Silkysteps is my passion !! 

Based in the UK it is a website dedicated to providing free printable resources for the under fives, early years education and everyone interested in exploring learning through play.

To give Silkysteps a unique and personal feel she has been created to represent a Village  full of cute characters and each one has a set of name associated resources. 

If you click each of them in turn, you'll  discover their personalities, interests and what resources they have for you ..

Brief Bio:
Silkysteps is an ongoing combination of all past and current work by Author & Illustrator Ruth Grimes.

Having moved to Cornwall from Enfield with her family at the age of 11 she remained a part of the community for over 24 years.

Her involvement with the Early Years began when her youngest brother attended the local Playgroup. A love of working with the children soon developed and strong working relationships were formed with several groups in the area.

Once the eldest of her 3 children started Playgroup in 1988 she took up the reins of employment and has now gained over 18 years worth of knowledge and experience.
 
Providing illustrative pictures and craft activities to amuse and help the children explore became a part of everyday life and now forms the very foundation of Silkysteps.

Written work on the series of craft eBooks began back in 2003 and were/are a jointly inspired collection of everything she found encouraged the children to express their own creativeness and unique ability.

With support and guidance at the time & a short spell of online eCommerce sales, the collection grew into what it is today ~ and indeed what it continues to grow into  ....

After a personal relationship breakup and the need for a fresh start, in 2005 she moved 'Oop North' with her two younger children to be closer to family members.

From there and with the help of Darlington's Business link & Business Venture unit began to build the reality of a dream - a website dedicated to offering free quality resources for the Under Fives and their Early Years education.

Wanting a local web development  company to work with, a search began and ended with a post being made in the support forum of Openmindmedia 

Having already compiled a 300+ page website in Word it was a project she thought was going to be quite an undertaking - however a meeting the following day saw an unflinching web developer calmly state options & possibilities ... Concept and Design was delivered shortly after.   
          
          Silkysteps was launched on January 31st 2006 with the online store following in March.

        'My sincerest thanks go to Phil and his team for all their past and ongoing work for Silkysteps'

My personal ambitions for Silkysteps

ETHOS ~ Silkysteps is about Choice ~ and the provision to enable good choice through the availability of information.

I hope to continue to build on and above these aspirations for Silkysteps as other projects begin to take shape and develop:

 Encourage use, promote and develop new resources for the website so that it offers a little something for everyone.
 Work in parnership with others to provide original crafting ideas and suggestions.
 For the Forum to become a gathering point for an array of information and knowledge that can used by many different people and their professions. 
 To create and publish activities that involve children and adults alike. 
 To build relationships and networks with others that can provide valuable services and information for Silkysteps visitors.

Originally Posted by Miss Muffet Why did you start Silkysteps?

lol

I needed somewhere for all the 'things at the back of the cupboard to go

Seriously - 'to make a mark and give'

On the reality front I needed an income - a way to share what I'd done for just my Playgroup for years - A cool place to sound off about soapbox stuff and to build a community for everyone else to do the same !!

It's all about connecting ~ the world ~ the professions ~ the information and the choices.

lol

So there it is .. the very reasons behind Silkysteps  !!