Our New Baby Area In The Garden

Here at Daisykins Nursery in Rugby we understand the importance of all children spending time in the garden, even those in our baby room. With this in mind we have recently developed a dedicated baby area so they have somewhere specifically designed for them to explore. We have picket fenced off the AstroTurf, under canopy area directly in front of the back of Baby room, and equipped it with age and stage appropriate resources, creating them endless opportunities to aid development. The babies had become enthralled with posting the hair rollers into containers within the baby room and sticking them onto a Velcro board so we decided to extend and incorporate this into the outdoor area. To do this we have fixed drainpipes and colour coded tubes onto the log fences for them to post balls through into tubs at the bottom. The babies have took a real interest in this and will spend time posting them in and out. We have fixed mirrors onto the wall as well for the babies to look in, encouraging them to recognise themselves, and have attached chalk boards for them to mark make on using different media. There are pots to store chalks in, as well as paintbrushes and water so the babies can use these to make different marks on the boards. We have a small mud kitchen and a low level tray table to set different activities up in for the babies to explore, and these also aid with the babies physical development, supporting them with pulling themselves up and cruising along surfaces. We have used these for many different activities, including mini beasts in bark, coconut cloud dough with scoops and pots, red sand and different forms of pasta. The babies were fascinated by the coconut cloud dough in particular, and used their different senses to explore. In this area we also have a waterproof padded mat and cushions, to offer them a cosy area which provides somewhere to have a rest or share a story in the fresh air. [ngg_images source="galleries" container_ids="223" exclusions="1846,1847,1849,1850,1852,1856,1857" display_type="photocrati-nextgen_basic_slideshow" gallery_width="600" gallery_height="400" cycle_effect="fade" cycle_interval="3" show_thumbnail_link="0" thumbnail_link_text="[Show picture list]" order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]There is a cupboard within the area as well which is equipped with different resources to use within the garden. Some of the resources for the babies include mirrored balls and blocks, mug trees with hoops, heuristic resources, books and song puppets.[ngg_images source="galleries" container_ids="223" exclusions="1842,1843,1844,1845,1848,1851,1853,1854,1855" display_type="photocrati-nextgen_basic_slideshow" gallery_width="600" gallery_height="400" cycle_effect="fade" cycle_interval="3" show_thumbnail_link="0" thumbnail_link_text="[Show picture list]" order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]At Daisykins Nursery in Rugby practitioners understand how to provide enabling environments for the children, observing them and then leading on from their interests.  Activities are planned both indoors and outdoors to reflect these, extending and challenging their learning and development. We update our Facebook  page on an ongoing basis, showing some of the activities the children take part in, so please check it out to see photos of what the children get up too.