One of the most beautiful things we see in our forest school nursery is what happens when children slow down. In the quiet moments watching a ladybird crawl across a leaf, tracing the patterns in bark, listening to the wind shift through branches, their learning becomes deeper and more meaningful.
When children pause, their attention sharpens. They begin to observe tiny details, ask thoughtful questions, and follow their curiosity in a way that feels completely their own. This is early scientific thinking, but it’s also emotional growth. Noticing helps children regulate their bodies, calm their minds, and feel grounded in the world around them. It's probably something us grown ups could benefit a lot more from too.
Nature teaches change gently. As children notice the colours of autumn deepening or the way puddles form after rain, they begin to understand that the world is always shifting, and that change can be interesting, safe, and full of wonder. These small observations often blossom into play and art, drawings inspired by pumpkins, stories about forest creatures, or collaborative efforts to protect a worm on the long path.
In the Art Studio there is so much fascination around the over head projector, you might ask what do you like to do with it? Well the answer is they simply notice it, notice the light and where it shines, notice the shadows appear on the ceiling and floor, notice their shadow shrink and grow as they move nearer and further from the wall.
Noticing Supports Emotional Regulation
There is something deeply calming about watching a beetle walk, observing our Venus Fly Trap, watching the paint fall from the tube. These small moments of stillness help children regulate their emotions.
When children slow down, we often see:
bodies soften
breathing deepen
voices quieten
play become more thoughtful
In a fast world, slowing down is a gift. When your child stops to notice, they are building concentration, resilience, empathy, and a lifelong connection to nature. These moments may seem small, but they are the heart of deep learning.
Over the past few weeks our interest in the Art Studio has been based around creating fairy worlds. A small spark of curiosity born from a story we shared together, has grown into a rich, joyful, and deeply creative inquiry. It began with a book we read; The Tree Keepers, a gentle tale filled with woodland wonder, tiny homes, and creatures who care for the forest. The children were captivated. They leaned in, asked questions, and began forming their own theories about who might live among the trees in our outdoor spaces.
Almost immediately, children began gathering loose parts, building blocks, stones, pinecones, shells, wooden discs and arranging them into tiny homes and miniature landscapes. What started as small clusters of materials soon grew into elaborate fairy villages. Children negotiated where paths should go, which materials were suitable to build a fairy playground, or to build a bed.
Loose parts are powerful tools in early childhood. They invite children to think, plan, collaborate, and revise their ideas. In true Reggio Emilia fashion, the materials became a language, helping children express their thinking without needing a single adult‑designed template.
We watched as children worked side by side, sharing discoveries.
“Maybe this is the secret stairs''
''I'm going to make this passage way a bit wider so the fairies can fit through''
''This could be the party room''
''Pretend this is a bridge, this could be a toilet on top''
''A Stage! Pretend these little persons are the audience''
''The sign says please don't bring your own food''
Clay Fairy Tree Houses: A New Chapter in the Inquiry
More recently, the project has taken a new turn. Inspired by the woodland homes in Behind the Fairy Door, children began creating fairy tree houses out of clay. Clay is a deeply expressive material, it slows children down, encourages problem‑solving, and allows for endless experimentation. We tried 2 different approaches, 1 where the children each had their own piece of clay, then a few weeks later they all worked on the same big lump of clay. Our little artists rolled, pinched, pressed, and sculpted, discovering how clay behaves when building openings, windows and bridges.
This work has been rich with learning:
Fine motor development through shaping and joining clay
Engineering thinking as children tested stability and balance
Storytelling as they imagined who might live in their creations
Collaboration as they shared tools, ideas, and space
Connection to nature through materials gathered outdoors
As with all child‑led projects, we will continue to follow the children’s ideas. Some are already asking about fairy maps, fairy gardens, and fairy letters. Others want to build larger structures outdoors. We will listen, observe, and offer materials that help their thinking grow.
