Parent Guide - Mini Mash
Updated 9 months ago
by
Matt Besant
Mini Mash is a platform designed for learners aged 3-5, where children can learn through play. Mini Mash is set out just like an early learning setting, mirroring the areas of learning which your child may be familiar with. This includes an indoor and an outdoor area, which you can access by clicking on the purple door. All these different areas, as in a real-life setting, are linked to the key areas of learning and development in early years.
How to access Mini Mash
- Log into the child's Purple Mash account via your Parent Portal or on the school's portal page.
- Click on Early Years.
- Click on Enter Mini Mash.
Areas inside on Mini Mash
As you move around the space, you will hear the children naming the different areas of learning. Within each area, you will find lots of different resources which should support most of the common topics covered in early years.
Reading and Writing | By clicking on the teacher or the two children on the floor, your child will access activities to develop their reading and writing skills. They can create their own stories, practice their alphabet and sound recognition, and write words using their phonics skills. |
Numbers and counting | By clicking on the boy with the blocks, you are taken to the maths area. Here, children can practice number recognition, record their counting on a variety of 2count picture graphs, and explore measuring. |
Games | Clicking on the table, your child will find some different games linked to a range of early years topics. |
Simple City | Clicking on the cityscape picture on the wall takes you to Simple City. Simple City allows your child to explore, discuss and ask questions about different areas in the community. Areas in Simple City include the vets, the garden centre, the zoo, the farm and many others. |
Paint projects | Hanging from the ceiling you will see a variety of paintings which when clicked, take you to different paint projects where your child can experiment with coloured and textured pens. There is also the option for them to mark-make or write words if they wish to. |
Areas outside on Mini Mash
To enter outside click the purple door on the left hand side of the screen.
Music | In the music area, children can practice their expressive art skills using 2Beat and 2Explore. They can produce and record their own music sequences, exploring beat and rhythm with a wide variety of different sounds. |
Drawing and painting | In this area, there are a wealth of different paint projects which your child can explore and experiment with independently. |
Roleplay | The ‘Mashcams’ here allow children to take a picture of themselves and imagine themselves as a variety of different characters. This can be an excellent exercise for children to develop their communication, imagination and self-confidence. Children can draw, record their voice, mark-make using the pens or type their own words about what their character might be feeling or saying. |
Saving work on Mini Mash
Any work that your child does on Mini Mash, excluding Simple City, can be saved by following these steps:
- Click on the purple icon at the top left of the screen
- Click on Save
- Select a Tray
- Click on Save
Locating and opening saved files
You can locate your child's trays and saved work by
- Click on the Trays in the inside area of Mini Mash.
- Click on your Tray
These are some example trays. Your child should select the tray with their name on it or the tray they saved the work into.
- Click the open button
From here you can navigate between files saved and open a file by clicking the open button on the top right.
