Sal McKeown dips into a book which aims to support professionals and parents to make everyday activities a little more challenging and extend their children's horizons. This delivers benefits as children grow older.

In this extract from her Practical Pre-School book, Nicola Scade provides a step-by-step guide to two small world play activities, which provide a fantastic springboard for exploring communication and language.

Welcome in the New Year with Christopher Corr's The Great Race – a dazzlingly illustrated story of the Chinese Zodiac. Written in gentle, child-friendly language, it's a great introduction to Chinese mythology.

Practical Pre-SchoolVol. 2017, No. 203 RegularsYour best activity…Lucy CollinsLucy CollinsSearch for more papers by this authorLucy CollinsPublished Online:17 Nov 2017https://doi.org/10.12968/prps.2017.203.10AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 2 December 2017Volume 2017Issue 203ISSN (print): 1366-610XISSN (online): 2052-4587 Metrics History Published online 17 November 2017 Published in print 2 December 2017 Information© MA Education LimitedPDF download

There is nothing to beat the smell or taste of freshly baked bread rolls. Try Ailsa Chapman's simple recipe.

On the back of rising levels of child abuse and neglect, the National Children's Bureau is making clear recommendations to Government on how children's services need to be strengthened and properly funded.

Try Jenni Clarke's simple race and chase games to develop the concept of number while keeping children physically active. Use obstacle courses with pop up tunnels to increase the fun factor.

Starting a new term can be a good opportunity to review and reflect on different aspects of practice and a key area to focus on is communication and language, says I CAN's speech and language therapist, Liz Wood.

Sal McKeown gets to grips with a fine motor skills programme that is helping children to develop dexterity in a range of everyday tasks they will need to carry out when they go to big school.