Blossom Barn Nursery

🎒 With our leavers starting “big school” in just a couple of weeks, school readiness is very much on our minds this month.

At Blossom Barn, we believe it’s about far more than letters and numbers - it’s about the whole child. Swipe through for what school readiness really looks like, how we support it every day, and how you can help at home. 💙

🌿 Why we LOVE playdough at Blossom Barn! 🌿

It might look like simple play… but there is so much learning happening in those little hands. 🤎

Playdough is one of our favourite continuous provisions because children can return to it every day, exploring, creating and developing their skills completely independently.

✨ Squashing, squeezing & rolling strengthens little hands ready for early writing
✨ Cutting, pinching & manipulating develops fine motor skills
✨ Creating their own ideas encourages imagination & creativity
✨ Sharing the space builds communication, collaboration & turn-taking
✨ Rolling, counting, comparing & making shapes introduces early maths naturally
✨ Herbs, flowers & natural treasures create wonderful sensory experiences
✨ And the repetitive squeezing and moulding can be wonderfully calming and regulating

The magic of continuous provision is that children can revisit their ideas again and again — building confidence, developing new skills and taking their learning a little further each time. 🌸

At Blossom Barn, we believe the best learning often happens when children are given beautiful, open-ended resources and the freedom to explore them in their own way.

Little hands. Big learning. 🌿

EarlyYears EYFS FineMotorSkills ChildLedLearning CuriosityApproach EarlyYearsEducation

🌸 OPEN MORNING - SATURDAY 29TH AUGUST 🌸

Looking for a nurturing, welcoming preschool where your little one can learn, play and grow? Come and visit us at Blossom Barn Takeley for our Open Morning. 🤍

📅 Saturday 29th August
⏰ 10am–11am
📍 Blossom Barn Takeley, Stansted Courtyard, Bishop's Stortford, CM22 6PU

We currently have preschool spaces available for children aged 2.5+, and our Open Morning is the perfect opportunity to come along, explore the setting, meet our lovely team and find out more about life at Blossom Barn.

Our Takeley setting is open all year round, with sessions available around our opening hours of 7.30am–6.30pm, helping families find an arrangement that works for them.

You’ll be able to see the environment for yourself, ask any questions you may have and discover how we support children through nurturing care, meaningful play and plenty of opportunities to explore, create and develop at their own pace. 🌿🎨✨

💌 We’d love to welcome you!
To RSVP for the Open Morning or enquire about a preschool place, email [email protected].

🐠🐟 This month we’ve got two books of the month making a splash - Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and Tiddler by Julia Donaldson.

Rainbow Fish is a gentle story about a beautiful fish who learns that true friendship comes from sharing, not showing off - a lovely tie-in with our colour of the month, blue 💙.

Tiddler, meanwhile, is always late for school because of his wonderfully wild excuses, and the children have loved spotting the storytelling twist at the end.

Together they’ve given us the perfect excuse for some under-the-sea small world play and cling film painting recently - the children have been busy painting their own fish and sea creatures straight onto the cling film, building up a beautiful underwater scene alongside our sandy small world tray.

This supports:
❤️ Personal, Social & Emotional Development - sharing, kindness and friendship
📖 Early literacy - storytelling, sequencing and prediction
💬 Communication & Language - imaginative retelling
🎨 Expressive Arts - exploring colour, texture and mark-making through cling film painting
✋ Physical Development - fine motor control through brush work

🌸 We’re Recruiting at Blossom Barn Great Chesterford! 🌸

With our beautiful new purpose-built Great Chesterford nursery opening on 1st September, we’re growing our team and would love to meet passionate Early Years professionals who may be looking for their next opportunity. 🤍

We’re holding a Recruitment Afternoon at the new nursery:
📅 Saturday 22nd August
⏰ 3:00pm – 4:00pm
📍 Blossom Barn Nursery, Great Chesterford

Come along to tour our brand-new setting, meet members of the Blossom Barn team and find out more about the exciting opportunities available as we continue to grow.

Blossom Barn is an established independent nursery group, with settings in Takeley, Stansted Mountfitchet and Hatfield Broad Oak, alongside our new Great Chesterford nursery. We’re incredibly proud to have Ofsted Outstanding settings within the Blossom Barn family and to offer warm, nurturing environments where both children and our teams can thrive. 🌿

We’re particularly keen to hear from qualified Level 3 Early Years Practitioners who are passionate about creating inspiring, nurturing experiences for young children.

Whether you’re actively looking for a new role or simply interested in finding out a little more about Blossom Barn and the opportunities available, we’d love for you to come and say hello. 🌸

Please feel free to share or tag someone who you think would be a wonderful addition to the Blossom Barn team!

☀️ Keeping Cool at Blossom Barn 💦🌸

With the very warm weather we’ve been experiencing, keeping our little Blossoms cool, comfortable and sun safe is a big priority across our settings. 🤍

We adapt our days according to the weather and UV levels, making the most of outdoor play during the cooler parts of the day and finding plenty of fun ways to cool down - and of course, water play is always a firm favourite! 💦

During periods of hot weather, we help keep children safe and comfortable by:

💧 Encouraging children to drink water regularly throughout the day
🌳 Making use of shaded and cooler areas and limiting time in direct sunshine
🕚 Avoiding prolonged outdoor play during the hottest part of the day
💦 Introducing plenty of water-based and cooling activities
👒 Encouraging sun hats and lightweight, comfortable clothing
🧴 Following our usual sun safety and sunscreen procedures

A little reminder for families during these sunny days too: please remember to send children into nursery with their sun hat and water bottle, and ensure sunscreen has been applied before arrival, in line with your setting’s usual arrangements. ☀️

Hot weather might mean adapting our routine, but it certainly doesn’t stop the fun! 🌸💦

Sun safe, cool and happy 💛