Sunnyhill Day Nursery

🐌 A Wonderful Garden Discovery Today! 🌿

Our preschool children enjoyed exploring the garden today, searching for interesting things they could find in the natural world.
There was great excitement when they discovered a snail hiding amongst the plants! 🐌 🪴

The children were incredibly brave and gentle, they carefully took turns to hold the snail and take a closer look. 👀

This sparked lots of wonderful conversations and questions as the children shared their ideas
💭 "It has a shell so it can sleep and keep warm."
💭 "Here is food for him."
💭 "Snails are really slow."
💭 "It's slimey"
💭 "The snail needs to find his mummy and daddy."

Together, we talked about the snail's shell and how it helps to protect its body. We also discussed the shiny trail snails leave behind as they move and explored what they like to eat. The children were fascinated as they carefully observed the snail making its way across the garden.

Once we had finished learning about our tiny visitor, we gently returned the snail to a safe spot in the bushes so it could continue on its journey.💚🌿

🌟🏆 A very proud moment for Sunnyhill Day Nursery 🏆🌟

We were absolutely thrilled to receive our banner celebrating being recognised as a Top 20 Nursery in the East Midlands 🎉💛

This award means so much to us because it is built on the kind words, trust and reviews shared by our wonderful families over time 🥰 Knowing that parents have taken the time to recognise the care, support and experiences we provide for their children truly means the world to our team ❤️

Our staff and children were so excited to celebrate this special moment together 🎈😊 and we couldn’t be prouder of the amazing Sunnyhill community we have built 🌈✨

A huge thank you to our lovely families for your ongoing support, trust and encouragement 💐🤗 Thank you for recognising all that we do for children and families each and every day 👶📚🌟 We feel incredibly lucky to be part of your journey 💛

Here’s to continuing to explore, learn and grow together 🌱✨

💛

🌧️ Rainy weather certainly didn't stop our Preschool children from enjoying the mud kitchen!

Using mud, water and plenty of imagination, the children created their own outdoor recipes and potions. 🧪
They mixed, poured, scooped, and experimented with different textures, using sauces and natural materials to bring their ideas to life.

Preschool learning mathematical concepts such as measuring and understanding proportions through their play 💙

There was lots of communication throughout, as children took turns and shared their ideas in the rain. One child noticed there was plenty of water collecting from the rainfall and suggested pouring some into another child's mixture so they could mix it together. You could also hear 👂:

💬 "Can I use the ketchup?"
💬 "I'm making pumpkin soup”
💬 "I need more water”
💬 "I need more mud”
💬 "Oh no, it's raining fast”

Children should feel free to explore, learn, and grow in our outdoor environment, whatever the weather. 🌦️💧🥣✨

🌞 Sunshine, Fresh Air & Picnic at the Park 🧺☀️

What a lovely afternoon we had together! 💛

Our babies, toddlers and pre-school children all enjoyed a wonderful walk to the park where we took our tea and had a lovely picnic together as a nursery.

The children absolutely loved spending time together outdoors and enjoyed sitting with their friends while eating their yummy tea in the sunshine.

As we walked down to the park, there were lots of conversations taking place, singing, laughter and excitement from the children. They all did incredibly well with listening, walking sensibly together and looking out carefully for cars while crossing the roads.

Whilst eating they listened carefully for aeroplanes flying overhead, the sound of the ice cream van and birds singing in the trees. ✈️🦅🍦🌳

The children loved talking together, sharing their thoughts and excitement, while developing their social and communication skills in the sunshine. ☀️

🍦 What a lovely treat for our babies, toddlers and pre-school children🍦

We had a very special visit from the ice cream van at nursery, and it certainly brought lots of smiles and excitement to everyone’s faces.

The children were so happy as they went to collect their delicious ice creams, enjoying them together with their friends and staff on such a beautiful warm sunny day. ☀️

It was wonderful to hear so many polite “please” and “thank you” from our children throughout the visit — we are so proud of their lovely manners. 💛

Safe to say the ice creams were a huge success and all the children so happy and excited.☀️🍨

🌞 What a lovely day our toddlers had on their little adventure today!

Toddlers enjoyed a sunny walk around the local community, talking about all the lovely things they could see along the way seeing colourful flowers, tall trees, passing cars and even a few friendly animals🐈🌸🌳

They stopped at GoLocalExtra, where the children were excited to choose their own tasty ice lollies. They loved picking their favourite flavours and paying for them at the till😊

Afterwards, the toddlers headed to the park where there was lots to explore, discover and learn and they all sat lovely with their ice lollies ☀️

This helps build children’s confidence, curiosity, friendships, and curiosity for the world around them.

We feel so lucky to share these special moments together and to be part of such a lovely community 💚

🌊🐠 Keeping our Babies cool today, by diving into a great play experience, under-the-sea adventure with our Sea World tuff tray!

The children had so much fun exploring the flowing water, splashing, pouring, and scooping as they strengthened their gross motor skills through water play.

There were lots of smiles from our babies as we sang along to favourite nursery rhymes Baby Shark, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Once I Caught a Fish Alive! 🎶🦈

As part of our sensory exploration, staff role-modelled language around the beautiful colours in the water and helped the children discover different sea animals together, including sharks, dolphins, and even a narwhal! 🐬✨

It was a lovely sunny day full of laughter, learning, and imaginative play ☀️

🌿🌸 Today in Pre-School, the children enjoyed planting their own flowers and learning all about how plants grow.

They talked about how flowers need to stay healthy and strong, and how sunlight and water help them to grow.

Once the children planted their plants and they watered them gently and carefully put it in sunlight.☀️

It was lovely to see the children so engaged, curious, and excited throughout the activity. They thoroughly enjoyed getting hands-on.

Pre-school took their plants home to continue caring for them and excited to see it grow and we can’t wait to hear all about it. 🌱💚

🌿 Sensory play is something we are truly passionate about here at Sunnyhill!

There is something really special about watching the children completely lose themselves in the moment, hands deep in paint, mud or sand, totally absorbed and not even realising how much they are learning 💚
When they explore different textures, colours and materials they are building the hand strength, concentration and language skills.

We plan every sensory experience with care, because we know just how much these little moments matter 🌱

Come and see what we get up to — we'd love to show you around!
📞 01332 317992
🌐 theearlyyearscommunity.co.uk

🌙✨ Learning all about the special celebration of Eid ul adha 🌙✨

Today, pre-school 2 enjoyed making their own Eid cards, as each child had the opportunity to carefully cut out stars and moons, while learning about the importance of using scissors safely and correctly.

They showed fantastic hand-eye coordination, concentration, and growing independence as they carefully cut around their shapes. ✂️⭐

Once their stars and moons were ready, the children decorated them beautifully and glued them onto their cards.

During the activity, we also spoke about Eid, how families celebrate together, and how the moon and star are special symbols often linked to Eid celebrations. 🌙

There was lots of wonderful language and conversation throughout the activity:
💬 “I get presents”
💬 “I see stars in the sky”
💬 “The moon is up in the sky at nighttime”
💬 “Look, I did it!”

It was lovely to see the children so engaged, proud of their creations, and confidently sharing their ideas with their friends and adults ✨