Why Imaginative Play Matters So Much
As we’ve watched the children build fairy houses, sculpt clay tree homes, and create whole miniature worlds, one thing has been beautifully clear: imaginative play is one of the richest, most powerful forms of learning in early childhood.
When children step into imaginary worlds, they aren’t “just playing.” They are making sense of the world whilst following their own wonder.
Imaginative play is the kind of learning that stays with children for life. It nurtures confidence, independence, and a deep sense of wonder qualities we see blossoming every day in this fairy project.
Encouraging Imaginative Play at Home
You don’t need special toys or elaborate setups to support this kind of play. In fact, the simplest materials often spark the richest ideas.
Here are a few gentle ways to encourage imaginative play at home:
Offer loose parts Items like pebbles, shells, fabric scraps, cardboard tubes, pinecones, or small boxes become endless possibilities.
Create a “tiny world basket” Fill it with natural materials, small figures, or objects your child can use to build scenes and stories.
Leave space for open‑ended play A corner of the living room, a patch of garden, or a tray on the table can become a fairy home, a forest, or a tiny village.
Follow their ideas If your child says, “I think a fairy lives under this tree,” respond with curiosity. “What makes you think that?”“What might the fairy need?”
Join in, but lightly Children love when adults enter their world, but they also love leading it. Offer a question, a prop, or a gentle wonder, then let them take it from there.
Celebrate their creations A photo, a small shelf display, or a moment of shared admiration shows children that their ideas matter.
These small acts help children feel seen, valued, and capable — the heart of the Reggio Emilia approach.
A Magical Family Day Out: Dreamery Gardens, York
If your child has been enjoying our fairy world project, you might love taking them to Dreamery Gardens in York where i visited this bank Holiday. It’s a beautiful, imaginative outdoor space designed to spark creativity, storytelling, and nature‑based exploration very much in harmony with the kind of learning happening here at nursery.
Children can wander through whimsical pathways, discover tiny hidden worlds, explore natural sculptures, and follow trails that feel straight out of a storybook. It’s a place where imagination and nature meet, and where children can continue the fairy inquiry in a new environment.
Many families tell us that visits like this deepen their child’s play at home and help them make connections between the stories we explore at nursery and the wider world around them.
As we look back over the summer, it’s clear that the season gave us everything- sunshine, drought, rain showers, muddy puddles, blooming flowers, and a whole lot of outdoor magic. Forest school life never stands still, and this summer was a beautiful reminder of how much children learn when nature leads the way.
Our summer party in July was a perfect example of forest‑school resilience. A little bit of rain tried to join the celebration, but it didn’t dampen our spirits one bit. Families gathered for an outdoor picnic, children hoola hooped, and we saw some ukulele singing from our school leavers. Spike Bonzo kept everyone giggling with his brilliant entertainment alongside his furry sidekick Cheesecake. Face paints turned our little ones into butterflies, tigers, mermaids, and superheroes- all proudly showing off their colourful designs ( despite the drizzle.) One of our Pre-School parents brough along their Coffee Trailer Joyful Bean to supply caffeine for the parents.
There was something wonderfully grounding about celebrating outdoors, even with the unpredictable weather. It reminded us that joy doesn’t depend on sunshine- it grows wherever children are free to play.
Eco‑School Success: Harvests, Wildflowers, and Growing Together
This summer also marked a huge achievement for our eco‑school journey. Whilst the weather might have been a bit too hot for us in past weeks, the plants in the greenhouse have been thriving! We have seen beautiful yellow flowers on both our pumpkin and courgette plants, and the tomato plant is growing taller than some of the children! The children in Honeybees and Ladybirds have enjoyed tending to and watching our produce grown. We are all excited to try some vegetables come harvest time.
One of the biggest lessons this summer came from the long stretch of drought. The children saw first‑hand how thirsty the plants became, how the soil changed, and how much effort it took to keep our gardens alive. Watering became a daily ritual, and conversations blossomed about why rain is important, how plants drink, and what happens when nature doesn’t get what it needs. Our pond needed some extra help this year too, so not to dry out. It was a powerful, real‑world learning experience, and one that made the eventual rainfall yesterday feel like a celebration.
