Your vote counts This week’s blog is a bit of a celebratory one with a call to action from our PR Manager, Jacky Burton: It is very easy to underestimate what our little ones are capable of. In a world increasingly driven by social media content, we are constantly reminded in a million different ways about how best to care for our child(ren), what to feed them and what activities they could/should be doing. But it’s not all about us – the little people in our lives can literally save lives if we teach them. This is exactly why our Founder and Director, Kate Ball created Mini First Aid Early Years – a dedicated class to teach pre-school aged children basic and life-saving first aid. Kate didn’t want to blow her own trumpet but I’m more than happy to! Our Early Years class has received fantastic feedback from children, parents and nursery/pre-school staff across the UK, especially as there is nothing else like it around at the moment. So it was no surprise to me this week, when online parenting magazine ‘Loved by Parents’ contacted me to say that Mini First Aid Early Years had received a nomination for the ‘Best Baby & Toddler Class’ award. Here at Mini First Aid, we believe first aid is a life skill which we can teach children from a very young age. Imagine the impact if every child was given the chance to learn and develop this skill. Confident children and young people equipped to assess danger, help others and save lives. Mini First Aid Early Years is a fun and interactive class; aimed at helping young children understand what to do if someone is hurt, how to stop bleeding and why we need to use cold pads if someone bumps their head. Reducing the fear can help little ones understand how a grown up would treat them; so they are not distressed when a pre-school teacher insists on a cold pack and sitting out of an activity for 10 minutes. During the class, children also learn the 'special number' to call when someone is very poorly and our trainers make sure children know their address. It is often the case that a child may be the only other person present in an emergency situation so knowing what to do and acting quickly is vital. During the 30 minute class, our Mini First Aid trainers use props such as 'Teddy' and a plastic phone (for emergency calls) to make learning first aid fun. Children are given the chance to cuddle Teddy to make him feel better as well as put plasters and cold pads on him! Children absolutely love reading our new colourful book during the class, 'The Mini Adventures of Freddie' (pictured) written & published by Kate (whilst on maternity leave?!). I’ve read the book myself with my own young children and they absolutely loved it – as well as showing off that they knew the magic ‘999’ number of course! So now you know all about Mini First Aid Early Years and our thinking behind it; all that is left for you to do is VOTE for us (sorry if you’re still suffering from post-election fatigue!). We’d love you to help us spread the word and get even more little ones trained up in such a vital life skill. Thank you! Click here to vote: https://lovedbyparents.wufoo.eu/forms/z9ql5kw10skp4s/