Table of contents for Summer 2024 in Creative Steps

Editor’s letter The UK early years sector potentially holds significant sway in the upcoming election, as it directly impacts a vast number of families and professionals across the country. The Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) has emphasized this influence with the launch of its Rescue and Reform manifesto, calling for increased investment and systemic changes in early years education and childcare, aiming to highlight the sector's critical role in shaping the nation's future. The EECC's manifesto draws attention to the acute funding shortages and workforce challenges that plague the sector. By advocating for substantial government investment, the EECC aims to reduce the financial burden on families and improve the quality of early childhood education. This push for reform resonates with many voters who face high childcare costs and limited…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ Pale pink paper cup■ Pale green paper cup■ Sequins - pink & green■ Eye stickers■ Black marker pen■ Glue stick■ Strong glue■ Scissors Baby Octopus 1 Cut a paper cup along the bottom to make 8 tentacles. Glue on eyes, sequins and a bow cut from pink foam. HINTS & TIPS ■ Use coloured or patterned cups to make your octopus or paint white cups. Your octopus can be any colour. 1 Cut the top off the pink paper cup. Make it 4cm tall. 2 Take a pale green paper cup and cut 8 strips around the bottom of the cup. 3 Glue the pale green cup inside the pink cup. 4 Stick on the eye stickers and draw on eyebrows and a mouth with a marker…

STAR BOOK Nature is an Artist Jennifer Lavallee and Natalia Colombo RRP £7.99 (PB) www.greystonebooks.com Nature is an Artist explores different art forms that kids can find in the natural world. In the book, a group of children follow Nature – the most inspiring of teachers – as they discover the world’s greatest art show hidden in plain sight. As they witness beautiful landscapes, stunning vistas, and unusual creatures, each child is inspired to recreate their own fine work of art. Age 3 years + We say… Children will be stimulated to get creative and reproduce visions from nature. I Love You More 《我就爱的就是你》 By Serena Y. Li RRP £ 14.99) www.deziremi.co.uk This is a personal letter about the unconditional love of a father. This poetic story illustrates the five…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ Thin cardboard■ Blue paint■ Medium paintbrush■ Yellow and green foam■ Orange and green marker pens■ Lolly stick■ Fabric flowers■ Red gem stones■ Strong glue■ Scissors Pineapple Glasses 1 Cut out glasses from thin cardboard. Cut out the frames and two arms. 2 Fold the front of the arms inwards to make a hinge. Glue to the inside of the frames. 3 Paint blue and leave to dry. 4 Cut out the yellow parts of the pineapples. 5 With a lolly stick and an orange marker, draw on lines on the pineapples. 6 Cut out two pineapple tops from green foam. 7 Draw on leaves with a green marker pen, onto the foam pineapple tops. 8 Glue on the pineapples, foam leaves, flowers and red gemstones. Watermelon Cats…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ 4 shells for each butterfly■ Paint■ Paint brush■ Black fabric paint■ Pipe cleaner■ Wiggly eyes■ Scrap of foam■ Strong glue■ Scissors 1 Paint 4 shells. Paint them lighter in the middle and darker at the edge. Leave to dry. 2 Take a small amount of foam and cover with glue. Press on the shells and leave to dry. 3 Fold a pipe cleaner in half and twist together to create the body and antennae. Trim off then ends if necessary. 4 Glue the pipe cleaner to the centre of the butterfly. 5 Glue on two wiggly eyes. 6 Add dots of black fabric paint and leave to dry. Flower Make a flower in the same way. This time paint each shell a different colour. Glue onto a…

Your Brain is a Lump of Goo Iden Ben-Barak & Christopher Nelson RRP £7.99 (PB) www.allenandunwin.com Hi, I'm your brain. Here are some things you should know about me: I'm about the size of a pineapple. I sit behind your eyes. I look like a big walnut (but gooey). I'm not a computer. So what do I do? Oh, just about everything. A fun-filled book made by brains, about brains, for brains. Age 5 years + We say… An accessible fun introduction about the brain to support early STEM learning Marley’s Pride Joëlle Retener & DeAnnn Wiley RRP £ 7.99 (PB) www.barefootbooks.com Marley is a little nonbinary kid with big anxieties. Crowds? Pass. Loud noises? No, thanks. When their Zaza is up for an award at Pride, they want to…

