With the number of baby places in nurseries rapidly expanding, more and more staff are having to deal with the age-old problem of disposing of or laundering huge piles of nappies. Agreed, it's not the most pleasant of tasks, although there is something satisfying in making a baby comfortable and sweet-smelling again, and some of the best conversations I've had with babies of my acquaintance have been over the cotton wool and wipes! But in a nursery, nappy disposal can create real problems. We've done your homework for you (see page 12) and come up with various solutions, also considering the current ethical issues. Leaping from bottoms to brains, in the first years of life mental abilities develop at a fantastic rate, but they do need the right kind of stimulation. On page 15 we look at toys that can help develop cognitive as well as motor skills, and on page 16 books that offer a whole range of sensory experiences.
With the number of baby places in nurseries rapidly expanding, more and more staff are having to deal with the age-old problem of disposing of or laundering huge piles of nappies. Agreed, it's not the most pleasant of tasks, although there is something satisfying in making a baby comfortable and sweet-smelling again, and some of the best conversations I've had with babies of my acquaintance have been over the cotton wool and wipes! But in a nursery, nappy disposal can create real problems. We've done your homework for you (see page 12) and come up with various solutions, also considering the current ethical issues.
Leaping from bottoms to brains, in the first years of life mental abilities develop at a fantastic rate, but they do need the right kind of stimulation. On page 15 we look at toys that can help develop cognitive as well as motor skills, and on page 16 books that offer a whole range of sensory experiences.
For older pre-school children we have tracked down protective clothing for messy play (page 19) and suggest aids to early handwriting (page 28).
Working with school-age children in a nursery setting will be a new and, by all accounts, happy experience, for many. While the opening of an out-of-school club adds another dimension to your work it puts pressure on your space and how you organise it. While there is lots of interaction between nursery and school children, inevitably there will be times when it's necessary to keep activities separate. We look at ways of doing this on page 32. To keep the older kids entertained indoors we also have suggestions for board and computer games (pages 26 and 31).
We hope you enjoy the diverse range of topics in this issue and the equally diverse numbers of items we have tested on your behalf. And don't forget to try for one of our super prizes in our readers' free draws. This time round you can win yourself a pair of blackout curtains for the baby room or a soft Lamaze playhouse set (page 11).