After weeks of dry days, we all appreciated the rain in a new way.
Summer's Outdoor Gifts
Despite the challenges, summer offered endless opportunities for exploration:
building dens in the shade
collecting dry leaves, sticks, and seeds
observing insects that thrive in warm weather
creating art with natural materials
enjoying long stretches of outdoor play
Every day brought something new to discover, and the children embraced it with curiosity, creativity, and confidence.
The hottest summer on record isn't over yet, but the hot weather is. As we move into autumn, we carry with us all the lessons summer taught us- resilience, teamwork and appreciation of rain! Our forest school nursery continues to grow, just like the children within it, and we can’t wait to see what the next season brings.
Last year we took part in an exciting collaboration with a preschool in Türkiye, helping them to implement our unique early years ethos. As you know, our approach to learning here at Inspirations is special. We blend a focus on the outdoors with aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach to create our ‘Inspirations approach’ to learning. We took this approach over to Türkiye to train and inspire other practitioners.
What did we get up to?
Deborah and Daisy worked with the staff in Türkiye to deliver a bespoke training course on all aspects of our approach to early years and forest school. We combined a series of webinars with in person training to transform the space at Meltem Ayhan preschool with the introduction of child-centered learning, loose parts and provocations. The outdoor space was transformed into a place for learning and investigation, taking influence from the forest school principles.
Our project has been featured in Nursery World magazine and you can read all about it here! Beyond CPD: How practice-led consultancy is helping settings rethink early years education
Developing Our Ethos
We are always developing our staff at Inspirations with Deborah leading our ethos training within the rooms and for new staff. We also integrate our forest school ethos through our staff training days in the woodland, and the accredited forest school training that some staff have benefited from.
Through maintaining a strong ethos, we are able to deliver our high standard of teaching and nurturing provision. It’s not just the children that learn at Inspirations, it’s the staff too!
A Reggio Emilia Journey Through Animals, Habitats, and Imagination
Over the months our art studio has been alive with curiosity, cardboard, paint, and the kind of imaginative storytelling that only young children can produce. What began as an exploration of animals and their habitats slowly grew into something much bigger ; a journey that carried us from forests and rivers all the way into the deep blue sea.
We began by looking closely at the animals the children already knew and loved. Using the Reggio Emilia approach, we followed their interests rather than directing them. Conversations about where animals live quickly turned into rich investigations. The children made their own animal enclosures using wooden bricks, tweaking it each day they came into the art studio. So we used old woodchip board to create a more permanent animal habitat using moss, wood, clay and fabric. The children created their own space to place with the animals they were so passionate about.
From Fish… to Whales
As often happens in early years learning, one child’s idea became the spark for a whole new direction. Whilst exploring the clay the children started making different kinds of sea life creatures and and soon, fish and whales became the centre of our collective fascination. We even dissected trout and sardines to take a deeper look inside the inner workings of the fish. Whales soon took over and featured in the children's art and conversations. The children were captivated, not just by the size of whales, but by their gentleness, their families, and the idea that whales might need help or care just like people do.
Building Our Own Whale
Inspired by their enthusiasm, we embarked on our most ambitious collaborative art project yet: a two‑metre whale model, built entirely from cardboard, newspaper, and a lot of trial and error and team work.
The process was as meaningful as the final sculpture: 2 of the children drew out the whale shape onto cardboard, we added cardboard strips to create some depth, stuffed it with newspaper, added tape, tape and more tape, then added glue and newspaper. The children added ribbon, string and paint for the skin of the whale, J added a button with some glue and told the others 'It's a barnacle!'. Over the next few days multple barnacles were added to our whale, bringing it to life.
The whale became a presence in the art studio, a gentle giant that invited touch, conversation, and imaginative play.
