26/09/2023
Following on from “All About Me”, we are focusing on healthy eating and exercise.
Sam set up a wonderful activity about where our food comes from. She had a selection of fruit and vegetables and asked the children if it grows on a tree or grows from the ground. The pre-school children had lots of fun guessing and working together. This lead to conversations about where other food comes from and what other fruits and vegetables grow from a tree or the ground.
Shell set up an activity using paint and our play food. She put a selection of food for the children to choose from and then painting the food and printed it on the paper. The children talked about the patterns that they left and also what food they like to eat at home.
Toddlers had a tea party in the home corner with a selection of play food. This sparked their imagination and they invited others to join them. One of the children poured everyone some milk to drink and another child then offered their peers some yummy food to eat.
15/09/2023
The children had so much fun decorating their cakes this afternoon, however I think we have a clear winner!! Well done pre-school, your cake looks beautiful!
We have now all joined together for a tea party and to have some of our yummy cake 🎂
15/09/2023
Sam, Shannon and Shell have really gone above and beyond with dressing in purple today!
This afternoon, Babies, Toddlers and Pre-School will be having a cake decorating competition and we would like you all to pick a winner!
Photos will be posted later on today 😊
15/09/2023
A very Happy 15th Birthday to Ashbourne Day Nurseries!
🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂🎉🎂
The children are super excited for all the fun activities we have planned for today so watch this space for updates
12/09/2023
This week we are focussing on “All About Me”
The staff have planned activities and learning opportunities around the children’s families, special people, themselves, where they live, who they live with and their friends and Nursery.
Today in Toddlers, Abby set up an activity where the children can use mirrors to look at themselves and then draw a self-portrait. Abby has then been leading on from the children noticing their facial features which has sparked interest in our differences between ourselves and our peers.
09/09/2023
Ashbourne day nurseries is celebrating its 15th birthday!
On Friday 15th of September we are having a party with activities, a cake decorating competition, music, dancing and a picnic tea! 🎂
We are inviting all children and staff to wear something purple to celebrate the occasion.
If your child does not attend on a Friday and you would like them to attend please get in touch to book your extra session.
In celebration of our 15th year, we are also offering an additional 15% off all extra sessions throughout September so please contact the nursery manager if you would like to book (subject to availability)🥳
05/09/2023
🧸 Who's joining us for Teddy Bear Day on Friday 8th September? 🧸
Children are welcome to bring in their teddies to nursery, come in their pyjamas (if they wish) or even dress as a teddy, as well as enjoying a teddy bears picnic tea!
We are also offering a 15% discount on all extra sessions booked for this day! (Subject to availability,
Please contact nursery manager for details)
18/08/2023
Today, the children got a very special treat! We were able to go and see a selection of animals at the Children’s Centre open day.
The children were super excited to see all the different animals and could name every single one! The children understood that they needed to use their quiet voices and gentle hands so we didn’t startle the animals, we even got to feed the Shetland pony, ducks and chickens!
28/07/2023
Abbey and Lou have been busy bees clearing up the front of nursery. Whilst sweeping, Lou found a toad! We carefully scooped him up in a container and we took him down to show the children.
Toddlers found this very fascinating and one of the children recognised what it was, pointed and said “Toad”
The pre-school children weren’t too sure but we talked about where they like to live and then released him back in to the garden out the front of nursery.
25/07/2023
Zoe has been working incredibly hard today in our mud kitchen, and just look at the amazing job she has done! Zoe built a new bug hotel, with a soil area on the top containing insect friendly greenery. She has also painted part of the wall with blackboard paint, allowing the children opportunities to mark make.
Zoe and Lou also used the tyres we had and turned them in to planters which not have some lovely smelling herbs which the children have access to to use in their mud kitchen creations.
There will be more updates tomorrow on the next phase of our garden makeover!
25/07/2023
Lots of exciting things are happening at Wing…Zoe Toms, Ashbournes Early Years Specialist in outdoor provision is giving our garden a make over!
She is currently working in our mud kitchen area so watch this space for regular updates
13/06/2023
In pre-school we encourage the children to be more independent and this is done through dressing, meal times and self-care.
At meal times, the children are able to self-serve their food. this promotes choice as they choose what they would like, discussion about healthy eating, the use of mathematical language; small, large, most, half, lots, little, developing friendships with others, promoting sharing and turn taking with others.
The children thoroughly enjoyed their beans on toast today, they said that they like to use the spoon to scoop up the beans and "They will leave some for their friends"
12/06/2023
Today, we released our butterflies!
Over the past two weeks our butterflies have been emerging from their cocoons as they have finished their transformation.
We took all the children outside and they all said goodbye to the butterflies as they flew off.
The children have been showing an interest in the life cycle of the butterflies which has sparked their imagination in thinking about life cycles of other animals and insects.
24/05/2023
Look at how big our caterpillars are now! At this stage, they are eating lots and lots to prepare to spin their chrysalis to transform in to a butterfly 🦋
We have been talking to the children about the life cycle of the caterpillar which then sparked the children’s interest in The Very Hungry Caterpillar 🐛
19/05/2023
Something exciting is happening at Wing next week….can you guess what the children are going to be learning about? 🐛🦋
Keep your eyes peeled for updates!
19/04/2023
Whatever Next?
Toddlers have been reading the story Whatever Next which has sparked the children’s imagination and creative skills.
This morning the children made rockets out of building blocks, this led on to the children making rockets out of cardboard tubes and paint.
For snack we all sat down to have a picnic on the moon of crackers with butter. We all sat with our space helmets on and shared our snack with Teddy too.
Where shall we go next in our rocket ship?
22/03/2023
Our babies have been developing their early problem solving skills.
With using the shape sorters and the abacus the children are developing their fine motor skills to rotate the pieces, critical thinking of where the shapes go and also communicative skills and developing friendships by asking for help.
14/02/2023
Dressing up is a form of imaginative play and imaginative play boosts problem-solving and self-regulation skills. Children create situations and scenes and act out social events. They're able to test out new ideas and behaviors in a comfortable environment. Dressing up encourages creative thinking and communication skills.
Imaginative and creative play is how children learn about the world. During imaginative play, children manipulate materials, express themselves verbally and non-verbally, act, interact, react, and try different roles.
What do you think he is pretending to be?
14/02/2023
I would just like to share with you all this wonderful review, thank you so much for your kind words about our staff in pre-school ☺️
02/12/2022
One of our lovely pre-school children made a beautiful decoration at home last night just for our tree at Nursery.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this bauble for us ☺️
01/12/2022
Christmas has arrived at Wing! The children have been super busy starting their Christmas craft activities to take home.
🎅🏻🎄⛄️
27/10/2022
Well what a treat we had this afternoon!
We had the pleasure of watching a real orchestra at the childrens centre! We heard lots of different instruments, learned what they were called and how they are played. We liked the trombone as it made a very funny noise!
🎺🥁🎷
They played a variety of songs and we listened, clapped and even got to play bells and shakers along to some of the songs. We really enjoyed the Disney songs….even Lou, Shannon and Abbey had a sing and dance along.
19/08/2022
Happy Anniversary!
Abbey has been working at Swanbourne and Wing for 14 years and Shannon celebrated her 9 years at Wing.
We would like to thank you both for all the continued hard work and dedication you have given the settings over your time with Ashbourne 🍾🎉