Introduction to the Mabinogi
‘Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi’ are believed to be the oldest legends in Wales – dating back at least 800 years.
Four legends are part of the ‘Pedair Cainc’. They are long and complicated stories with several different narratives within each legend. The author Anni Llŷn has adapted small sections of the stories to make them suitable to be presented to young children in our Cylchoedd Meithrin and day nurseries.
There is a presentation for staff entitled ‘Cyflwyniad i Oedolion – Dewin a’r Mabinogi’ and we suggest that you present these slides first to introduce the Mabinogi to the children.
We’ve presented the Pedair Cainc (4 legends) called ‘Pwyll and Rhiannon’, ‘Branwen’, ‘Manawydan’ and ‘Blodeuwedd’ as well as the presentation for staff, in 2 formats – you can choose to either download a PowerPoint presentation of the legends with activities corresponding to each one, or you can watch a simple animation with a Welsh voice-over.
“It is great to see new opportunities and new digital approaches to spread the important stories of the Mabinogi for a new generation of Welsh children.”
(Quote by Eleri Llewelyn Owen, GWE Project Manager, Education Consortia Wales)
Enjoy the Mabinogi!
Cyflwyniad i Oedolion Pwyll a Rhiannon
Branwen Manawydan
Blodeuwedd
Download the PDF’s of the Tales and Activities below:
A Cylch Ti a Fi does not have to take place between 4 walls. Why not take advantage of the wide world around us, which has so much to offer in terms of entertaining and fostering the curiosity of the youngest children.
These ideas sheets have been created especially for you. Here’s a collection of easy activities for you to try as you hold your Cylch Ti a Fi outdoors, in any weather. From creating a potato hedgehog to identifying colours in the natural world, there are plenty of fun ideas for you to try.
To receive a copy of this resource, please order here.
We’re passionate about ensuring every setting is a place where everyone belongs, is safe and anti-racist. Do you know what anti-racism is and why it’s important for you to embed anti-racist practice in your setting?
A good place to start understanding more about this is the self-study courses developed by DARPL (Diversity and Anti Racist Professional Learning) and CWLWM. These series of training are aimed at practitioners.
We recommend these courses for anyone who works / volunteers in Play, Learning and Early Childhood Care, to improve understanding and learning about how our current practice could be harmful to children who are Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic and support us to move towards anti-racist practice.
To watch the first presentation in the series, click here.
To watch the second presentation, click here.
To watch the last presentation, click here.
Anti-Racism Audit Toolkit
The aim of the toolkit is to help you audit your setting. A series of questions will help you consider what actions you can take to ensure your practice is anti-racist. At the end of the toolkit there is a template for you to create your own anti-racist action plan for your setting.
Come and celebrate some of the world’s main religious festivals!
This resource is intended to help you celebrate new religious festivals confidently in your settings during the year.
The resource provides background and details of six of the world’s main religions and within the resource on all religions, there is background information about stories and songs and activities that can be done with young children.
The resource addresses the following religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism, with a NEW addition on Humanism. The resource was created by Helen Roberts who specializes in the field and is a familiar name as a teacher, lecturer and Religious Education consultant.
To receive a copy of this pack, please order here.
For a copy of the Religious Festival Calendar 2024-25, click on the calendar.
Cylch i Bawb – A Cylch for all
Suitable for: Cylchoedd Meithrin, Cylchoedd Ti a Fi and Day Nurseries Staff and committee members.
What does being an inclusive setting mean, and how do we operate as one?
Inclusive play shouldn’t be a special activity that we only arrange for specific children. Rather, it should be seen as an effective method of providing meaningful quality play opportunities for every child. Being inclusive means more than only showing awareness of special needs. Inclusivity requires us to nurture an appreciation of the children’s different cultural, religious and social backgrounds.
This online presentation is suitable for any practitioner in a childcare or early years’ setting, whether they are staff, a committee member, or volunteers. It is possible to follow the course online as a group of staff or volunteers or it can be shown as part of the induction for new staff or committee members.
There are several opportunities to stop the presentation to discuss as a group, including discussing how to respond to different scenarios. You will also receive a short PPT which will give further guidance on how to respond to the scenarios – we advise you read these shortly after completing the training.
Presentation aims:
- Learn and develop an understanding of what is inclusion, equality and diversity
- Consider changes or new approaches for your setting can make, and how to go about introducing them
- Develop confidence to discuss matters sensitively with parents and carers
- Celebrate and build on existing good practice.
After completing the course, you will:
- Understand the different elements and requirements when ensuring inclusion and diversity in the setting
- Identify adaptions or changes you can make within your setting
- Celebrate diversity and equality confidently and knowledgably.
To receive a copy of this resource, please order here.
By clicking on the text below you can download a list of books we have created for nursery aged children which will help them see the world through the eyes of others.
Cylch i Bawb: Welcoming every family with our LGBTQ+ pack
Mudiad Meithrin welcome all families, regardless of their backgrounds, gender, or sexuality and we thrive to teach children that all families are different and the importance of showing each other kindness, respect, and friendship.
Mudiad Meithrin wanted to listen to the stories and hear the experiences of diverse families. We wanted to work with them so that practitioners working in our member settings could learn from their experiences and develop inclusive settings that are welcoming to all families.
And so, this pack is a co-production- between Mudiad Meithrin and LGBTQ+ people; it was designed to be used by practitioners, throughout the year, and not exclusively during LGBTQ+ celebrations and events.
We want all children attending Mudiad Meithrin settings to develop empathy and compassion, and to build meaningful friendships now and in the future. We want them to learn to be kind to each other, to be fair and to respect and appreciate each other, regardless of their sex, gender or sexuality, religion or belief, race, or disability. To hear more about the pack, watch this short clip.
