to Save the World checklist with our friends at Frugal Family blog, and it’s gone down a treat! Encourage your kids to think…    read more 

Valentine’s Day Activity Ideas for Kids

2019-02-06    
Heather Mactivity    

Looking for fun and unique Valentine’s Day Activity Ideas for Kids? We’ve got loads of new ideas that kids love and that are also super easy for anyone to do! We specialise in super easy mess AND no mess ideas that engage kids for longer than two seconds and create something really beautiful to “take home” and keep. What more do you need? Valentine’s Day is a great time of year to really get kids motivated and think about the love of those around them – and maybe a spot of kindness too. Best Valentine’s Day Ideas for Kids Valentine’s Day Flower Heart Paper Craft is already really popular, and is a simply print, cut and stick activity – with space to pop a little treat inside. These come in a total of 6 designs and print out in black and white so that children can decorate themselves, whilst also saving…    read more 

Easy Snow Day Ideas For Kids

2019-01-28    
Heather Mactivity    
Snow day activity ideas

It’s here – SNOW! Your school or setting might be closed today, or maybe it’s open and you’re looking for snow ideas to do with the children. Or maybe you’re at home with your own children, and running out of ways to keep them entertained. So we’ve rounded up some quick and fun ideas to help take the chill (get it) out of days like this. Snow Day Activity Ideas Build a snow sculpture – something different to your typical snowman. A dog, a cat, a house! Let your children’s imagination run wild. Discuss techniques for impacting the snow, the different types of snow and what works and what doesn’t. Ami Elizabeth says, “create an indoor snow tuff spot for when it’s time to come in and get warm.” Going sledging is obvious – but join in yourself. Have races down the slope, experiment with different angles and various levels…    read more 

Discover new ways to get crafty at Childcare Expo London

2019-01-25    
Heather Mactivity    
Mrs Mactivity childcare expo london

This is a guest post from the fabulous team at Childcare Expo – sign up for your free tickets for Childcare Expo London today!  Childcare Expo London returns on the 1st & 2nd March with a series of free interactive workshops throughout the two days to inspire early years and primary education professionals. Taking place at Olympia London, the event will host a number of hands-on workshops designed to provide visitors with practical new ideas to try out in their settings and schools, covering everything from sensory play to mindfulness and yoga. Returning to the show for the second time with sessions on both days, educational resources provider, Mrs Mactivity will provide two fun workshops looking at creative ways to bring science into your setting or classroom (such as how to use a paper plate to demonstrate the lifecycle of a butterfly), as well as easy Easter crafts and activities. Special…    read more 

Childcare Expo London

2019-01-21    
Heather Mactivity    
Mrs Mactivity childcare expo

Mrs Mactivity are very excited to announce that we are once again teaming up with the lovely people at Childcare Expo and will be running a series of workshops at Childcare Expo London on the 1st and 2nd March 2019. We attended the Childcare Expo Midlands event in September 2018 and had a thoroughly awesome time, meeting lots of people interested in being really creative in their practice, and wanting to find out more about Mrs Mactivity too! Childcare Expo London is an inspiring and educational event for early years and primary education professionals taking place at Olympia London this coming Spring, EventCity in Manchester next Summer and the Ricoh Arena in Coventry next Autumn! Childcare Expo London is a free and highly popular exhibition for all those working in the education sector, from nursery practitioners to headteachers and everything in between. If last year’s show is anything to go by, you definitely won’t want…    read more 

Valentine’s Day Treasure Basket and Sensory Bottle

2019-01-04    
Heather Mactivity    
Valentine's Day Treasure Basket

Many parents notice that when they give their child a present, they’re more interested in playing with the wrapping, rather than the present itself.  It’s easy to get carried away with lots of expensive presents for young children, but actually children can be very imaginative and are pretty good at playing with FREE things you already have in the house – in ways you never even thought about! Treasure baskets are great ways of gathering fun and interesting items together in themes – perhaps for you to help show an upcoming event, or just for fun! Valentine’s Day Treasure Basket So with Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it might be nice to have a themed treasure basket with some things I already had in the house, plus some very cheap things from our local Home Bargains and Poundland. Here’s what I came up with:- My treasure basket includes:- pink…    read more 

4 VERY Easy Valentine’s Day Crafts and Card Ideas

2019-01-02    
Heather Mactivity    
Valentine's Cards and crafts for kids

As a parent it can be difficult to come up with easy ideas for crafting – even though your kids really enjoy it and get a lot out of it. For me, I’m wary of setting up complex crafting activities when I know that setting up and clearing away often takes longer than completing the craft itself! So I’ve come up with some very easy no fuss Valentine’s crafts and card ideas that can easily and quickly be done in any home or setting. Pipe Cleaner Hearts An absolutely zero fuss craft that is also great for fine motor skills. I bought these pipe cleaners in pound land and intend to use them for lots of different crafts. We practised bending them round into the desired heart shape until we got it spot on. Once you’ve got the shape right, you can attach string or twine to create hanging ornaments,…    read more 

