I have been caring for children for the last 7 years and I am currently employed on a part time basis nannying for two young girls aged 10 and 12; I also work part time as a childminders assistant caring for children (including twins) from 9 months to 13 years old. The two roles are very different and have provided me with a great respect for individual differences in children & their associated development; more importantly caring for such a broad age range of children has meant my knowledge of nursery rhymes, various console games and pop songs has increased ten fold!

My nanny role involves cooking for the children, some light housework such as cooking meals and changing the girls' beds, helping with homework & music practice, after school groups and other day to day activities. During the school holidays I take care of the girls full time, cooking all their meals and ensuring that they are active & happy; we like baking, visiting local parks, swimming, skating, arts and crafts, shopping, visiting the zoo, playing on the downs and so much more!

My role with the childminder on the other hand has given me a geat insight into Childminder policies, legislation and learning aims via Early Years Foundation Stage - which has been developed to help children learn through play. It's not all paper pushing though and we like to get out of the house as much as possible to visit local farms & parks, play at soft play places, collect conkers, do a few tree & leaf rubbings. When the weather is rubbish we tend to stay home play dressing up, paint some pictures, dabble in a bit of Nigella-esque domestic goddess baking and loads of oher things!

The bulk of my experience over the last 7 years has been in a more informal or casual setting. My family is very, very big and I am the youngest of the first generation meaning that I have been around babies and young children all my life. At the age of 17 I had my first job as a baby sitter helping out mums and dads that lived on my street; my family soon twigged that they had a very cheap and very reliable child carer in their midst and they soon started off loading their offspring. As I've gotten older savvy friends have also got in on the act!

I have 58 second cousins the eldest is 15 and the youngest is 3 months; I also have a nephew who will be 3 in October who I helped care for while my sister was suffering from post natal depression. Although I have looked after each of my 52 cousins at some point in the past, there is regular gang that I have cared for frequently over the past 7 years. The 'Motley Crew' range from 1 to 13 years old and the duration of sole charge care has ranged from a few hours a day up to a full fortnight including overnight care. I care for at least one member of the Motley Crew at least once a week and take the youngest 3 swimming fortnightly. We do all sorts of things from, flying kites, visiting the park, feeding the ducks, face painting, imaginative play, painting, dressing up, counting and singing, puzzles, hide and seek, dancing, swimming, attending local groups and soft play areas, puppet shows...the list is endless! !