The Five Big Questions - Part One

After recently announcing her 5 big questions survey, Inspirations has decided to take a closer look at what exactly the Duchess of Cambridge is interested in finding out. Starting with question one: 

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN GROWING UP IN THE UK TODAY TO LIVE A HAPPY ADULT LIFE?

We are offered the four options below and asked to put into priority order.

• Good physical and mental health
• Good friendships and relationships
• Access to opportunities
• Access to a good education

I found it tricky to prioritise these categories, as here at Inspirations we view each point as being an equally important factor in raising a healthy happy child.  Much thought has gone into how Inspirations operates in order to successfully cover these four areas.

Physical and Mental Health

Our outdoor learning environment and forest school ethos naturally promotes good physical and mental health. Children with spaces for running around and climbing trees naturally develop muscle strength, aerobic fitness, and better coordination. A Scottish study found activity levels were 2.2 times higher in a typical Forest School day than during a school day that included PE lessons. Not to mention that as parents we love our children to get plenty of healthy fresh air which our location offers in abundance, set a fair way from any roads and surrounded by country fields and a section of the wooded Leeds Way.

Friendships and Relationships

Playing alongside our children every day are of course their friends.  Friendships in the early years are so important to our developing children, they help them build self-confidence, develop their social and emotional skills and their understanding of the world around them.  Sometimes of course, children struggle to mediate their emotions and play can quickly turn to squabbling and tears.  It is then that our expert educators’ step in and support our children in understanding their emotions and help support them to make the right choices.

Access to Opportunities

Its safe to say that Inspirations children have an abundance of opportunities on offer! Daily forest school sessions, an art studio compete with art teacher, an array of fabulous loose parts and open-ended resources and the freedom to choose where and what they do with their day!

A Good Education

At Inspirations we pride ourselves on getting our children ‘school ready’.  With our experienced educators we spend much of our time planning for your child’s education and learning journey.  We observe their interests and extend on that incorporating numeracy, literacy, science and anything else we can cram in for their eager sponge like brains! Throughout their time with us we will track their development and ensure they are on track for the best possible start on their journey to being happy adults.

If you decide to take the survey which would you prioritise as being your number one important factor for developing into a happy adult?

Next week look out for my blog on question two, who is primarily responsible for a child’s health and happiness?

-Nicola

by Inspirations

Ambiguous Resources

Here’s a wonderful example of how ambiguous resources can capture imagination, this week I left a small wooden door on a grass table to see what the pre-schoolers would make of it. Every group that came into the art studio used it in a different way; the first group passing pine cones through it to each other, the second group hiding behind it, knocking and opening it to reveal their faces before hysterical bursts of laughter, and others simply playing with the lock figuring out how it worked.

Some thought it was the best thing ever, others ignored it.

One little girl spent a long time playing with the door and when I asked her what it was, she whispered to me...

’This is how you get into the magic forest!’

Every child really is completely unique.

by Inspirations

All Hands on Deck

Earlier in the year some coffee playdough lead to an interest in mixing with smells, so we used basil, ginger, rosemary, lemon, thyme and cinnamon to incorporate into our mixtures.

'I smell ginger, let's make ginger bread men'

This interest in mixing and ingredients lead to the creation of gingerbread people, we used the gingerbread cutters on the projector which brought them to life and provided the opportunity for the children to climb into the ginger bread projections.

'When i was little i used to be a gingerbread man'

'I didn't eat mine when i got home it just ran as fast as it could out my door and a bear ate it'

Some children were expressing an interest in pirates at this point and whilst playing around on the light projector with the ginger bread cutters a piece of foam piping became a pirate hat for the gingerbread man.

'He's a pirate! A gingerbread pirate'

We placed a vote to decide if we should use our large cardboard box for a Pirate ship or a Gingerbread house, the majority chose pirate ship and so piece by piece they created their own ship, flag, wheel and parrot.

We used scales to measure the weights of treasure, created maps, used compasses, flags, telescopes and one child decided our ship needed a parrot. During forest school the children followed clues left by a pirate who had stolen some of our nursery toys and buried them in the woods, and they even used literacy skills to write back to the pirate.

This pirate interest developed as the children turned to makers, explorers and adventures, they had the chance to build their confidence whilst engaging in role play, sailing to far away islands to reclaim treasure and being completely in control of their own learning.

by Inspirations

September in the Yurt

Over the past few weeks we have seen the children flourish, their confidence grow and new friendships made. As they leave their curiosity in bees behind with the season, autumn has provided ample natural resources to explore and create with. Their interests are currently mixing colours, autumn leaves, construction and music, so we will be following these interests to see what exciting path they lead us down.  The yurt now has its own guitar, ukulele and drum, and the children have enjoyed singing their own songs and initiating their own music sessions. Weekly forest schools sessions are in full flow, and for some it's their first time doing forest school; keep an eye out for the colourful stones they've painted and hidden.

We've used water colours for still life painting, clay to make leaf prints, sculptures with conkers and started creating a space for hedgehogs to hibernate.

Last week the Ladybirds outdoor provision celebrated its 1 month anniversary! Here's a message from the Room Leader Michaela:

'There are a million words I could describe our brand new journey together but there is only one specific word that covers the amazing, boundary pushing learning adventure: WOW!

Wow to your incredible children for embracing change with huge smiles on their faces.

by Inspirations

Yurt Beautiful Yurt

It's all hands on deck, and coming together quite nicely. Our yurt is now complete as we move onto completing the deck.

by Inspirations

Framework for Decking

The framework for the decking is being pieced together, using extra treated posts, upon which the yurt will sit. 

by Inspirations