Sandhills Day Nursery Heath Mill

This morning our Mr Messy's room have taken part in a game to promote their maths skills.

The children were encouraged to roll the dice and count the dots on the dice, they shouted out the number then stood on the correct number tile on the floor.

The practitioners then extended the children's learning by adding 2 dices, encouraging the children to add the numbers together to see what this made.

This morning our Mr Mischiefs room have created their own self portraits on paper plates.

The practitioner gave each child a mirror to have a look at their reflection and create their own picture of themselves.

The children pointed to and named various facial features, then stuck down their hair, eyes, nose and mouth using various resources and glue.

This week the children in our Mr Bumps room have enjoyed finding different bugs hidden underneath leaves and flowers in the tuff tray.

They used magnifying glasses and tweezers to search for bugs, then used good hand-eye coordination to pick them out of the leaves and flowers.

The practitioners encouraged the children to name the different bugs that they found and put them in to the correct coloured pot.

This week the babies have had lots of fun mark making in a variety of ways using different resources.

The babies made marks on foil in paint, they picked up different shape cutters and printed them on to the foil. The practitioners encouraged the babies to repeat various word and colours.

The babies then took part in a splat painting activity where they used utensils to splat the paint on to paper. They enjoyed mark making through the cling film by moving the paint around.

The children in our Mr Messy's room have been talking about the weather this week and what they like to eat when it is hot outside, this sparked a conversation about ice creams and what their favourite flavours are.

The practitioner then created an ice cream parlour in the tuff tray and encouraged the children to create their own ice creams using pipettes and coloured gloop.

The children used good hand-eye coordination to suck up the different coloured water, talking about what 'flavour' their ice cream was and which was their favourite.

The children in our Mr Mischiefs room have enjoyed listening to 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' story during group time this week and have shown a big interest in this.

The practitioners created a tray with coloured pasta and various play food, for the children to explore and name the different types of food that they could see.

The children used tweezers to pick up the pasta, using good hand-eye coordination. They also enjoyed using scoops to fill and empty containers.

Our babies have enjoyed playing with the animals in paint, then washing the animals in the water to clean them after.

They made marks by moving the animals around, exploring the paint with their hands.

The practitioners encouraged the babies to repeat various animal sounds and words, while singing 'Old MacDonald'.

The practitioners then took the tuff tray outside in the garden and put water inside for the babies to clean the animals. They used flannels to clean the animals and enjoyed splashing in the water alongside their peers.

Our Mr Bumps room have shown a big interest in the story 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.

The children enjoyed talking about what the caterpillar likes to eat in the story, so the practitioners created a caterpillar for the children to feed.

They used good hand-eye coordination to scoop food in to the caterpillars mouth, taking turns with their peers.

The children talked about the different foods that they could see and what colours they were.

We are delighted to share that The Old Station Nursery has once again been recognised as one of the Top 20 Nursery Groups in the UK by Daynurseries for 2026.

Read more here: https://tosngroup.co/3P4Bn7V

This week the children in our Mr Mischiefs room have enjoyed creating their own natural pictures outside in the garden.

The children found various natural materials around the garden and collected them in a pot.

They used mud, water and sticks to create their own collages. They enjoyed dipping their paintbrush in to the mud and water and making marks on their paper.

As yesterday was Earth Day the children in our Mr Bumps created their own Earths in a variety of ways.

They took part in an experiment with bicarb of soda and vinegar, using pipettes to suck up the vinegar, then drop it on to the bicarb, watching it fizz together.

They then created an Earth by putting blue and green food colouring on to cotton pads, using good hand-eye coordination.