Christmas Card Ideas for Kids

2018-11-28    
Heather Mactivity    
Christmas card crafts for kids

It’s that time of year when teachers, childminders, parents and in fact anyone who works with children is looking for the perfect Christmas craft cards for kids. We’ve put together some of the best ideas on the internet to save you the bother! An ornament and a card in one! Super glittery idea here – Christmas card with little detachable tree decoration from Daisies and Pie. I love the textures on this handprint reindeer card from Emmy’s Mummy. Make this gorgeous handmade 3D card from Blissful Domestication. This mono print Christmas tree card is super simple but super beautiful! From Blue Bear Wood REALLY love this cute but effective and EASY handmade Christmas card craft from Sticky Mud and Belly Laughs. Another gift and card in one with this easy washi tape bauble card from The Gingerbread House. Super simple idea – just print and do! Christmas card templates from Mrs…    read more 

World Nursery Rhyme Week Craft Ideas!

2018-11-13    
Heather Mactivity    
world nursery rhyme week resources

WOO! Not long now until World Nursery Rhyme Week, and we are delighted to announce that we are the proud resource providers – it’s going to be amazing! Over 2.5 million children have taken part in World Nursery Rhyme Week since its launch in 2013. Open to parents, Early Years practitioners and anybody who works with children under the age of 7, participation and resources are provided free. It takes place between the 19th and the 23rd November 2018, and we have put together a series of crafts to go with the nursery rhymes in World Nursery Rhyme Week – they are super easy and require things you will either already have, or can buy extremely cheaply. The nursery rhymes are as follows:- Monday 19th November – “Five Currant Buns” Tuesday 20th November – “Humpty Dumpty” Wednesday 21st November – “A Sailor Went to Sea” Thursday 22nd November – “I’m a Little Teapot”…    read more 

Remembrance Day Crafts and Activity Ideas

2018-11-07    
Heather Mactivity    
Remembrance day friendship bracelet

This Remembrance Day we’ve got some really inspiring and poignant crafts, worksheets, activities and resources to help children understand the meaning behind this important day. These resources are suitable for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 as they can be adapted to fit the needs of your children or class. Remembrance Day Information PowerPoint Use our Remembrance Day Information PowerPoint either for class assembly or as a way of prompting discussion with your class. The PowerPoint is fully editable so if the wording is too tricky or too easy, you can quickly adapt it to meet the needs of your class. The PowerPoint explains the meaning behind Remembrance Day, why we wear poppies and some basic information about World War One. Remembrance Day Poppy Wreath Bouquet Paper Craft Fancy a no mess craft for Remembrance Day? This Remembrance Day Poppy Wreath Bouquet is very easy and just requires cutting, folding and sticking….    read more 

Bonfire Night Arts and Crafts Ideas!

2018-11-04    
Heather Mactivity    
bonfire night arts and crafts ideas

Bonfire Night is a great time of year for inspiring children to do super fun arts and crafts – it’s the last BIG thing before Christmas apart from Remembrance Day here in the UK, though Thanksgiving is a great cultural event to bring into your practice too! Today, we’re going to show you some super easy Bonfire night arts and crafts ideas – some of them with absolutely no mess at all, that you can either do with your child at home or in your classroom or setting. Cardboard Tube Firework Printing This cardboard tube firework painting is great for toddlers and preschoolers, it’s so easy and you can really glam it up by using biodegradable glitter and a variety of paints! We put our paint on a paper plate as it contained the paint really nicely and is exactly the right size for the cardboard tube. You can cut…    read more 

What to Do With Leftover Pumpkin Seeds?

2018-11-01    
Heather Mactivity    
what to do with pumpkin seeds

This year we have had a PLETHORA of spare pumpkin – and squash seeds and I just hate the idea of wasting them! Squash (or gourd) is one of my favourite foods, and we were lucky that this year, Aldi chose to sell a ruckload of them for 39p each. I bought 10. But this left me with a HUGE amount of seeds, and so I turned to #TeamMactivity to see if anyone had any wise words of advice for what to do with them, and guess what, they had some CRACKING ideas. Here they are! What to do with pumpkin seeds Olivia said, “Dry out the seeds and colour them in food dye. Either used for sensory play or to make instruments e.g. shakers. Adam said, “Keep them and plant them next year. Then the kids can carve their own pumpkins that they’ve grown themselves.” Debbie said, “Leave them…    read more 

