Childminding Week is all about
YOU taking centre stage to celebrate how you are making a difference to children and families and ultimately helping to raise the profile and appreciation of professional childminding in Scotland.
Coming together, as one childminding workforce – to share lots of inspirational stories and photos throughout Childminding Week will showcase the breadth and depth of childminding, and how valuable childminding is to so many children, families, and communities.
Childminding Week will kick off with the SCMA Conference on Saturday 11 May, and you can keep the celebrations going throughout the week by sharing your photos, videos, stories, and messages on social media and including the hashtag #CheerforChildminding.
Each day of Childminding Week 2024 (11-17 May) has an inspirational theme or topic, designed to help you plan and guide activities with your minded children. We’ve also linked each of the themes to relevant webpages and resources that you may find useful when planning your activities.
Saturday 11 May:
SCMA Conference 2024:
Shaping Futures | Embracing Change
Monday 13 May:
Think STEM
Tuesday 14 May:
Spark Your Imagination
Wednesday 15 May:
Get Together, Cheer Together...with the BIG Teddy Bears' Picnic!
Thursday 16 May:
Express Yourself
Friday 17 May:
Embrace Adventures
You can also #CheerforChildminding by engaging with us and sharing our posts and key messages on social media. The more engagement we have, the more awareness we will generate – helping to showcase the true value and how vitally important childminding is to many children, families, and communities across Scotland.
We’re inviting all childminders in Scotland to take part in The BIG Teddy Bears' Picnic to mark Childminding Week 2024 and – regardless of where you live in Scotland – come together, in spirit, as one workforce to #CheerforChildminding.
You can be part of something bigger! Get together with your colleagues, friends or even on your own, to host a Teddy Bears' Picnic with your minded children on Wednesday 15 May at 10.30am and be part of The BIG Teddy Bears' Picnic.
We hope that hundreds – and maybe even thousands – of you will get involved, and there will be lots of simultaneous picnics taking place in a variety of locations across Scotland. Whether it’s in your back garden, down at the beach, in the local woodland, or at the town park – all childminders can get involved and join in with the biggest Teddy Bears' Picnic that Scotland has ever seen!
On the BIG day, we’d love to hear from you! Share your photos and messages and tell us about your picnic on social media (using the #CheerforChildminding hashtag) to celebrate alongside your childminding colleagues across Scotland. We’d LOVE to see pics from picnics in all 32 local authority areas!
Q. What can I do if the timing of the BIG Teddy Bears’ Picnic is not suitable for me and my mindees?
A. Don’t worry! We understand that every childminder has their own routine and working patterns. Ideally we would like everyone to get together and cheer together at the same time – with a Teddy Bears’ Picnic at 10.30am on Wednesday 15 May – to feel part of something bigger, and celebrate Childminding Week as one workforce.
We realise that this exact time may not be possible for everyone, so you can always have a picnic at a different time on Wednesday, or whenever suits you best. The most important thing is that you and your minded children have fun! And don’t forget to share your photos and stories on social media to #CheerforChildminding.
Tell us about your Teddy Bears' Picnic
We’d love to know about the Teddy Bears' Picnic you’re planning – whether it be big or small – and whereabouts it’s being held. If you’re planning to organise and host a special Teddy Bears' Picnic for Childminding Week on Wednesday 15 May – we would ask the one main contact of your picnic to tell us all about it, and complete this quick form
HERE.
Plus, if you tell us about your event before 5pm on Friday 26 April 2024 you’ll automatically be entered into a prize draw* to win a fantastic picnic hamper prize. You can then use the prize at your Teddy Bears' Picnic and any future activities with your minded children. Good Luck!
*Only one main contact for each Teddy Bears' Picnic event is eligible for the prize draw. Any duplicative entries for the same event will be disregarded, to ensure the prize draw is fair and equitable. The prize draw will close at 5pm Friday 26 April 2024 and the winner will be selected at random from collected responses. The prize will be dispatched to the winner on Monday 29 April 2024 to ensure it is received in advance of Childminding Week 2024. To be eligible for the prize draw, participants must fully complete form, and confirm consent to be included in the prize draw.
Download your Childminding Week 2024 Toolkit HERE.
Packed with essential information, top tips, and fun ideas to help you #CheerforChildminding - the Toolkit will set the scene for you, and help you plan for your Childminding Week celebrations:
- Aims and Key Messages
- How to Get Involved
- The BIG Teddy Bears' Picnic
- Tell us about your Teddy Bears' Picnic
- Activities, Tips and Ideas
- Meet Charlie the Childminding Bear - and get creative!
- Childminding Week Checklist
Get ready to #CheerforChildminding!
- Childminders provide high-quality childcare in a nurturing home-from-home environment, that is tailored to each child’s individual needs, and small groups of children can thrive together – offering flexibility for parents that is difficult to find in other forms of childcare.
- Childminding is consistently one of the highest rated forms of childcare in Scotland, with 92% of childminders achieving ‘good’ or above across all quality ratings at inspection – and when it comes to childcare, quality is the measure that matters.
- Childminders are making a difference to children and families every day – creating inclusive environments that engage, entice, and excite – and encourage children to play, learn and grow.
- Childminders play a unique role as trusted adults throughout children’s lives (aged 0-12 years), inspiring them to be the best they can be, and are integral in their learning, development, confidence, and wellbeing.
- Childminders provide strong continuity of care, and they often remain a constant figure in a child’s life; helping to enhance learning, confidence, and wellbeing at every milestone – enabling them to grow, develop and thrive in line with GIRFEC outcomes and achievements.
We will be posting our key messages on social media throughout Childminding Week, and we would encourage everyone – including all childminders, stakeholders, parents, and supporters – to help us share them far and wide and help us #CheerforChildminding.
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