Whale Doctors
Once the whale was complete, the children naturally shifted into storytelling. They invented roles for themselves: whale doctors, whale nurses, whale helpers, and even whale scientists.
Their stories were extraordinary:
Some children created medical kits filled with bandages, shells, and “whale medicine” made from coloured water.
Others wrote or dictated stories about rescuing whales who 'bumped his head on a rock'
A few imagined travelling across the ocean to help baby whales find their mothers.
One group even rode the whale, putting them selves into the story
Through play, they explored empathy, care, environmental awareness, and the idea that humans can protect rather than harm nature.
This project captured the essence of our Reggio Emilia approach because the children truly led the direction of the learning. Their questions, ideas, and curiosities shaped each stage, allowing the project to grow organically from animals and habitats into a deep exploration of ocean life and whales. The materials we used were intentionally open‑ended, giving the children freedom to experiment, construct, and express themselves without limits.
Throughout the process, collaboration was central. The whale could not have been built by one child alone; it required teamwork, negotiation, shared problem‑solving, and a collective sense of pride. As the whale took shape, the children’s stories and imaginative play added another layer of meaning, helping them deepen their understanding through narrative, empathy, and role‑play.
Art became a language for them - a way to communicate ideas about nature, care, and responsibility. Most importantly, the whale became a symbol of connection: it connected the children to one another, connected their ideas across different weeks of learning, and connected their creativity to the wider natural world they are beginning to understand and care about.
Projects like this remind us that when children are given time, space, and trust, their creativity expands far beyond what we could plan. A cardboard whale becomes a patient, a friend, a story, and a doorway into deeper learning.
Our whale will soon be put on display in the front entrance of nursery, so keep you eyes peeled.
One of the greatest gifts we can offer young children is space — real, breathing, living space. It dawned on me the other day whist watching one of our children paint on a canvas surrounded by natures back drop how easy to forget how special this setting truly is. Many nurseries simply don’t have access to wide‑open fields, woodland paths, or the freedom to explore without the constant backdrop of traffic. We remind ourselves often that this landscape is a privilege, one that shapes childhood in a way that can’t be replicated indoors or in built‑up areas. Every birdsong, every muddy puddle, every fallen branch becomes part of the children’s learning story, and we never take that for granted. Nursing bees back to health, feeding the robins and collecting lavender are weekly occurrences here in the Art Studio alone.
Being away from busy roads and traffic isn’t just peaceful; it creates a safer, calmer, and richer environment for early learning. With Hunger Hills woodlands and fields right on our doorstep, children step straight into a world designed for exploration. They can run freely, climb, dig, balance, and build without the constant noise and rush of cars nearby. Nature becomes their classroom, offering endless opportunities for curiosity and discovery.
Cleaner Air, Calmer Minds
Being away from roads means cleaner air and fewer distractions. Children can focus, breathe deeply, and settle into play more easily. The environment itself supports their wellbeing; something that’s harder to achieve in urban settings
There’s something timeless about watching children explore nature at their own pace, collect sticks, or notice the way the light falls through the trees. It’s the kind of childhood many of us remember fondly — and one we’re proud to offer every day, here at inspirations.
Here, they don’t just learn about the world — they learn in it
This week, Catherine, Princess of Wales will visit Reggio Emilia to explore one of the world’s most respected early years education philosophies: the Reggio Emilia Approach. Her visit highlights a growing global recognition that the earliest years of a child’s life are not simply preparation for school — they are the foundation for lifelong wellbeing, confidence, creativity and learning.
The Reggio Emilia Approach was developed in northern Italy after the Second World War by educator Loris Malaguzzi and local families who believed children deserved a richer, more respectful educational experience. At its heart is a simple but powerful belief: children are capable, curious and full of potential.
Rather than focusing purely on outcomes or rigid routines, Reggio-inspired settings encourage children to explore, investigate, collaborate and express themselves in many different ways — often referred to as the “hundred languages of children.” Creativity, communication, relationships and the environment itself all play an important role in learning.