STORE CUPBOARD: ■ Corrugated card■ Newspaper - 10 large sheets■ Paints - black, red, blue, green, yellow, gold■ Large paintbrush or sponge■ Masking tape■ Scissors■ Glue■ Black marker or thick felt pen■ Strong cardboard plate, or piece of card■ White card or paper Quoits have been played for hundreds of years with hoops made from wood or metal. Deck quoits made from rope were used on Victorian ships. To make the Quoits 1 To make a quoit ring - place 2 sheets of newspaper on top of each other, roll along the length into a long piece, scrunch the layers together then twist tightly along the whole length. 2 Hold the ends of the twisted paper together into a hoop ‘O’ shape. Before sticking the ends, twist the paper again…

WOVEN HEART BASKETS TEMPLATE ON PAGE 63 STORE CUPBOARD ■ 2 large sheets of foam (in contrasting colours)■ Paper■ Scissors■ Stapler■ Ruler■ Pencil 1 The woven heart template provided needs to be mirrored then copied onto paper. Use this piece of paper as a cutting pattern. Place the pattern on a large sheet of foam and cut around it. Take another sheet of foam (in a different colour) and use the pattern to cut out a second shape. 2 Fold the two foam shapes in half (Diagram 1 below). 3 Keep the heart halves folded. Use a pencil and ruler to draw in cutting lines. Neatly cut along these lines (see Diagram 2). 4 Weave the heart halves together to create a basket (see Diagram 3). The pattern is as…

CHOCOLATE BUBBLES 1 Cut out a large square from a roll of unused bubble wrap, and lay it on a flat heatproof surface. The bubble wrap must be clean! 2 Break up some bars of basic cooking chocolate into a heatproof bowl and sit the bowl in a saucepan of hot water. The water should just cover the base of the bowl. Gently stir the chocolate as it melts. If you prefer to melt the chocolate in a microwave, follow the instructions on the packet. 3 When the chocolate has completely melted, carefully pour it onto the bubble wrap. Spread it out using a spatula to approx. 5mm. in thickness and leave to cool. When the chocolate has hardened, cut out shapes using cookie cutters. BUBBLE PRINTING 1 Before you…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ A4 sheet of yellow card■ A5 sheet of purple card■ Scraps of funky foam in orange, light green, dark pink & white■ Scraps of black felt■ Black marker pen■ PVA glue & scissors 1 Take the A4 sheet of yellow card and fold in half to make your card blank. Glue the purple card onto the inside right-hand page. Using scissors or a craft knife (an adult MUST carry out this step!) cut out a large oval starting approx. 6.5cm from the base of the card. It needs to be big enough to allow a photo to show clearly through if you are using one. 2 Using the templates provided, cut out dino’s head using scraps of different coloured funky foam. You can also use coloured card…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ White card or thick paper■ Paints■ Paint mixing tray■ Brushes■ Black permanent pen 1 Pour some paints into a mixing tray. 2 Paint blades of grass card onto a white background. Use big brushstrokes to paint upwards from the bottom edge of the paper in diagonal lines, curves or crossing over. Leave some white space in the background. Leave the paint to dry. 3 Print colourful blobs for the bugs and insects. Dip your finger into some thick paint then press onto the background along the blades of grass. Print some more blobs for flower middles or big petals. Leave to dry. 4 Use a permanent pen to draw legs, spots, stripes, wings and other details on the insects. Add small flower petals with a thin paintbrush.…