Easy Halloween Party Ideas for Kids

2018-10-28    
Heather Mactivity    
Halloween party food ideas

Everyone loves Halloween in our house, it’s a great opportunity to get friends together and for the kids to have fun too. We’ve put together some Halloween recipe ideas, Halloween games and Halloween crafts that are super easy to do and best of all, kids and adults love! Halloween Party Food Ideas Try our toffee apple recipe to make a perfect Halloween treat. Make a pumpkin face crudite bowl using carrots, cucumber, grapes and rice cake! Remember to chop those grapes in half length ways for little ones. Make your very own spooky Halloween mummy fingers – this is definitely a big hit with adults too – they are simply delicious! Halloween Party Games and Activities for Kids pin the nose on the pumpkin. a “chocolate eye” and spoon race. hide then find the “chocolate eyes”. apple bobbing pumpkin stomp (literally bursting orange balloons). pumpkin carving competition (try our pumpkin…    read more 

Spooky Mummy Fingers Recipe

2018-10-28    
Heather Mactivity    
mummy fingers recipe for halloween

This spooky mummy fingers recipe is a really fun and tasty addition to any Halloween party. It’s so easy to do as well, and adds a definite WOW factor to your Halloween party table. It also uses less pastry than a traditional sausage roll recipe – so you could even say it’s slightly healthy (!). Ingredients for spooky mummy fingers recipe an egg, whisked chipolata sausages a pack of puff pastry Method Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it is a little thinner. Cut the pastry into strips, about half a cm thick. You need one strip per sausage so make sure the strip is long enough. Ideally you need fairly thin sausages, or else they will take ages to cook! Wrap the sausages in the pastry, leaving gaps as you go. You could leave a space for a “face” at the top if you prefer. A…    read more 

How to Make Toffee Apples

2018-10-28    
Heather Mactivity    

It’s toffee apple season! And in accordance to the law of Autumn, we’ve been happily munching through toffee apples like there’s no tomorrow! I’m assuming that toffee apples were invented as a way of getting rid of slightly over ripe apples in an appealing way, and let me tell you – I’m a huge fan! So in preparation for our Halloween party last night, I decided to make our own toffee apples! Luckily we have our very own apple tree in the garden, so we were able to make use of applies that perhaps aren’t flavoursome enough to eat on their own. As a little task, I sent our three year old daughter out into the garden to pick some applies from the lowest branches. I am guessing that certain apples – probably non waxy ones, are probably better for toffee apples, but I think it’s one of those things…    read more 

How to Carve a Pumpkin with our Pumpkin Stencil Printable

2018-10-24    
Heather Mactivity    
Pumpkin Carving Stencils

The clue’s in the title, but today we are going to show you how to carve a pumpkin with our pumpkin stencil printable! I’ve always been keen to improve my pumpkin carving skills, but never really managed to get the hang of it. Not being a hugely arty person, or maybe it’s just my hand control, my pumpkins always end up looking pretty mangled and not at all how my children expect them to look! So this year I decided we should make some pumpkin stencil printables for Mrs Mactivity, in the hope that this will a) help other people and b) help me! If you want to download our Pumpkin carving stencils, they are available here. What you need:- a large pumpkin pins – drawing pins are fine washable pen some sort of cutting tool – you can use pumpkin carving tools something to scoop the seeds out with –…    read more 

Easy Halloween Craft Ideas

2018-10-23    
Heather Mactivity    
easy halloween crafts for kids

Halloween is a great time of year to get super artsy and crafty, and we’ve got lots of boo-tiful ideas to help your kids get creative over half term break, or if you’re still at school, something spooky and fun for the last few days of half term! Pumpkin Carving Stencil Tutorial Halloween Cardboard Tube Craft Halloween Pumpkin Paper Plate Craft Halloween Paper Cone People Halloween Friendship Bracelets Halloween Paper Chains Halloween Colouring Pages Halloween Paper Plate craft Not a member of Mrs Mactivity yet? Join today!  

