Natalie looked after my two boys for 18 months, starting when they had just turned 1 and 3. They both settled in quickly and enjoyed spending time at Natalie’s house – and I always felt completely comfortable that they were being well looked after and happy. They also enjoyed spending time with Natalie’s children and would often speak about playing with Sophie and Jo.

Natalie has an excellent knowledge of childhood development. She organised hugely varied activities for the children, based on her many years’ of experience in childcare and education and drawing on her wide set of resources. The boys enjoyed varied crafting activities, cooking, gardening, construction toys, sorting, threading, dressing up, role play with dolls, playdough, train sets, etc etc. My older son particularly enjoyed learning about Jolly Phonics with Natalie and this has had a noticeable impact on his reading enjoyment and ability now that he’s started school.

In addition to these activities, Natalie also took the boys on special outings which they really enjoyed – e.g. to the Gruffalo trail at Alice Holt, to Little Street on the train, to Bocketts farm. And they also had a lot of fun celebrating birthdays!

Natalie provided lunch, tea and snacks for the boys every day. She has an excellent understanding of nutrition and prepared a varied menu of nutritious and delicious food for the boys. Eating this alongside their friends, both boys became much more adventurous in their eating and willingness to try new things.

Natalie has many years of experience of childcare in a range of different contexts and this really shines through in everything that she does. She is also extremely organised and great at communication with parents, which I really valued.

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