Little Tots Montessori Nursery - Reading

🍓 From fruit to frozen treats! 🍉🫐

The children carefully chopped their own fruit before turning it into delicious homemade ice lollies. A lovely way to practise real-life skills, independence and coordination — with a very refreshing reward at the end! ☀️🍦

Learning always tastes better when you’ve made it yourself! 💛

Childhood doesn’t need batteries. 🤍

A spoon.

A cardboard tube.

A curious mind.

We don’t need flashing lights or complicated toys to inspire learning. Sometimes, the simplest objects invite the deepest concentration.

At Little Tots Reading, we create time and space for children to investigate, imagine and discover at their own pace—building confidence, creativity and a lifelong love of learning along the way.

Because the little moments often become the biggest memories.

“Don’t ask, ‘What did they make today?’
Ask, ‘What made them stop and wonder?’”

Because childhood isn’t measured by what children produce.

It’s measured by the moments they become completely lost in curiosity.

We are recruiting
Montessori Qualified Practitioner

Join a nursery where childhood is valued, curiosity is celebrated and exceptional practice is the standard.

Little Tots Montessori Reading, part of the Muddy Nurseries family, is looking for a passionate Montessori Qualified Practitioner to join our team.

Conveniently located just a short walk from Reading town centre and Reading train station, our nursery offers a beautiful environment where children are encouraged to become confident, independent learners through authentic Montessori practice and meaningful relationships.

We believe children deserve more than childcare—they deserve inspiring educators who understand how to nurture curiosity, independence and a genuine love of learning.

We’re looking for someone who:

* Holds a recognised Montessori qualification.
* Has a passion for delivering exceptional early years education.
* Believes in following the child and supporting independence.
* Creates calm, engaging and inspiring learning environments.
* Values respectful relationships with children, families and colleagues.
* Is reflective, enthusiastic and committed to continually developing their practice.

Why join Little Tots Montessori Reading?

As part of Muddy Nurseries, you’ll be joining an organisation committed to raising the standard of early years education through outstanding teaching, continuous professional development and a curriculum inspired by the very best educational approaches.

You’ll benefit from:

* A supportive and welcoming leadership team.
* Beautiful Montessori-inspired learning environments.
* Ongoing training, mentoring and career development.
* Opportunities to influence and shape exceptional practice.
* A workplace where your ideas, knowledge and passion are genuinely valued.
* Competitive salary and employee benefits.

Location

📍 Little Tots Montessori Reading
Conveniently situated close to Reading train station, making it easily accessible by public transport and road.

We’d love to hear from you.

If you’re ready to inspire young minds and become part of a nursery that truly values exceptional early years education, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today by contacting us to find out more.

Little Tots Montessori Reading
Part of the Muddy Nurseries Family

We are currently recruiting for a super new member of staff to join our lovely team at Little Tots Montessori Reading. It would be a fixed term role for the summer 8am-6pm for 3 - 5 days per week. Please get in touch if you are interested on [email protected]

🍕🔥 Forest School Pizza Day! 🌿

There’s something extra special about cooking outdoors. This week, our Forest School children gathered around the campfire to make their own delicious pizzas, learning new skills while enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the woodland.

From helping to prepare their pizzas to carefully cooking them over the open fire, the children showed fantastic patience, confidence and teamwork. They talked about how the fire changes the food, watched the cheese melt, and couldn’t wait to taste the finished result!

Outdoor cooking is about so much more than food—it encourages problem-solving, communication, resilience and independence, all while creating wonderful memories together in nature.

We think they tasted even better because they made them themselves! 🍕✨

🌿

🪵 Building big ideas, one block at a time.

There is something truly magical about watching children become completely absorbed in creating.

With nothing more than wooden blocks, loose parts and their own imagination, this little learner carefully designed, balanced, adapted and rebuilt an intricate structure that was entirely their own. Every decision involved problem-solving, critical thinking, perseverance and creativity.

Open-ended resources invite children to think like architects, engineers and inventors. There is no instruction sheet, no single outcome and no limit to where their ideas can take them.

These are the moments we love to see at our Little Tots Reading nursery—children following their curiosity, testing their ideas and discovering just how capable they really are.

Sometimes, the simplest resources inspire the biggest learning. 🤎

“𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚍.” – 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚒

There is something magical about children being given the freedom to explore.

Whether it’s squelching through bubbly water, scrubbing and pouring, or creating giant colourful masterpieces with their whole bodies, some of the richest learning happens when children are fully immersed in play.

These moments are about so much more than getting messy. Children are developing confidence, creativity, problem-solving skills, sensory awareness, coordination, language and imagination — all whilst having enormous amounts of fun.

We love creating opportunities for children to follow their curiosity, make their own discoveries and experience the simple joy of being a child.

Sometimes the best learning leaves wet feet, painty toes and the biggest smiles. ❤️

What do you see?

A pile of “stuff”?

Or a kingdom full of possibilities? 👑

Recently, our children transformed a collection of loose parts into their very own kingdom. There were castles, pathways, treasures, stories, rules, characters and adventures – all created from their own ideas.

This is why we value loose parts play so highly.

When children are given open-ended materials rather than ready-made toys, they become the designers, builders, storytellers, engineers, mathematicians and problem-solvers.

There is no right answer.
No instruction sheet.
No expectation of what it should become.

Just imagination, creativity, collaboration and deep thinking.

The most wonderful part? If you asked each child about their kingdom, you would probably hear a completely different story.

And that’s exactly the point. ✨

💦 Why do children love water play so much? 💦

Have you ever noticed how a bowl of water can keep a child fascinated for ages?

There's something magical about pouring, splashing, stirring and watching the water move.

While children are having fun, they are also developing important skills. Water play helps to strengthen little hands, build concentration, encourage problem-solving and introduce early mathematical concepts such as full, empty, more and less.

Most importantly, it gives children the freedom to explore, experiment and discover for themselves.

Sometimes the simplest activities create the biggest learning opportunities.

So if your child comes home with wet sleeves and a huge smile, you'll know why! 💙