How to Improve Staff Well Being

2018-10-19    
Heather Mactivity    
ways to improve teacher well-being

A hugely important, but often overlooked aspect of school life is the well-being of its staff. As adults, are are well used to prioriting the well-being of children – both our own and the children in our care. But with more and more teachers leaving the profession (myself included) looking after the well-being of teachers – and in fact ALL staff in school, has become more and more of a priority. The fact is that if we DON’T look after our teachers, we may find ourselves in a position where there is a massive shortfall, and it’s the children who will suffer ultimately. Huge workloads, increasing expectations, marking, inspections, observations, behaviour, micro management, all of these things add to the stress that teachers are under, and we’ve collated some ideas here to both help people look after their own well-being and also give some tips to schools at an organisational…    read more 

How to Teach Guided Reading

2018-10-18    
Heather Mactivity    
How to teach guided reading

Guided reading! Since I became a teacher back in 2005, it seems to have been the scourge of teachers everywhere. How should we teach it? What works best? Why does it take so LONG to plan? Does it even work? Should it replace reading 1:1? Should we teach guided reading in carousels, or as a whole class? Many many questions! Like most things with teaching, you’ve got to ultimately figure out what works best for you and your class, however there has been quite a lot of talk recently about moving over to whole class reading and perhaps abandoning the idea of carousel activities in guided reading. What are carousel activities for guided reading? For the uninitiated, this is a way of carrying out guided reading with a range of activities to try to help children read and understand the text, or develop their reading skills in some way.  So…    read more 

Halloween Cardboard Tube Goodie Holder

2018-10-09    
Heather Mactivity    
Halloween cardboard tube craft

It’s time for another Halloween craft – and today we are making a Halloween Cardboard Tube Goodie Holder. I really like the idea of making crafts that are useful and can be utilised in some way as it creates purpose and meaning. Some of the crafts I’ve made with my children in the past have been lovely – but they often ask “what do we DO with it”, so with this in mind, perhaps useful crafts are the way forward! We’ve already made a Halloween Pumpkin Paper Plate Craft, and today we are using a cardboard tube to create something even cuter! What you need:- glue cardboard tube googly eyes ribbon or string crepe paper or orange paint stapler and staples goodies! How to make a Halloween Cardboard Tube Craft Assemble your bits and bobs. You basically just need something to cover your cardboard tube, this could be crepe paper…    read more 

Halloween Pumpkin Paper Plate Craft

2018-10-08    
Heather Mactivity    
How to make a halloween pumpkin paper plate craft

It’s Halloween time – and that means it’s craft time! For some reason, my favourite thing about Halloween is that it’s also pumpkin season. For me, pumpkins encapsulate everything that’s good about Autumn – harvest time, soups, warmth, nourishment – so many things! So this cute Halloween pumpkin paper plate craft is the perfect way to celebrate both harvest time and Halloween – whilst also providing a really cute bag to collect all your goodies in when Treat or Treatin’. Here’s what you need! two paper plates glue orange crepe paper – if you don’t have any you can use orange paint and do a few coats. something to make the eyes and teeth – we used felt but you could just use black card. black ribbon for the handle, or you can just use normal string. staples and a stapler. How to make a Halloween Pumpkin Paper Plate Craft…    read more 

World Nursery Rhyme Week 2018

2018-09-20    
Heather Mactivity    
currant buns cut outs

WOOHOO! Registration opens today for World Nursery Rhyme Week™ (19th – 23rd November), a global initiative that promotes the importance of nursery rhymes in early childhood development and education. This year Mrs Mactivity are proud to announce that we are the new sponsor of this event – along with Piccolo music and will be providing a core set of high quality resources free of charge, along with some additional World Nursery Rhyme Week resources that you can find right here. Launched in 2013, more than 2.5 million children from 62 countries have taken part from Early Years settings and with parents. Claire Bennett, founder of Music Bugs™ who organise the initiative said, “We are delighted to once again launch this incredibly popular initiative and announce our partnership with Mrs. Mactivity who have developed some wonderful resources for the children. Each year, participation numbers and the many activities organised around the world in schools, at…    read more 

How to Use Our Bear Counting to 10 Activity!

2018-09-12    
Heather Mactivity    
Bear counting activity idea

As part of World Nursery Rhyme Week 2018, Mrs Mactivity has the honour of creating the core and additional resources to help teachers, parents and carers of under 7s to take part! Each day from the 19th – 23rd November 2018, a different rhyme will be celebrated, and this blog post is linked to the rhyme “Round and Round the Garden” – which we just love! Nursery rhymes are a great way of encouraging speaking and listening, rhythm, early maths and social skills, though this additional activity focuses mainly on early maths skills. What you need Our Bear Counting to 10 Activity Sheet. A selection of pom poms, buttons or whatever else you like (just be careful that whatever you use doesn’t end up in little ones’ mouths). How to make your Bear Counting Activity Print out the Bear Counting to 10 Activity On the Bear Counting Sheet you will…    read more 

Make Your Own Tipping Teapot Craft

2018-09-12    
Heather Mactivity    
Make a tipping teapot craft

Mrs Mactivity are delighted to have been invited to be the chosen resource provider for World Nursery Rhyme Week 2018!  Over 2.5 million children have taken part in World Nursery Rhyme Week since its launch in 2013. The week is open to parents, Early Years practitioners and anybody who works with children under the age of 7. Best of all, participation is free!  Mrs Mactivity has provided some additional resources and craft ideas to accompany the week, and this blog post explains how to make your very own tipping teapot for the rhyme “I’m a Little Teapot” – it really couldn’t be easier! What you need a free teapot template (click on this link to download) colours – either felt tips or coloured pencils – we used blue paint with glitter and decorated with sequins. a paper plate. glue How to make your tipping teapot Colour in and cut out your printed teapot template….    read more 

Make Your Own Humpty Story Spoons!

