Baby Sprouts

09/09/2026

We are committed to continuous quality improvement and ongoing professional development, building our knowledge, confidence and skills through creative hands-on learning and critical reflection. By continually strengthening our practice, we can provide your babies with the very best start to their early learning journey.

01/09/2026

🌱 Happy Educators’ Day 🌱

Today, I want to take a moment to thank the Baby Sprouts team for the care, love and support you provide to our children and families.

Every day, you bring your own strengths, ideas and experiences to your role, creating meaningful moments and opportunities for children to learn, grow and feel a sense of belonging.

Thank you for your effort and dedication, for being open to new possibilities and for working together to turn those ideas into meaningful experiences, keeping the children at the heart of what you do.

Your role is so much more than what happens each day. You build relationships, provide comfort, encourage curiosity, celebrate achievements and support families through some of the most important years of their children’s lives. I am incredibly grateful to work alongside such a caring, dedicated and passionate team of educators.

Happy Educators’ Day to all the amazing IDFS educators who give so generously to our children and our sector. Your dedication, compassion and commitment truly makes a difference. 💚

16/08/2026

Pedagogy in Practice🌱

Lisa and Sammi had the wonderful opportunity to spend Friday and Saturday in Tamworth alongside our colleagues from Catherine Campbell Centre and Kindamindi Preschool attending the Learn, Play, Thrive – Pedagogy in Practice Conference.

Day 1 was a meaningful journey of cultural immersion and connecting with Country. We visited Boundary Rock, the Tamworth Regional Botanic Gardens and Birrelee MACS, providing opportunities to deepen our understanding of Australian history, Aboriginal culture and the importance of respectfully embedding Aboriginal perspectives and connections to Country within our everyday practice.

Day 2 continued to inspire and challenge our thinking, with presentations and discussions led by industry leaders exploring the importance of connection, resilience, STEAM, visual arts and music in early childhood learning.

Thankyou to Inverell District Family Services - IDFS for investing in professional development like this for our educators. We have returned feeling inspired, motivated and excited to share our learning with our team. We look forward to reflecting on the ideas and knowledge we gained and exploring meaningful ways to embed these into our everyday practice, creating rich and engaging learning experiences for the children in our care.

03/08/2026

11/07/2026

NAIDOC Week 2026
50 Years Deadly ❤️💛🖤

We value creating meaningful opportunities for children to develop a sense of belonging, respect, and connection to Australia's First Nations peoples. Through stories, music, art, natural materials, language, and everyday experiences, we are embedding cultural perspectives into our curriculum in ways that are authentic, respectful, and age-appropriate.

These experiences help our youngest learners build curiosity, appreciation for culture, and a connection to Country from the very beginning, reflecting the Early Years Learning Framework's commitment to fostering children's identity, belonging, and respect for diversity.

09/07/2026

🌱We often have families say, “Thank goodness you handle the sensory play—it’s so messy!”

While we still offer plenty of messy play at our service, we’ve also been exploring Treasure Baskets. Treasure baskets are a simple, low-mess way to bring tactile, sensory and exploratory play into your home.🧺💚

How to try it at home:
Choose a shallow basket or box
Add safe, everyday items with different textures, weights, and sounds.

Ideas to include:
Soft: washcloths, silk scarves, cotton socks
Rough/bumpy: loofahs, natural sponges, textured placemats
Hard/smooth: wooden spoons, measuring cups, silicone spatulas, bangles, duplo, makeup brushes
Noisy: crinkly paper, empty water bottles with a few pasta pieces inside (secure the lid)
Natural: large pinecones, smooth stones, big shells (check for sharp edges and be mindful of choking hazards)

Why it matters:
Builds brain development. Every new texture, sound, or smell helps strengthen neural pathways, supporting memory and focus.
Builds fine motor skills, hand strength, hand-eye coordination as they manipulate and explore the objects and textures.
Supports language development. Babies learn to describe their world by feeling, hearing, and seeing. Multi-sensory experiences build vocabulary as caregivers introduce descriptive words. (“soft,” “smooth,” “squishy”).
Encourages curiosity, focus, and independent exploration.

01/07/2026

🌱Introducing clay to Babies

At Baby Sprouts, our creative arts experiences focus on the process of learning rather than the finished product. We value the opportunities children have to explore, discover, and experiment at their own pace, as these experiences support important developmental milestones.

Providing babies with opportunities to explore clay offers a rich sensory experience that encourages curiosity and learning through play. As children squeeze, pinch, poke, pat, and pound the clay, they strengthen the small muscles in their hands and fingers, develop hand-eye coordination, and build confidence in using their bodies in new ways.

20/06/2026

🌱The Circle of Security 💞

This morning our dedicated team took time out of their Saturday to learn about the Circle of Security. This is an approach based on attachment theory that helps educators better understand and respond to children's emotional needs.

We learnt how we can be a secure base for your child.

- How to be "with them" supporting their emotional needs as they begin to make discoveries and explore their world.

- How we can make connections so they feel safe to return when they need comfort, reassurance, or help managing their emotions.

- To provide a safe haven by offering comfort, protection, and emotional support.

- Strengthening relationships, supporting emotional wellbeing and development.

Thankyou to Inverell District Family Services - IDFS for their ongoing commitment to professional development and to Eyelicious Eats for keeping our bellies full so our minds could focus and learn.

11/06/2026

Today we celebrated Yellow Day!💛💛

By celebrating all things yellow today we honoured the memory of Cobey Davis, a cherished member of the Baby Sprouts family, while also raising awareness of the impact childhood brain cancer has on children and their families.
Today was an opportunity for our sprouts family to come together, to wear yellow to celebrate Cobey's bright and joyful sprit and the happiness he brought to those who knew him.
We participated in a range of activities that incorporated yellow including making dairy free mango and yoghurt ice poles.

Childhood brain cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting children and remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in young people.
Childhood brain cancer can affect a child's movement, balance, vision, speech, learning, and behaviour, depending on the location of the tumour.
Symptoms can vary but may include persistent headaches, nausea and vomiting, balance difficulties, vision changes, seizures, or unusual changes in behaviour.

In previous years, we have supported the Mark Hughes Foundation through the “Beanies for Brain Cancer” fundraiser. However, we understand that the current economic climate is placing financial pressure on many families, and we did not want to add any additional financial stress.

We would also like to raise awareness for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, an organisation dedicated to creating happiness for seriously ill children and their families, helping to ease the stress, fear and challenges often associated with hospitalisation and medical treatment.

If you are in the position to and would like to donate to either of these foundations you can click on the links below:

https://www.starlight.org.au

https://markhughesfoundation.com.au