activities to impress ofsted

[leonifay]

ok so i know i'm a suck up but my 1st inspection visit is any day now [scared]

i thought i saw a thread a while back now (probably about christmas time if not before) which had ideas of activities that linked to the eyfs that would impress ofsted.
can anyone point me in the driection of the thread or give me some ideas for a 7mo and a 2yo?
thanks

Singing? Acting out stories with puppets?

Gloop - all ages fascinated with the texture of this

Megablocks or duplo - baby will chew, 2yr old will build

Nursery rhyme/song time

Treasure baskets

TBH, just do what you would normally do with the children - you'll be fine . Mine was more about obs and assessments and how I do them than activities. If you know the name of your inspector, have a look at some recent inspections they've done to see what they in particular look out for.

Good luck

Messy play with cooked pasta,jelly that kind of thing, OFSTED insp will be so terrified of getting their lovely paperwork covered in goop that they'll be off in no time

Seriously though, just do something you have done in past, that the mindees engaged well in and you can talk lots with/to/about - now is not the time to try fancy pants new things!

I don't know about Ofsted or how it relates to childminders, but in our school inspection system (ISI) it is impossible to fool the inspectors. They are looking for long-term evidence, not just a snapshot of a day.

Do you have evidence of artwork/craft that the children have done, photographs, diaries?

i've got evidence to back everything up, but the little ones like there sleep, cbeebies and the park (i cant use my garden). 2yo doesnt like getting his hands dirty, although i would love to do jelly, pasta and gloop thats right up my street!
i'll keep thinking. thanks for your ideas

I had my first inspection in january and I too felt a bit nervous at the prospect of having to stay in all morning and keep everyone entertained. I was worried there would be gaps of me not knowing what to do. Silly really as I had stayed in plenty of wet days and coped great. It's just wanting to impress isn't it. I decided not to do anything too adventurous or messy. Inspector arrived just before 10 am. I went straight into snack time. Spent slightly longer than usual washing hands, talking about why we wash our hands etc, looking at soapy bubbles etc. Then got out the snacks and made that into more of an activity by encouraging them to cut up fruit with a plastic knife and did a bit of different fruit tasting. I put on a childrens cd and we sang along and did all the actions. From then on I followed the children's lead. They were playing with the kitchen and play food so I encouraged them to set up a little tea party and let them have a tiny bit of water in the tea pot so they could pretend to pour tea. I did a story time, got lots of cushions down on the floor and cosied up together for several stories. I chatted away to the children all the time so the inspector understood what I was doing and why. There were periods of time where the inspector was asking me questions too. It was lunch time before I knew it so I fed them all and put them down for their naps. I was glad when it was over but it wasn't half as bad as I had feared. Just be yourself and do things you normally do. If you try to suddenly do things differently the children may not play along! HTH good luck!

Actually, following on from last post - if you have play food, you can do a multitude of activities with that. Colours, fruit, vegetables, make the dinner - set up a tea party for dolls and teddies. Loads of areas of learning and development covered with one activity

Don't do anything you don't routinely do. My inspector was chatting to me while I let two toddlers loose with paint in my living room, and said she can always tell if kids are doing an activity they regularly enjoy, or a new/novel activity put on for her visit.

Do what the children like doing and exlain that, that you tailor to their needs and preferences and extend on that to aide their learning and development.

That's not really clear in my post, she said this as the children were so comfortable in what they were doing and well behaved.

So, do you have to stay in, while the inspector is there? I go out everyday. Say they come on a thursday morning, and I usually go to the library and park. Do I have to change their routine and stay in all day? I think that's really bad practise.

yep, they call and ask what days you will be working then say, i'll be coming week beginning x if i'm not there by 10am carry on as normal for the morning and if i'm not htere by 12pm carry on as normal for the afternoon. and you wait, and attempt to keep mindees occupied when all they really want is there normal routine. then when the ofsted inspector gets there she says carry on as normal and you want to scream, but normal would have been going out now. then the kids get cranky and annoyed because they're missing a toddler group they really enjoy or a visit ot the library they were looking forward to.

i actually didnt mean to rant like that, but you get the picture.

No I think that's terrible! And there supposed to be making sure children are well looked after...

I got a call re inspection and she was really nice. she asked what days i go to groups etc and when she realised she couldnt fit in around the days i dont go to them she told me she would ring me back when she had more time/spaces. That was last week so I'm awaiting the call!!