2018-09-12    
Heather Mactivity    
humpty dumpty story spoons

Story spoons are a great tool for speaking and listening, cheap to make and so much fun too! In this blog post, we’re going to be showing you how to make some Humpty Dumpty story spoons to help you take part in the Humpty Dumpty rhyme for World Nursery Rhyme Week 2018, or just generally! Of course this craft doesn’t have to be just limited to that one rhyme, you can apply the same thinking to other rhymes, fairy stories and characters too, and best of all it couldn’t be easier! What you need  Wooden spoons (these can be bought very cheaply from places like Home Bargains and Poundland). Printed Humpty Dumpty Story Spoon Decals – we have made some for you to download and print here. Decorative materials such as crepe paper and felt tips – whatever you fancy. PVA glue. Coloured felt. Googly eyes. How to make your…    read more 

How to Make a Playdough Currant Bun!

2018-09-12    
Heather Mactivity    
five currant buns playdough recipe

Here at Mrs Mactivity, we’re delighted to be a huge part of the World Nursery Rhyme Week 2018 celebrations along with event sponsor and our friends Music Bugs! In this blog post, we show you how to make some really cool playdough currant buns to help you take part in the rhyme “Five Currant Buns” – this is a really wonderful sensory activity that we know children love, and that develops language skills, fine motor skills, maths skills and more! Just to say that these buns are NOT for eating – so it might be worth reinforcing that with your children 🙂 What you need 300g plain flour 2 tablespoon cream of tartar 100g salt 1 spoonful of a spice such as cinnamon. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (and optional glycerine for extra shine) 2 teabags + boiling water a cup of currants/raisins red gel food colouring (take care not to…    read more 

How to Make a Paper Plate Boat Craft

2018-09-12    
Heather Mactivity    
world nursery rhyme week boat craft

Welcome! As part of the celebrations around World Nursery Rhyme Week (19th – 23rd November 2018), Mrs Mactivity are providing additional activities and ideas surrounding the 5 rhymes for the week. In this blog post, we share an idea to go with the rhyme – A Sailor Went to Sea – and show you how to make a really cute paper plate boat craft! What you need one paper plate two craft sticks a kitchen roll cut in half glue paint  and paint brush scissors stapler something for the mast – we used bunting fabric but you can also use card. How to make your paper plate boat craft Get a paper plate and fold it down the centre to make a crease mark.  Cut down the crease mark line. 2.  Put the two halves together and cut a straight line across the bottom. 3.  Staple the two halves together…    read more 

The Greatest Showman Classroom Resources!

2018-08-21    
Heather Mactivity    
the greatest showman resources

I was sitting on a flight recently and had the chance to watch “The Greatest Showman” for the very first time. I find watching films quite difficult as I can’t seem to bear any suspense whatsoever, and this film was no exception, but I stuck with it as I knew it had a really powerful message and was worth the suspense. If anyone hasn’t seen The Greatest Showman yet, first of all, you really should, and secondly, it has a really amazing message about perseverance, grit, determination, inclusion, celebrating our uniqueness (and sameness) and much more. Straight away I thought – this is perfect for the classroom, as surely these are all values that we want to pass onto our children? So with that in mind, we’ve made some already SUPER POPULAR The Greatest Showman classroom resources just for you! Just a note, these resources took many many (wo)man hours…    read more 

How Teachers Should Spend Their Summer

2018-07-26    
Heather Mactivity    
How teachers should spend their summer

Although the clue’s in the title here, far be it from me to tell anyone how to spend their summer! Having said that, when you’re exhausted at the end of the term, it can be difficult to think ahead and even think straight! So if you’re after some top tips for how to spend your summer holiday this year, we’ve some ideas for how you can TRULY relax and ensure you’re invigorated ahead of the new term. If you can, if you’ve any energy at all, try and plan a little in advance of the holidays, otherwise you’ll find they’ve arrived and everyone is busy and you’ve no-one to spend time with. If you don’t have kids of your own, and not many teacher friends, the holidays can be a lonely time (actually they can be a lonely time even if you do have all of the above!). You sort…    read more 

New Giveaway With BIC Kids!