Smiley Face Dumpling Wall Hanging Make a cute and colourful paper craft of delicious sticky rice dumplings (aka ZongZi) to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival! STORE CUPBOARD ■ A4 colourful paper or card stock■ Scissors■ Stapler■ Glue■ Wool or string. 80cm long 1 Pick 4 different coloured paper in portrait view. Fold them in half, then fold it in half again to make four equal strips. 2 Cut along the folds to get four equal strips of paper. You should now have different colour strips to make your dumplings with. 3 Create a cone by folding one side of the strip over the other. One side of the paper should overlap the other side. Either staple or glue the two sides together. 4 Repeat with different colour paper 3-4 times…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ Coloured card■ Patterned paper■ 2 mini clothes pegs, small buttons or sequins■ Yellow foam letters■ Strong glue■ Scissors HINTS & TIPS ■ We used origami paper, but you could use wrapping paper, magazine pages or scrapbooking paper. 'Cool' Shirt Card 1 Make a yellow card by folding a sheet of card in half. Cut along the crease and fold again. 2 Cut out a t-shirt shape from spotty paper. 3 Clip on 2 mini clothes pegs and glue to the card. 4 Finish with yellow foam letters to spell "Cool". Button Shirt Card Make an orange card. Cut out a shirt from flowery paper. Cut out a collar from contrasting coloured paper. Stick to the card with a glue stick. Glue on 2 small buttons with strong…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ Tissue paper■ PVA glue■ Brush■ Small flowerpot or bowl■ Cling film wrap■ Petroleum jelly■ Scissors■ LED tea light 1 Tear up some pieces of coloured tissue. 2 Choose a small plant pot, bowl or jar to make the flower shape. Place it upside down then rub a layer of petroleum jelly over the base and sides. This makes it easier to remove the flower after it’s dried. 3 Stretch a piece of cling film over the bottom of the pot, pull it around the sides then tuck the ends inside. Paste glue over the top then start sticking pieces of tissue in layers. 4 Keep adding more tissue pieces with glue until there are 3-4 layers up to the top edge of the pot. Leave to dry…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ Embroidery thread in a variety of different colours■ Scissors 1 Cut seven different colours of embroidery thread, each measuring 2m long. Place them all together, and fold them in half. Tie a knot near the fold, leaving a small loop. 2 Lay the threads out with the knot at the top. Place the threads in the order that you wish to use them. We laid ours so that both sides were in rainbow order – red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. 3 Place the thread on the left (in this case, the red thread) over the thread next to it (the orange) making the shape of a number 4. Pull the end of the red thread through the middle of the number 4 shape that you…

The Creation Station help unleash the wonder within, through fun and educational arts and crafts, classes, parties, events and products. As a multi-award-winning, five-star rated company, they inspire over 14,500 children and families every week with creative arts and crafts experiences across the UK. Creating journeys of discovery, exploration and development to unlock ideas through fun, hands-on activities, here are a few creative ideas, taken from the www.thecreationstation.co.uk website. Juggling pom-poms STORE CUPBOARD ■ Netting■ Scissors 1 First cut a thin piece of netting and put to one side. 2 Choose your colour and wrap the netting around your hand fifty times and cut. 3 Slide off your hand and tie the thin piece of netting around in a very tight knot. 4 Cut the loops. 5 Trim the netting…

What the EYFS framework says about maths Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that…

Scrabble Tiles STORE CUPBOARD ■ Square blank greeting card■ Patterned orange card■ Decorative metallic scrabble tiles – (available from The Range)■ Coloured buttons – in green and yellow■ Scissors■ Glue 1 Cut out a square of orange patterned card to fit neatly onto the card face. Glue it in position to create the background for your design. 2 Arrange the metallic scrabble tiles on the card face to spell out HAPPY FATHERS DAY, as pictured. Stick them in place. 3 Take the green and yellow buttons and glue onto the four corners of the greeting card. 4 Complete your card by writing a special Father’s Day Message inside. It is now ready to give to dad! Novelty Spinner STORE CUPBOARD ■ Square blank greeting card■ Patterned red card■ Coloured card…

