We’ve had a little re-jig of the website and I’m really sorry the page you were looking for has moved and you’ve been re-directed to here. Please use the search facility on the site or contact me at lisa@busybusylearning.com and I’ll be happy to help you find what you were looking for.

Phonics – Blog Series

Phonics Phases - Phase 1 - Phase 2- Phase 3 - Phase 4 - Phase 5 - Phase 6 - games - activities - ideas - satpin - tricky words - phoneme - grapheme - letters and sounds

Phonics is a real passion of mine and one of my favourite things to teach when I worked in early years. It’s one part of a wide range of skills children need to be able to read and write. However, it comes with plenty of jargon and for many of us we were never taught it ourselves at school. This series is ideal for parents looking to support their children with their phonics learning or planning to home school, but equally perfect for student teachers. Check out the series here.

Travel Play Ideas

Travel play - play dates - eating out - travel toys - flight ideas - fine motor - small world - dinosaurs - threading - modelling - beeswax - tiny land

Check out our travel play ideas for when you’re out and about. Whether you’re on a plane, train, car, boat, eating out or heading to a doctors appointment, we’ve got ideas for you to keep your little ones entertained. Series link here.

Did the search facility help? If not you can get help from me to find what you were looking for lisa@busybusylearning.com.

Our Story

Floss is in the ‘kitchen’, her kitchen. She’s just tending to the kettle and getting the cups. She puts on her oven glove (she’s been practising this, but never succeeded before, she smiles to herself when accomplished) and opens the oven door to check on her cookies. They must be ready; they’re coming out! ‘H, h, h,’ she says while blowing on the cookies. ‘Are they hot?’ I ask. She looks at me and nods, blowing gently. She pops the tray on the side and returns to the kettle. Carefully, she pours the kettle over the cups.

She puts a cookie on a plate, picks up one of  the cups and begins to walk gingerly over to me – we’ve only just started to have a go at this walking business! Approaching me, looks up and smiles. She hands me the plate and cup and babbles to me as she does. I say thank you and she smiles. She’s waiting. I take a pretend bite of the cookie, ‘delicious thank you,’ I say and she smiles and makes the ‘mmm mmm’ noise – that’s Floss’ way of saying something tastes good. She turns with the help of the sofa and judiciously walks back to her kitchen, busying herself.

Just Play?

She’s just playing right?! That’s all kids do? Hmmm…

Oh my what a magical place you’re in if you have the pleasure of observing, interacting and enabling children. Yes, she’s ‘playing’, but it’s so much more. Floss is indicating to me what she knows, she’s practising, learning and mastering skills and helping me know what experiences she’d like next. She’s demonstrating her understanding of relationships and communication as well as fine and gross motor skills and much more.

Hi, I’m Lisa, thanks for stopping by on our site – Busy Busy Learning. I have a wonderful toddler, Floss and this site is a place to share the ideas we find, invent or discover on our journey of play.

Now I’m a full time Mom, and not currently a primary school teacher, I can be truly child led. No constraints, no red tape, no needless paperwork, but still doing what I love; enabling the environment of my toddler to meet her play/ learning needs. We’re going to share our journey with you, right here. We’d love to hear what you think. Thanks for reading. Best wishes, Lisa.