2018-07-09    
Heather Mactivity    

Mrs Mactivity are VERY excited to announce our NEW giveaway with our friends over at BIC® KIDS! To celebrate the launch of the BIC® KIDS Young Artist Award we will be giving away this amazing stash of BIC goodies to one lucky winner! About the Young Artist Award – Returning this summer, the BIC® KIDS Young Artist Award is giving proud parents across the UK and Republic of Ireland the opportunity to see their child’s drawings graduate from the fridge door to a massive public billboard! Open to all 5-11 year old kids, entrants are encouraged to flex their creative muscles and draw with complete freedom. Judges will award points for everything from creativity and use of colour to composition and subject matter. Once your kids have created their masterpieces, parents can enter simply by visiting www.bickids.com/uk/youngartist and uploading the artwork before the deadline on Sunday 5th August. An expert judging panel…    read more 

Mrs Mactivity at Childcare Expo Midlands!

2018-07-03    
Heather Mactivity    

We’re delighted to announce that we have been invited to run our very own workshop on the 28th September 2018 at Childcare Expo Midlands! Since starting Mrs Mactivity, back in December last year, the support for what we do has been absolutely overwhelming. We’ve always aimed to stand out from the crowd, and provide innovative and creative learning ideas and resources that kids genuinely enjoy – no more boring worksheets! To be recognised by the Early Years sector in this way and meet so many wonderful people really is a dream come true. About Childcare Expo Childcare Expo Midlands is a free event dedicated to everyone who works in the early years sector. It takes place at Ricoh Arena in Coventry and attracts thousands of visitors each year. There are seminars to increase your knowledge and for CPD, workshops like ours, and lots and lots of stands and exhibitors with…    read more 

15+ Terrific Transition Ideas!

2018-07-01    
Heather Mactivity    
transition worksheets,

Transition time! Good news is, that means it’s almost the end of term, bad news is, you have to say goodbye to your old class. This also means that it’s time to get to get to know your new class and find out what makes them tick so you’re all ready for September. Read on for our favourite transition ideas – tested and used by real teachers! Make a Transition All About Me Minibook! These rminibooks are super cute and kids absolutely love doing them! We’ve made some really useful and original Transition Activity Sheets (also available in black and white) which are great for ages 5  – 8 and come in lots of different designs. Ask children to draw a picture of themselves and write a few words about last year and the year ahead. For less able children, ask them to work in pairs with a more able…    read more 

Top Five Reasons to Attend Childcare Expo This Summer!

2018-05-22    
Heather Mactivity    
Childcare Expo Manchester

Good news! Mrs Mactivity will be running a craft workshop at the Childcare Expo Coventry this September, more details to follow soon! But if you’re in or around the Manchester area, and you work in the Early Years sector, it’s definitely worth checking out Childcare Expo Manchester in the meantime. It’s only one month to go until Childcare Expo Manchester opens its doors for the third time at the ideally located Event City on Friday 15th June. The visitors will be welcomed with open arms by the popular Alistair Bryce-Clegg along with a pea, a bear and a pink giraffe. You have to see it to believe it! With so much happening across the two-day trade show, we thought we would compress the best bits for you. If you haven’t yet made up your mind as to whether or not you are attending this year’s show, then this should help:…    read more 

Obsessions

2018-05-16    
Heather Mactivity    

The word “obsession” is usually used as a negative way – something that you can’t let go of, or something you spend an unhealthy amount of time invested in. I’m sure we’ve all experienced obsessions – clothes, shopping, exercise, a person, a job, For me, the word “obsession” although often used negatively, can actually be a positive thing. Maybe substitute it with “tireless”, “striving”, or “being the best you can be” and it sounds a little nicer. So my obsession? Our customers, our tribe. Because customers and customer service matter, A LOT. It’s something I am so obsessed with, and care about so much that I’m writing a blog post to tell you what I expect from Mrs Mactivity when it comes to our customers, just so you know how serious I am about it. So why are we so obsessed with our customers? We like solving people’s problems. You…    read more 

10 Ideas for Unicorn Paper Crafts!

2018-04-10    
Heather Mactivity    

Today Mrs Mactivity has been super busy, as word is spreading about our unique unicorn paper craft idea, everyone seems to want in on the act! But what do you do with your unicorn craft once it’s made? We’ve got some ideas, but first here’s how you make it! Download from our new unicorn resources category! Print out, then cut around the lines as directed. Fold where shown, glue, then colour in – we prefer baby pink and baby blue colours, but it’s up to you! If you’re not sure, we’ve done some instructions via video as well – great to show to kids! When you’re done – here’s how to use it! Use as a cute gift idea, write a message inside to use instead of buying a card! Role play! There are two designs, print off a few copies to personalise, ask your children to use the unicorn…    read more 