To receive a copy of this pack, please order here.
Here is a new resource from Mudiad Meithrin and Powys local authority on ‘Cynefin’. This resource will support you in interpreting the meaning of ‘The place where we feel we belong’ and what this might look like to young children. We have included songs, experiences, books and some Welsh vocabulary.
To receive a copy of this pack, please order here.
This is a tube map that directs early years leaders and practitioners to various sources of information, guidance and resources that will help you support disabled children and children with additional learning needs. Download here.
Find useful links to information or resources when following the tube lines to ‘Learning Difficulties and Disabilities’, ‘Speech, Language and Communication’, ‘Supporting and referring a child’ and ‘Cylch for All’, Mudiad Meithrin’s equity and inclusivity brand.
Check out the video introducing the tube map to understand more about the resources referred to in the map. Watch the presentation here. (linc i ddlyn)
Dr Gwenllian Lansdown Davies, Mudiad Meithrin’s Chief Executive, said:
“The Nature Notes project aims to promote awareness of the richness and variety of Welsh and Welsh-speaking heritage by celebrating the communities and cultures which have made Wales their home, and to inspire people to look closer at the heritage of their square mile.”
The project has work with talented musician, Siân James, Gwyneth Glyn and folk group Bragod to create a contemporary resource combining Welsh nursery rhymes and simple songs in Arabic, Urdu, Romania, Polish and Bengali.
You can download the individual nursery rhymes by clicking on the photos below.
Wrdw Aderyn Bach Syw
Dau Gi Bach Gwlad Pwyl
Romania Arabeg
Beti Bwt Bwrw Glaw
It is a pleasure to present the second resource in the series, following the success of the first version which launched in March 2021. The purpose of Nature Notes 2, like the original, is to extend and promote awareness of the diversity of Welsh and Welsh heritage, celebrating the heritage of communities and cultures settled in Wales.
Welsh rhymes are combined with rhymes/songs in the Somali, Spanish, Pashto (Afghanistan), Italian, Mandarin and Kurdish languages.
You can download the individual nursery rhymes along with the activities that accompany them by clicking on the pictures below:
Italian Mandarin
Iâr fach bert Pashto
Somali Spanish
Kurdish Deryn Du
Gee Ceffyl Bach
The role of the Cylch Meithrin’s Management Committee is important – but not frightening! Do you want to know more about the role or want to understand more about your current responsibilities? This training includes two presentations that will discuss the following issues:
Policies in your Setting
In this presentation you will find more information about:
- How to store, update and implement policies
- How Mudiad Meithrin informs and updates you with the latest information
- Your role as a committee member and effectively implementing policies.
The Role of the Responsible Individual
In this presentation you will find more information about:
- The duties required from the responsible individual
- The requirements of the role
- How to operate effectively and support staff in the settings
- Regulations and legal requirements.
To receive a copy of this resource, please order here.
‘Cymru Ni’ is a series of resources that celebrates the histories of Black Welsh people.
We created these resources because of the importance of having conversations, inspired by these stories and others, for children aged 2 to 5 in a language that’s simple enough for them to understand.
The resources also contribute to closing the knowledge gap which exists in Welsh and English, and more generally about Black lives. They support the new curriculum’s emphasis on celebrating the histories of Black, Asian and people from Ethnic Minorities as central to Wales’ story.
We hope they will give practitioners across the childcare and education sector the confidence to discuss Wales’ multicultural identity.
To start using these resources today, click on the name or image of the individual below.
COLIN JACKSON
BETTY CAMPBELL
MAGGIE OGUNBANWO
JOHN YSTUMLLYN
The Power of Play – A new digital learning resource led by Kym Scott for early years care and education settings.
It consists of three modules which will discuss:
- Preparing the Way for Play
- A Place for Play
- The Adult Role in Supporting and Extending Children’s Play through Quality Interactions.
You will learn about:
- The important role of play for young children’s learning and the conditions which enable high quality, challenging play to take place
- Providing an inspiring learning environment for play, indoors and outdoors
- Interacting with children in ways which support and extend their play.
The training was created especially for Mudiad Meithrin by Kym Scott who is an Early Years Consultant, trainer and conference speaker. Kym Scott started her career working with young children as a nanny and a pre-school assistant. She went on to take teaching and senior leadership roles in London schools, before joining the Lewisham Early Years Advisory team in South London, where she spent 15 years working to support pre-schools, nurseries, childminders and schools in a variety of circumstances.
She is now an established freelance conference speaker, trainer and consultant in the field of early years education, working both in the UK and overseas with a proven track record of helping leaders to raise the quality of their early years provision and improve outcomes for children. She spends a significant proportion of her time working directly in settings and schools in order to retain an understanding of the reality and challenges of working with young children. This work provides her with numerous opportunities to learn from young children and their practitioners, and also provides the real examples that are so popular in her training.
To receive a copy of this resource, please order here.
This is a training resource to support your understanding and response to trauma in young children in the early years.
The training comes in 3 parts and has been prepared to be used during team meetings, as part of your training programme, or when welcoming new members of staff. It is also suitable for members of voluntary committees and staff who support settings.
The training considers many situations that may have a negative impact on young children, including Covid-19.
This resource was created by Eleri Griffiths, who has worked for a range of voluntary organisations during her career such as Interlink, Children are Unbeatable, Children in Wales and Mudiad Meithrin. Promoting children’s rights is important to her. She is an experienced trainer in the areas of safeguarding, children’s rights and welfare.
To receive a copy of this resource, please order here.
