Bright sunshine welcomed more than 5,000 visitors to the Manchester Under 12s exhibition at the G-Mex Centre on 11 and 12 May. Childcarers and teachers shunned the temptation of sunbathing to explore more than 130 stalls exhibiting the latest equipment, resources and services for early years and primary education.
Many visitors eagerly followed the Exhibition Competition Trail which took them on a question hunt around a variety of stalls including the Heinemann Library, Sherston Software and Nelson Thornes stands. The lucky winners successfully completing the trail were Vicky Wool, leader of Holy Trinity Under-Fives in Redhill, Surrey and Marion Nickson from Christ Church School in Lancaster. They each won hundreds of pounds' worth of resources for their establishments.
Nursery World's stall was deluged on both days by early years workers taking advantage of the special offers on the current issue and annual subscription. Time Education's sturdy bags came in handy for stockpiling the giveaways and catalogues from various exhibitors - though they weren't big enough to help two nursery nurses who were struggling under bags, a slide, a collection of posters and two funky wheelybugs complete with wobbly antennas from One World.
Puppets By Post was popular for its large selection of finger, glove and body puppets. Visitors were shown how to hold and manipulate the puppets properly and given ideas on how to use them in their settings.
Instruction was also being given at popular Lego Dacta Ideas Workshops by an expert flown over from Denmark for the occasion. Childcarers were given an array of Lego, pipe cleaners, straws and a toy giraffe and challenged to build a pen for the sick giraffe so a vet could come and treat his sore throat - which produced some bizarre contraptions. Neil Ruddock explained, 'Lego is now an old product which is often used in a passive way and taken for granted. With these workshops we wanted to encourage people to reinvestigate the product, showing how childcarers and teachers can use Lego as a learning tool and introduce design.' Over in the Art Zone an exhibitor from Berol gave demonstrations on how to use its different products, including 3D marbling dust, silk paints and fabric crayons. The Early Years ICT Zone was also a hive of activity, offering a hands-on environment for tips on how to use ICT in the Foundation Stage. Peter Buglass from Computer Kids, who was manning the zone, said, 'People have been coming to try out the different equipment and have even been bringing their children along to see what things they enjoy.'
Professional and personal development was on offer in the sell-out seminars and training programmes held over the two days. Speakers included child psychologist and early years consultant Jennie Lindon, early years consultant and author Ruth Andreski, CACHE assistant examiner and author Penny Tassoni, and head of the NASUWT education and equality department Olwyn Gunn.
New exhibitor Nigel Canin of 2 Simple Software reported enthusiasm for its computer packages for three-to seven-year-olds, taking more than 50 orders at the show. Bags O'Books @ Zebra Books did a roaring trade by offering books at half price during the exhibition. The Consortium received a lot of interest in its Pop a Play Hospital, which comes with an x-ray of a body. Active Learning displayed an ingenious fold-up trolley which can be used as a cot or could hold up to six children if a nursery baby room needed to be evacuated in a hurry.
If all that couldn't hold visitors' attention, there was endless amusement from the machine on Eureka's stand challenging them to pop bubbles before they hit the floor. NW