5 Super Easy Easter Craft Ideas!

2018-03-14    
Heather Mactivity    
Easy Easter craft ideas

We know hard difficult it is to come up with fun creative ideas that either a whole class can do, or that you can do at home with your own kids. Being quite an uncreative person myself, I decided to look for some mega easy ideas for Easter craft that absolutely anyone can do! No expertise required whatsoever. Ready to get started?  Just click on the link on each craft to see more detailed instructions. Make an Easter bunny face plate craft. This one is so much fun and is great for sticking on the fridge at home – so much fun! Easter bunny craft stick No experience required – this is so much fun and also works really well as a book mark. Easter bunny cardboard tube craft Cut a kitchen roll in half for this fun craft – children REALLY love this one! You can play with the…    read more 

Easter Cardboard Tube Print Card

2018-03-14    
Heather Mactivity    
Easter cardboard tube print card

Everyone loves a bit of printing – it’s easy, fun and anyone can do it! Preschoolers are especially fond of printing, and if you can do it with things lying round the house, so much the better. Today we’re sharing with you an idea for an Easter craft, that you can do easily with a cardboard tube. We cut a kitchen roll in half for the purposes of today’s craft, and you can make either egg outlines or a bunny shape – the choice is yours! Remember, we’ve also got a beautiful range of ready made Easter resources that you can download and print today! So back to today’s craft, an Easter Cardboard Tube Print Card – here’s what you need:- half a cardboard tube some paint in a ramekin – any colour, but bright, springlike colours work best coloured pencils or felt tips – we used Stib Pencils. cotton…    read more 

Easter Chick Plate Craft

2018-03-14    
Heather Mactivity    
Easter Chick plate craft

Who doesn’t like Easter chicks? They’re cute, yellow and mean that warmer weather is on the way – yay! Today we’re going to show you how to make a really cute and very very easy Easter Chick Plate Craft, this is a really good one for preschoolers as it involves scrunching up crepe paper, which younger ones love! (don’t forget we’ve got loads of ready made Easter resources as well!) Here’s what you need:- crepe paper of various colours a white paper plate yellow card 2 googly eyes something for the nose – we used an orange pipe cleaner, but you could use orange card a feather glue Here’s what you do:- cut a paper plate in half. scrunch up small pieces of crepe paper and anything else you’ve got lying around, e.g. craft jewels, and stick onto the half plate. cut out a circle from yellow card – this…    read more 

Easter Bunny Cardboard Tube Craft

2018-03-14    
Heather Mactivity    
Easter bunny cardboard tube craft

Easter fun for everyone! We’re bringing you a series of blog posts showing you just how EASY crafting can be, and how literally anyone can do it, you just need to have a go! Today we’re showing you how to make this really cute and very easy Easter Bunny Cardboard Tube Craft. Don’t forget we also have a range of ready made Easter resources that you can just download and print as well.) What you need:- A cardboard tube – we used a kitchen roll cut in half. yellow card. glue 2 googly eyes felt tip pen or coloured pencils strips of coloured paper – you can choose what you prefer something for the nose, e.g. a pom pom or something you can stick on like a jewel 1 pipe cleaner of any colour Here’s what you do:- First of all you need to wrap your cardboard tube in card. Cut…    read more 

Easter Bunny Stick Craft

2018-03-14    
Heather Mactivity    
Easter bunny from craft sticks

It’s been a crafty sort of day today! And we’re full of ideas of how to make really cute and very easy Easter crafts for everyone. This one really couldn’t be simpler, and it’s also good for those fine motor skills, picking up the bits and bobs and getting them in the right position. (don’t forget we’ve also got some ready make Easter resources right here!) Here’s what you need:- 2 craft sticks of the same colour, something spring like e.g. pink or yellow. 2 googly eyes 1 orange pipe cleaner for the carrot. 1 pipe cleaner of any colour for the ears and nose. glue. felt tip pen. 1 green pipe cleaner. Here’s what you do:- Assemble the two craft sticks and carefully apply glue down the side, then push them together and hold them firmly until they stick. A glue gun may work best for this. Stick on…    read more 

Easter Bunny Face Plate Craft

2018-03-14    
Heather Mactivity    
Easter bunny paper plate craft idea

Easter is one of my favourite time of years, not least because it gives me an opportunity to get really crafty, and at the same time eat a LOT of chocolate. I used to think that crafts were for only really creative people, or people with lots of time on their hands, but as long as you’ve got some basic materials, it’s actually really easy, and it’s also a good opportunity to spend quality time with your kids, either at home or at school, making memories and actually creating something tangible. Today I’m going to show you how to make a REALLY easy Easter bunny face plate craft. Don’t forget we’ve also got some Easter resources, including crafts, all ready made for you to do with no fuss at all. First of all, get all your materials ready. You will need:- 3 pipe cleaners, whatever colour you prefer but preferably…    read more 

Spread the Word!

