Arts & crafts are a vital part of a child’s education. Some children take to arts more easily than others but all can enjoy the various activities when they’re presented in a fun way.

Arts & crafts support children’s cognitive learning and their hand-eye coordination in addition to developing creativity. For children who tend towards highly-strung, arts & crafts offer a great way for them to relax.

There are many activities which you can do with your child at home to support their skills and enjoyment in this area. Here are some ideas for preschoolers.

• Finger painting – let them go wild; kids love the sensory feeling of dipping their hands into paint and if you give them permission to do it, they’ll participate with gusto. Just put down a plastic sheet and ensure your child is wearing old clothes!

• Sticking – it doesn’t matter what they’re sticking to so much as they have a chance to do it. You can use a glue stick to avoid too much mess! Let your child cut out some pictures from an old magazine and make a collage or let them stick bits and bobs from your sewing box onto an old tissue box to make a treasure chest. Good items for sticking include lace, buttons, sequins and trims.

• Model making – whether you use clay, papier-mache, or just old boxes, there’s a real joy for children to be found in making a model. They can make robots fairly easily out of boxes, houses or cars also make a good choice. Help them make a model of their favourite animal from old newspaper and paste or for simplicities sake, make snakes from air-drying clay and paint them after they’re dry!

As your child grows, explore different mediums with them. Older children might enjoy crochet, patchwork, woodwork, and embroidery in addition to watercolour painting or sketching.

Your child’s school will usually have a robust arts curriculum – like this independent girls’ school in Surrey. At schools like this, the arts are seen as vital to children’s development.

The big day is almost upon you and you can scarcely believe it but your child is due to start school! This is a momentous occasion and both you and your child might feel nervous about the changes. That’s natural – what’s important is that you don’t show nerves to your child.

It’s also important not to build things up too much – don’t make a big fuss about it or your child will worry that it’s going to be a big shock. Discuss the changes with your child and what they can expect but keep the conversation light.

Common issues

There are many common issues that small children find tricky about the transition to big school, here are just a few.

• Toilets – will they be big or scary? Can your child manage alone?

• Lunchtime – if your child is a fussy eater or doesn’t like to sit still, it’s important to discuss lunchtime expectations with them. Slow eaters should be given packed lunches which are easily managed – for example, don’t pack a whole apple because it will take your child too long to eat, instead, cut it up for them and add a little lemon juice to keep it fresh.

• Staying hydrated – ensure your child knows what their water bottle looks like and where to find it.

• Missing you – this is the hardest one of all and there are a number of ways in which to tackle it. Reassure your child that you will be there or their caregiver will be there at the end of the day. Give them a handkerchief with your perfume on it.

The transition to big school can be a lot of fun but there will be natural challenges along the way.

Good schools like this day nursery in Kensington have a strong pastoral care team who are well used to dealing with the common issues which may arise and they will support your child all the way.

Social skills are just like the other skills which children need to learn such as reading, writing, running, speaking and so forth.

Some children are naturally good at socialising and others aren’t. For some children, social skills just develop slower than other children’s and you needn’t worry or stress about it because it often ‘rights itself’ as the child gets older. Here are some top tips for helping your child to develop their social skills:

• Ensure they have plenty of interaction with other children, this might be through clubs and playgroups or playdates with friends.

• Encourage good manners in day-to-day life, no pushing, no grabbing and always please and thank you.

• Encourage good listening skills; for children to succeed on the playground they must be able to hear others’ wishes and worries or they won’t be seen as a good playmat.

• Good sportsmanship is vital and that means no tears upon losing a board game! Help your child to understand that you win some, you lose some! A good way around this is to stop letting them win at every board game because that’s not a natural state of affairs.

If your child’s teacher has mentioned that your child isn’t slotting in very well, it’s important that your child is supported to gain the correct skills to enable them to make friends. This independent school in Surrey has a robust pastoral care system so that children who might struggle, don’t for long!

Speak with your child’s teacher to gain insight into where your child needs more support. It might be that they’re shy or that they’re a little bossy – ask the teacher for tips on supporting your child’s development in these areas. Most teachers are well-versed in this and will gladly help you.