FLOWER OF GRATITUDE STORE CUPBOARD ■ A selection of coloured card – including green and yellow■ Thick mount board■ White paper■ Black pen■ Pencil■ Scissors■ Glue 1 Take a sheet of yellow card and a pencil. Sketch out a circle (9cm in diameter) on the sheet. Neatly cut it out with scissors. Use a black pen to write ‘Flower of Gratitude’ on the cutout circle. This will become the centre of the flower. 2 Take the remaining sheets of coloured card. Cut out eight petal shapes. 3 On the sheet of white paper and a pen, write out a label for each petal. Each one should represent something you are grateful for – give it some careful thought. Ideas might include: family, friends, pets, holidays etc. Glue a label on…

STORE CUPBOARD ■ Tissue paper■ PVA glue■ Glue brush■ Scissors■ A4 Card■ Pencil■ Scissors■ Glue■ Beads or buttons 1 To make a background, tear or cut small green tissue paper pieces then paste them onto A4 card. Paste some blue tissue across the bottom for water. Leave to dry. 2 To make the dragonfly colours, tear of cut small blue tissue paper pieces then paste onto A4 card, leave to dry. 3 Paste pink tissue pieces (or use another colour) onto card for the flowers. Leave to dry. 4 Draw the dragonfly’s body and 4 wings onto the dried blue tissue, cut them out then glue onto the background, Add beads or small buttons for eyes or cut the eyes from card. 5 Glue pieces of twisted blue tissue on…

Beaded Peg Butterfly STORE CUPBOARD ■ 3 pipe cleaners■ Wooden peg■ Pony beads■ Paintbrush■ Acrylic paint■ Bio-glitter■ PVA glue 1 Apply a coat of acrylic paint to the wooden peg. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle on some glitter. Let it dry, then seal with a thin coat of PVA glue. Set aside to fully dry. 2 Take one of the pipe cleaners. Thread on about 40 pony beads, leaving a gap at each end. Twist the pipe cleaner ends together to make a circle. Now, twist the circle in the middle to make a figure of 8 – make sure there is an equal split of beads on each side. This will create half of the butterfly wings. Clip onto the wooden peg. 3 Repeat the step above…

LEARNING ZONES: Home Economics ★ Science Serves 10 5 mins 5 - 8 mins STORE CUPBOARD ■ Large saucepan■ Sieve■ Small frying pan■ Blender■ Large serving bowl INGREDIENTS ■ 140g (5oz) sprouted chickpeas (if you haven't sprouted the chickpeas, use a carton of precooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed)■ 4 garlic cloves■ 1½ tsp dried cumin■ 4 dates, pitted■ 125g (4½oz) tahini■ 90ml (3fl oz) olive oil■ 2 tbsp cold water■ 2 tsp dried rosemary■ 1 tsp salt■ Sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper■ Juice of 2 lemons■ Thinly sliced vegetables, (e.g. peppers, cucumbers & radishes). or crisps, to serve Adult supervision or assistance required 1 If using sprouted chickpeas, ask an adult to boil water in the large saucepan. Carefully add the chickpeas, leave to boil for 2-3 minutes, then…

Nora and the Map of Mayhem Joseph Elliott and Nici Gregory RRP £7.99 (PB) www.bonnierbooks.co.uk When Atticus and Autumn's dads leave them with their eccentric great-grandmother Nora for the weekend, they're hoping for a few days scoffing biscuits and playing video games. But when Nora's around, nothing ever goes quite to plan... After a stranger from Nora's past leaves a menacing note pinned to her front door, Atticus and Autumn are swept away on a hair-raising adventure dodging snot-flinging sea monsters, battling thunderous electrosquibs and trying to escape from a very flappy goose! Age 8 years + We say… A riotous adventure that will keep young readers engrossed. Tasty Tales Anna Lena Feunekes RRP £8.99 (PB) www.uclanpublishing.com From a plant-loving pirate to an Ethiopian goat, from the crescent of the…