Over Puddleducks Pre-School

Today we say a very emotional goodbye and the biggest thank you to Emma, after an incredible 10 years at Puddleducks 💛🫶🏼

Emma has been such a huge part of the heart of the setting for so many years, and it’s impossible to put into words just how much she has meant to the children, families, and staff team past and present 🐥✨

Many of us have learned from Emma over the years — professionally and personally — and we are incredibly grateful for the patience, encouragement and care she has shown 🌼 She has supported staff through challenges, celebrated successes, supplied emergency cups of tea ☕, and always believed in us even on the days we didn’t believe in ourselves 💛

For countless parents, Emma has been the reassuring face at the door during some of the biggest milestones in their children’s lives 🥹 Handing over your baby for the first time is never easy, but Emma had a way of making families feel safe, understood and supported from day one 🤍 She has comforted nervous parents, wiped tears (both children’s and adults’! 😂), answered endless questions, found approximately 7,000 missing jumpers and coats🧥, and built relationships with families that lasted far beyond their child leaving preschool 🌈

And for the children… the impact Emma has had is something truly special ✨ Over 10 years, she has helped nurture, guide and care for hundreds of little people as they took some of their very first steps into the world outside of home 🐻📚 She has helped children grow in confidence, build friendships, learn independence, and prepare for that huge leap into big school 🎒✏️ So many children have walked through our doors as tiny toddlers and left ready to take on the world, with Emma playing such an important part in that journey 💫

Emma’s kindness, calmness and dedication to every child and family has never gone unnoticed 💛 She has been the person people turned to for reassurance, advice, a listening ear, or just someone to tell them “it’ll be okay” — and somehow she was usually right 🫶🏼

While we are so sad to see her go, we know how lucky we have all been to work alongside her and to have had her as such a huge part of the Puddleducks family for so many years 🐥💛

Thank you, Emma, for everything you have given to Puddleducks, to the staff team, to the parents, and most importantly to the children 🌈 Your impact will be felt for many years to come, and you will always be a part of Puddleducks 💫

We wish you nothing but happiness and success in your next chapter — they are very lucky to have you 💐✨ (although we’re all still slightly hoping this is all an elaborate prank and you’ll be back in ratio on Monday 🤣)

Today at Puddleducks we celebrated 💛🐝

The children enjoyed learning all about bees, exploring bee themed activities and making finger painted flowers for our window display. At group time we also learnt a new bumblebee song to the tune of jingle bells:

“Bumblebee, bumblebee landing on my toes
Bumblebee, bumblebee now he’s on on my nose…

On my arms, on my legs, on my elbows…
Bumblebee, oh, bumblebee,
He lands then off he goes!”

We had a very special visit yesterday from Over Surgery! We were joined at Puddleducks by Dr Chesterman, Nurse Lindsey and Student Nurse Lucy. 🩺✨

The children absolutely loved the visit and had the opportunity to ask lots of different questions. They explored pretend injections using play dough medicine, practised bandage wrapping, applied plasters and shared plenty of carefully prepared questions — including “How many bones are in the human body?” We all now know the answer is…206! 🦴

We are so thankful for this wonderful experience and hope the children have enjoyed telling you all about it at home. Thank you again to the team from Over Surgery for taking the time to visit us and inspire the children through such hands-on learning 🤍

We are looking to expand our team and require an early years practitioner. If you think you could be the person we are looking for then get in touch with us.

Today the garden turned into a sea of “lava”! 🌋 The children hopped across log stumps and balanced on crates to stay safe, all while singing and dancing along to the Floor is Lava song. So much imagination, laughter, and energy in one game!

A big thank you to Katy for bringing in her amazing pets for us to meet! 🦎🐸

In celebration of National Frog Day, we had the privilege of getting up close with a bearded dragon and two frogs. The children absolutely loved the experience—especially being able to gently touch them and learn all about what they eat and where they sleep.

During group time, we explored the life cycle of a frog, talking through each stage from frogspawn to tadpole to fully grown frog. The children made brilliant connections, linking this back to when we cared for and hatched our own ducklings—recognising how all living things grow and change over time.

Such a lovely hands-on way to bring learning to life (with plenty of curious questions and a few very brave little hands too)! 💚

Alongside our weekly topics, we’ve been embracing activities inspired by the children’s own interests. Today’s focus was construction, where we created a special sand Play-Doh that looked and behaved like cement. This gave the children the perfect opportunity to explore using diggers, bricks, and a variety of other materials.

What made the experience even more special was how child-led it became—soon, princesses were making their way into the construction zone! It was wonderful to see the children blend ideas so naturally, using their imagination and collaborating in a way that included everyone’s interests.

We loved observing their creativity, teamwork, and the joy they found in playing together. 👷🏼 👸 🧱 🚜

An exciting leadership opportunity for an individual seeking a challenge in our outstanding preschool!! Get in touch if you have any questions or want an application form.

Our Easter theme tuff tray ready for this mornings session ☀️ 🐣

Children can:
🥚 Open the Easter eggs and shake them to make fun sounds
🥄 Scoop, pour and transfer rice using bowls, cups and scoops
🌈 Explore colour recognition with the different coloured rice and eggs
🪶 Discover textures with feathers, rice and metal utensils
⚖️ Experiment with balancing and measuring using the scale
👂 Listen and explore cause-and-effect through sound-making eggs

Perfect for curious little learners to explore, investigate and create their own play ideas. 💛

🌽 Discovering Vegetables! 🥕

Following our theme this week, the children have been exploring different vegetables and learning how to chop them independently. We provided carrots, courgettes, leeks, and snap peas for the children to investigate and prepare.
Using child-safe knives, the children carefully chopped and sliced their vegetables before adding them to pans with water to begin making their own vegetable mixture. Activities like this are fantastic for developing fine motor skills, strengthening finger muscles, and supporting hand–eye coordination.

All knife activities are adult-led and closely supervised. Safety is always our priority, so the knives are carefully counted and accounted for throughout the activity.

The children showed great focus and enthusiasm while discovering new textures, smells, and tastes. A wonderful hands-on learning experience for our little learner chefs! 👩‍🍳🧑‍🍳