Princess Kate’s long-standing work through The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood has consistently emphasised the importance of emotional development, secure relationships and nurturing environments during the first five years of life. Her decision to visit Reggio Emilia reflects a wider shift in understanding: high-quality early years education is about far more than childcare — it shapes the adults children become.
Inspirations Nurseries have for many years seen the value in this approach and structure our whole ethos around it. We believe children learn best when they feel safe, valued and inspired. We see every child as unique, capable and full of ideas worth listening to. Our environments are carefully designed to encourage curiosity, independence and meaningful exploration, giving children opportunities to lead their own learning through play, creativity and discovery.
Relationships are also central to everything we do. Reggio Emilia places great importance on collaboration between children, educators and families — something we deeply value across our nursery community.
By working in partnership with parents and carers, we create a consistent and supportive environment where children can thrive emotionally, socially and academically.
Another important connection is the role of the environment. Reggio Emilia settings such as are own are often described as using the environment as the “third teacher,” with thoughtfully arranged spaces that inspire investigation and imagination. At Inspirations Nurseries, we recognise how powerful a calm, engaging and nurturing environment can be in supporting children’s confidence and development. From open-ended resources to natural materials and creative learning opportunities, we aim to create spaces where children feel motivated to explore and express themselves freely.
Princess Kate’s visit to Reggio Emilia shines an important spotlight on early years education and the incredible impact it has on society. It is encouraging to see global conversations increasingly recognising the value of emotionally rich, child-centred learning experiences.
For us at Inspirations Nurseries, it reaffirms something we see every day: when children are nurtured with care, respect and inspiration in their earliest years, they develop the confidence, resilience and curiosity that will support them for life.
If you want to learn more about Reggio – talk to any of our staff this parents evening Tuesday 16th June– its central to everything we do.
Our Pre‑School is full of little systems, thoughtful touches, and hidden gems designed to make your child’s experience richer — and your life a little easier. Here are some things you might not know about what happens behind the scenes each day.
📝 Daily Whiteboard
Did you know there’s a whiteboard by the Pre‑School pick‑up gate? It’s updated every morning with today’s menu, going‑home messages, and a snapshot of the day’s activities.
🎨 Going‑Home Art Cupboard
Your child’s clay models and artwork are stored safely in the Going‑Home Cupboard. Inside you’ll find two black folders, alphabetised with every child’s name, filled with their creations from the Art Studio.
🌿 Compost Caddies for Families
Every family is welcome to take home a compost caddy. Fill it with coffee grounds, fruit and veg scraps, cardboard, teabags, and eggshells, then bring it back to nursery. We turn your contributions into compost for our flower beds — where the children grow their own fruit and vegetables. Last week, Pre‑School planted peas!
🧹 Litter Pickers to Borrow
Want to help care for our community? You can sign out a set of litter pickers for the weekend. Just speak to Zoe or Eleanor, our Forest School practitioners.
🧥 Outdoor Clothing Provided
For cold or rainy days, we provide blue salopettes and pink coats, all branded with our logo. If your child wears them home after Forest School, simply return them wearing them the next day.
📱 Stay Connected
We’re on Instagram and Facebook, and parents also receive a bi‑weekly newsletter with updates, photos, and important information.
📚 Two Lending Libraries
We have not one, but two lending libraries:
One by the Pre‑School collection gate
One in Reception, on the right-hand side Feel free to borrow books to enjoy at home.
🌟 Staff Shout‑Out Board
Located in the corridor near the Toddler Room door, our Shout‑Out Board is a place to celebrate our team. Write a note of appreciation and it will be read aloud at our next staff meeting. Why not grab a coffee from our front entrance whilst writing a shoutout. (Please bring a travel mug if you're wanting to take the hot drink away with you.)
💷 Fees Online
Our updated fees are now listed clearly on our website for easy reference.
