We were delighted to welcome Reception teacher Nicole to the Nursery Ed team as Guest Editor this month, and with her help we have created some brilliant features, activites and posters we think you’ll love.

We loved welcoming Nicole into the office and hearing from the horse’s mouth what activities and features teachers and practitioners would like to read about. Apart from eating lots of yummy cake, we also found the time to sit down and plan our December issue on the theme of designing and making.

If you’re interested in being our next Guest Editor, read Nicole’s diary to find out more about what the experience involves. Details for how to apply will appear on our website soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

I personally love a sneaky insight into the celebrity world, so I was delighted to chat to TV presenter and yummy mummy Claudia Winkleman. Subscribers can read Claudia’s full interview including her exclusive quick-fire question and answer session online.

If ICT makes you nervous, we have the solution – author of Scholastic book ICT without a PC Brenda Whittle – offers some inspiring ways to introduce ICT into the setting with not a wire in sight!

For those confident technology users out there, we offer you ten top tips to help you make the most of your interactive whiteboard and boost your children’s development.

This month’s theme is ‘Designing and making’ and as usual we have some fantastic activities from making Christmas decorations (well… ‘tis the season to be jolly!) to making a sound walk display to brighten up your setting.

If it’s the posters you love – you won’t be disappointed. We have a beautifully-illustrated Christmas poster which ties in with our story ‘The lost decorations’ – I don’t know about you but all that candlelight and tree decorating gives me that warm Christmas cosy feeling!

We also – with Nicole’s help – put together a cheerful ‘Designing and making’ poster showing children carrying out different craft activities from gluing to cutting. Why not cut them into four, laminate them, and display them in your art and craft area? Or focus your activities around a different one each day?

Check out our interactive jigsaw game where the children can drag and drop shapes into a grid to create a picture. If you’re feeling in a creative mood, why not bring some Christmas cheer into the setting with our step-by-step guide to making an impressive wintry sculpture.

Not forgetting the general buzz of activity in the office over the last few weeks, we celebrated Hallowe’en with a group of cackling witches feeding us up with their chocolate fountain cauldron – all in the name of charity of course!

Helen and the Nursery Ed team