2018-01-20    
Heather Mactivity    

We’ve been frankly overwhelmed by the support and wonderful comments we’ve received so far – from the teaching community, childminder community, parents, teaching assistants – the list goes on! We’re so grateful that people out there understand and appreciate what we do – our aim is to help make learning fun by any means possible, and really inspire children to engage with learning. Unlike many other resource sites, we hand draw all our own imagery and never buy stock images – so you can rest assured that what you download is unique and created with love. As things stand, we aren’t making any money (aside from the two lovely people who decided to pay us anyway!)  as all our resources are free. At some point in the future when we’ve lots more content on our website, we will start adding resources to the subscription section, which will enable us to…    read more 

My Top Teaching Time Saving Tips

2018-01-15    
Heather Mactivity    
Teacher time saving tips

It’s been a few years since I left the teaching world full time, but I’m lucky enough to do the odd day here and there still to keep my hand in, but one of the most important skills – time management – has never left me. I don’t think non teachers (and TAs) know exactly what it’s like to manage your time as a teacher. There are no leisurely hours checking your emails – you have to do that on the fly. It’s difficult to find time to grab a sandwich let alone go out for lunch (can you imagine!). That’s not to say that other professions are easier or better, they are just different. Teaching has NO downtime, not even at the end of term.  So I’ve put together my top teaching time saving tips, but please feel free to comment with yours as well. Don’t reinvent the wheel. There are…    read more 

Top Tips to Help Your Child Make Friends

2018-01-11    
Heather Mactivity    
Lonely boy

It’s every parents worst nightmare – when you ask your child how their day went at school, to get the response, “I’m always on my own at play times, no-one will play with me. I’ve got no friends. No-one likes me.” I’ve had a very similar experience with my own son and it’s utterly heartbreaking. You really want to help, but it’s difficult to know what to do, after all, you can’t force other children to be friends with your child. But if you’re like me, and want to be proactive and do what you can do help, here are our top tips to help your child make friends; Have a birthday party for your child. Not only will this help raise your child’s status, but it will give you an opportunity to make friends with the other parents – which is all part and parcel of helping your child to socialise….    read more 

8 Easy Ways To Help Your Child Read

2018-01-09    
Heather Mactivity    
how to help your child read

Life is so busy these days, there are times when it’s a huge struggle to even listen to one of my children read after school – let alone all of them! So I’ve decided to try and work reading more into every day life so it becomes a natural thing to do – rather than a “right, it’s time to read now!” sort of thing – which never goes down well when children are in mid flow play. If like me, you’re short on time, here are some ideas to build reading into your everyday life… Replace devices with books – this might sound quite difficult, but it’s all about the right circumstances. Last summer I saw a mum on a ferry reading aloud to her children whilst my kids were on an iPad – I thought it was a brilliant idea. Read aloud in cafes, restaurants, trains or whatever…    read more 

Mrs Mactivity’s Inspirational Blogger Award!

2018-01-04    
Heather Mactivity    
Mrs Mactivity blog award

Things are moving quickly at Mrs Mactivity and we’re working hard at providing you with really high quality free educational resources for your home or school setting. But don’t take our word for it! We’ve already been picked up by a range of influential bloggers who already love our hand drawn whimsical resources – read more here! Jennifer’s Little World Welsh Mummy Blogs and we also made some exciting pre school science printables for the wonderful Science Sparks! Excitingly, we’re also going to be working with one of the top UK bloggers in the parenting sphere, mum of 6 Fiona who blogs over at Coombe Mill. Fiona owns a wonderful farm complex down in Cornwall that is host to a plethora of gorgeous cottages where you can stay and learn all about the family’s life and many animals. Feeding time is especially fun, as is their very own mini train!…    read more 

Welcome to Mrs Mactivity!

2017-12-12    
Heather Mactivity    

We’re really pleased to see you, welcome to our community! We are a collective of ex and current teachers and designers who are passionate about changing the world through high quality educational resources. We know that educating kids is tough as we have kids ourselves. We know you’re short of time and that the bar has been raised in terms of what is now expected of our kids at school. We’re here to do the hard work for you, so you can spend quality time with your children, at home or in your setting, confident that they are doing fun and educational activities that actually make a difference to their educational outcomes. You won’t find any cheesy images or nonsense when you come to us, everything we make is beautiful AND useful. Our talented designers are qualified illustrators who really know their stuff, and our teachers are fully in touch…    read more 

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