🥫 Community Connections
Did you know Pre‑School children take donations to the local food bank and even volunteer at the community café? We love helping children understand kindness, community, and giving back.
🚲 Outdoor Play Path
The path from our front door to the wooden gate becomes a lively space during the day for running games, bike riding, and movement play.
🐸 Nature Friends
We have a frog pond in front of the Art Studio and a friendly robin named Reuben who visits us every week.
🌰 Acorns & Pinecones Groups
For carpet time and choosing time, children are grouped into:
Acorns (3‑year‑olds)
Pinecones (children starting school this year) This helps us offer age‑appropriate learning, school‑readiness activities, and meaningful discussions.
📄 School Reports
Children starting school this year will receive a full school report, shared with families and their allocated primary schools.
🎭 Trips, Visitors & Enrichment
Throughout the year we enjoy:
A Christmas theatre trip
Pumpkin picking
Regular ZooLab visits
Bi‑weekly French sessions with Zoe There’s always something exciting happening.
💡 Tax‑Free Childcare
You might be eligible for Tax‑Free Childcare — it’s worth checking if you haven’t already.
🥗 Lunchtime at Inspirations
Did you know we have our own allocated dining room in the nursery? The children serve themselves from the dish in the middle of the table and we have two allocated lunch sessions:
• The Yurt group and morning Art Studio group eat together at 11:30
• Forest School eat on their return, around 12:00
🥂 Ten‑Year Team Milestones
Did you know that when staff reach their 10‑year anniversary at Inspirations, we celebrate with a meal together — including the 10 long‑standing team members who have already passed this milestone.
🌈 Child‑Led Learning
Did you know we don’t follow a fixed curriculum?
Our planning is shaped week by week by the children themselves — their voices, their actions, and their interests. This means they spend their days exploring the things they are genuinely curious and passionate about.
Parent–Child Play Ideas for Preschool Children (Ages 3–5)
Play is one of the most powerful ways young children learn and explore the world. The Inspiration's Approach highlights the importance of child-led exploration, creativity, and learning through real experiences. For children aged 3–5, play that involves nature, curiosity, and open-ended materials can support confidence, independence, and imagination. Parents can easily bring these principles into everyday play at home or outdoors.
Nature Exploration and Discovery
Forest School encourages children to learn through regular outdoor experiences. Parents can take their child on simple nature walks in a garden, park, or woodland area. Instead of directing the activity, allow the child to lead the exploration. For example, children might collect leaves, sticks, pinecones, or stones. These natural materials can become part of a discovery game where the child sorts objects by colour, size, or shape. Parents can ask open-ended questions such as, “What do you notice about this leaf?” or “Why do you think this stick feels different?” These questions encourage observation and curiosity rather than focusing on correct answers.
Creating with Natural Materials
Our Reggio Emilia inspired approach values creativity and the use of open-ended materials. Parents can set up a simple creative space using natural objects collected outdoors. Leaves, small sticks, pebbles, flowers, and mud can all become art materials.
Children might create leaf pictures, build small stick houses, or design patterns using stones and petals. There is no “right” way to create. The focus is on exploration and expression. Parents can support the process by noticing and commenting on the child’s ideas, such as “I see you used lots of small stones in your design.”
Colour Hunt Game for kids - inspirational image
Building and Problem Solving
Both Forest School and Reggio Emilia encourage hands-on learning. Building structures with loose parts is a great way to support problem solving. Parents and children can build simple shelters, towers, or bridges using sticks, logs, cardboard boxes, or blankets. For example, children may try to build a small “den” in the garden using sticks and a cloth sheet. The child might experiment with balance and positioning while the parent offers encouragement. This type of play helps develop persistence, spatial thinking, and teamwork.
Storytelling with the Environment
Nature provides endless inspiration for imaginative play. Parents can invite their child to create stories using natural objects as characters. A pinecone might become a hedgehog, a stick might be a magic wand, and stones might represent a family of animals.
