Think back to your own school days. What did you like to do before and after school? What sort of play totally absorbed you, or made the hours pass quickly because you were in deep ‘flow’ with your play?
If you’re planning to offer wraparound care (before or after-school care), you’ll need to consider the specific needs of the children you’re working with. You’ll need to think about their age, stage of development, as well as their interests and what they will need after a long day at school. For most children, this will probably mean opportunities to get some exercise, to eat something nutritious, to rest, and of course, to play!
School is often an intense time for children. For many, they won’t have had as many opportunities to move their bodies when and how they need to; it’s likely they will have been doing paper-based work (worksheets, work in exercise books); and they may be tired from lots of social interaction with peers. They may have a big interest in a specific topic right now, but the demands of the school curriculum may not enable them to freely explore that topic. And after all, children’s need to play - and learn through play - doesn’t end when they start school! It goes on well into later childhood (and beyond…). So as a childminder, your unique offering is that you can adapt to the children you care for, and offer the space, time and resources to meet their needs and interests.
What's more, as a home-from-home setting, you can offer a very different space to balance the school environment. Through simple day-to-day activities that emphasise a homely, family-style community (such as baking and preparing food together), you can support children's wellbeing and sense of belonging.
Here's a 5 minute video to show an example of a real living room set up to welcome school-age children for wraparound care:
VIDEO
What do school-age children need?
Before children are ready to play, the likelihood is they will need to recharge their batteries and meet some basic physical needs:
A chance to move their bodies in the fresh air
Outdoor play tends to be much more active and physical than indoor play, as there is more space for gross motor movement such as running, climbing and jumping. However, research shows that children today are spending more time indoors (and on screens), and less time outdoors. This has implications not only for their physical health, but for their mental wellbeing too. This is why it’s so important to spend time outdoors everyday. If children have the right clothing suitable for the weather, there is no reason they can’t spend time outdoors every single day. If it’s been rainy and they’ve had ‘wet play’ and children have been cooped up inside their classroom, even more reason to get outside after school and splash in some puddles out in the fresh air! The National Trust has suggested 50 things every child should have the opportunity to do by the time they turn 11 and ¾ - and it’s a fabulous list. Make a snail race, roll down a hill, make friends with a bug, watch the clouds… How many of these can you do with your minded children?
2. A cosy space to chill and rest
Children are often exhausted after school, so they need a calm, safe and comfortable space to relax. This could be a sofa with some cushions and a throw to snuggle under. You might offer a range of books suitable for budding and more confident readers to dip into while they cosy up. It’s in these calm moments that they may feel safe to talk about their school day and any feelings that may have come up, so having a cosy space can support their mental health too.
3. Something tasty and nutritious to eat
Before and after a long day at school, children need healthy food to fuel their minds and bodies. Even better if they can participate in making tasty snacks and meals to enjoy together. It’s also a great opportunity to learn about flavours and dishes from around the world. As you cook and eat each dish, you could listen to traditional music from the country where it’s from, and see if you can spot the country on a map. Perhaps you could even make your own global recipe book, celebrating traditional dishes from the children’s own cultural heritage. Yum!
Here are some ideas for healthy meals you can make together with the children:
Use filo pastry to wrap your own veggie spring rolls
Japanese Teriyaki Salmon skewers with brown rice
Chicken and veg in wholemeal pitta pockets with Greek yogurt
Jamaican fish and potato cakes with rainbow rice and peas
Indian Lentil and sweet potato curry - make it together in advance for tomorrow’s tea
Mexican Fajita wraps - choose your own filling
Chinese Sesame honey chicken noodle stir fry
Omelette roll ups - choose their own filling
To find out more about healthy eating, and how to involve children in preparing delicious food, check out this course.
Once children have had a chance to recharge after the school day, they need plenty of time and space to…
4. PLAY!
All children - including school-age children - need plenty of opportunities for free play. You might like to offer an invitation to play that is suitable for slightly older children, such as:
a) Enabling deeper exploration into a project interest that can't necessarily be pursued at school.
For example, if they are fascinated by fashion, perhaps you could get some fashion books from the library, offer some simple sewing tools and a range of fabric swatches, a selection of hats from a charity shop, and invite them personalise an item of their clothing or to design their own hat, and ‘become a milliner’! You can teach children to use a needle and thread safely. If you have younger children as well, make sure small beads and needles are well out of reach of the younger ones.
Or, if they love building things out of Lego, perhaps you offer some photos of important buildings or landmarks from around the world or from history alongside the Lego, so those buildings can inspire them as they ‘become an architect’.
b) Enhancing learning at school, through play.
Let’s say you know the child is learning about Ancient Egypt at school and is really enjoying it. You could, for example, build a model of a pyramid in the sandpit, with a model of a pharaoh deep inside, hidden away with all his treasure… Chances are, most of the learning at school will have been table-based, so you can take the learning outside and into the realms of hands-on or deep imaginative play.
c) Offering loose parts play.
Older children love loose parts too! These open-ended freely-available resources offer so many more opportunities for imaginative play because they can ‘become’ anything in a child’s mind. For example, cloths and scarves can be a king’s gown, or a superhero cape, or a tent to camp under. You can also use loose parts to invite children to make up their own games. For example, can they make a marble run using a collection of loo roll tubes? A tray with assorted items can become a ‘tinker tray’ or you can play ‘Kim’s game’.
Here, some blocks are offered alongside some images of famous buildings from around the world for inspiration. Older children enjoy playing with blocks too - because they can be used in increasingly advanced ways. To learn more about block play and how to enhance it, take a look at this webinar.
d) Offering open-ended ‘process art’ invitations.
At school, children are often using their heads more than their hands. Offering opportunities to play with open-ended arts materials gives them a chance to make, create, and go with the flow of their hands. Clay or dough is a great way to do this, as well as offering paints, crayons, chalks or any other sensory art materials.
Here a sports car enthusiast chooses to craft a Bugatti out of a lump of air dry clay.
An old sewing box filled with craft items (crayons, pastels, tape, paintsticks, stamps) and a large sheet of paper taped to the floor offers a simple and open-ended invitation to create. Anything goes, there’s no right or wrong here, and pressure to make anything ‘perfect’!
e) Offer real-life science investigations
You can follow and fuel children’s curiosity by doing some fun and hands-on science experiments together. These offer lots of opportunities to explore children’s questions, test out their own theories and observe the world around them. This is, after all, what Scientists do! Here are some ideas for simple science experiments you can do using items from home:
Make a volcanic eruption using bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and food colouring
Put celery sticks in jars of water with food colouring in. What might happen?
Build a toilet roll solar system (to scale!)
Make a rainbow density jar
Try re-growing vegetables from their trimmings. This works for carrots, fennel, celery, onions and other root vegetables. What changes do you notice as the days pass?
Hopefully this gives lots of food for thought, and ideas for how with relatively few resources you can offer a really inspiring, cosy, nourishing and playful home for children before and after the school day.