Parents can join in by asking questions such as, “Where is the hedgehog going?” or “What adventure will happen next?” This kind of storytelling builds language skills and allows children to express their ideas freely.
Slow, Child-Led Play
A key principle of the Inspirations Approach is allowing children time to explore deeply. Instead of rushing between activities, parents can follow the child’s interests. If a child becomes fascinated with digging in the soil or watching insects, parents can support that curiosity by observing together and discussing what they see.
This slower pace helps children develop concentration, independence, and a strong connection with the natural world.
Play inspired by the Inspirations Approach focuses on curiosity, creativity, and exploration. By spending time outdoors, using natural materials, encouraging storytelling, and allowing children to lead their play, parents can support important developmental skills. These simple experiences not only help children learn but also create meaningful moments of connection between parent and child.
At Inspirations, our practice is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. A key part of our approach is providing real objects and real experiences, rather than plastic imitations or pre-set activities. We believe children learn best when they can explore the world authentically and meaningfully.
Real Objects for Real Learning
At Inspirations, you will notice carefully chosen, authentic materials such as:
Real crockery in role play
Fresh flowers and natural materials
Wooden loose parts
Real gardening tools outdoors
Clay and high-quality art materials
These resources provide richer sensory experiences. A real object has weight, texture, temperature and even smell — all of which deepen understanding and support development. When children are trusted with real materials, they also learn responsibility, independence and respect for their environment.
We follow children’s interests closely and bring learning to life. If children become fascinated by fish, we might:
Bring in a real fish for close observation
Visit a local fishmonger
Explore textures, scales and movement
Create detailed observational drawings
Introduce our own fish for pets
Seeing and studying a real fish provides a completely different level of understanding compared to looking at pictures or plastic models. Children ask deeper questions, use richer vocabulary and engage in hands on learning.
If children show interest in dogs, we may:
Invite a calm, well-trained dog to nursery
Discuss how to approach animals safely
Observe behaviour and movement
Learn about their senses
Ask questions about care and responsibility
Meeting a real dog supports learning about empathy, safety, biology and communication. It transforms curiosity into a meaningful, memorable experience.
Providing real experiences is also part of how we build Cultural Capital — the essential knowledge, vocabulary and experiences children need to thrive in wider society.
Through authentic experiences, children:
Expand their language and understanding
Encounter new ideas and environments
Learn how to behave in different situations
Build knowledge of the wider world
For some children, nursery may be their first opportunity to:
Visit a shop with a real purpose
Observe real tools in use
Meet animals up close
Engage in rich, meaningful investigations
These opportunities broaden horizons and create strong foundations for future learning. We believe every child deserves access to experiences that widen their understanding beyond their immediate environment.
We encourage children to express their thinking in many different ways — referred to as the “hundred languages” of children.
After observing a real fish or meeting a dog, children might:
Sketch detailed drawings
Sculpt models from clay
Create large collaborative paintings
Build habitats using recycled materials
Dictate stories or create fact books
Their ideas are documented and displayed with care, showing that their thinking is valued and respected.
We believe childhood should be real, rich and full of wonder. By providing authentic materials and meaningful experiences, we create learning that truly lasts.
Why Imaginative Play Matters So Much
We began by looking closely at the animals the children already knew and loved. Using the Reggio Emilia approach, we followed their interests rather than directing them. Conversations about where animals live quickly turned into rich investigations. The children made their own animal enclosures using wooden bricks, tweaking it each day they came into the art studio. So we used old woodchip board to create a more permanent animal habitat using moss, wood, clay and fabric. The children created their own space to place with the animals they were so passionate about.
Being away from busy roads and traffic isn’t just peaceful; it creates a safer, calmer, and richer environment for early learning. With Hunger Hills woodlands and fields right on our doorstep, children step straight into a world designed for exploration. They can run freely, climb, dig, balance, and build without the constant noise and rush of cars nearby. Nature becomes their classroom, offering endless opportunities for curiosity and discovery.
After observing a real fish or meeting a dog, children might: