Experiences
Children at Willow House are given a vast array of different experiences to enhance their understanding of the world around them. These experiences include (but are certainly not limited to!):
ART AND CRAFT WORK: A wealth of opportunities to express their creativity using different mediums in their art and craft work. Children are encouraged to select their chosen resources from different types of paint, pastels, wax and pencil crays, felt tip pens, pencils, chalk and charcoal together with various papers, card and cardboard. Although children are encouraged to make choices to reflect their individuality they will also be also gently guided by staff to enable them to develop the skills they need to reach their potential.
MUSIC: Music and Song can be heard resounding throughout the Nursery at all times of the day, through spontaneous singing by staff and children and during planned Music Sessions when the children will enjoy experimenting and ‘music making’ with a wide range of high-quality percussion instruments. Music is an important part of our provision and the children move freely and dance around to the rhythm and beat of the music they hear.
‘Song Time’ is an important part of every session and the children learn the words and tunes to all the traditional nursery rhymes and songs and in celebration of a variety of different festivals. Each week, Lisa Magal comes to do singing sessions with both the Meadow room and the Mountain room children – exposing them to a range of different songs accompanied beautifully by her guitar.
DRAMA & PERFORMANCE: We place a great emphasis on Performance at Willow House, as we believe greatly in the confidence this instills in our little ones. The children of the Mountain Room have weekly Drama sessions with the effervescent Mrs O’Neill, who brings stories, drama and production to life in her wonderful way.
SCIENCE AND INVESTIGATION: From their first days with us, we expose children to the wonderful world of science and investigation – encouraging them to use their creativity and to build upon their knowledge to learn about HOW and WHY things happen in the world around them. We take the children for lots of walks around the town – listening to the sounds of nature and looking for growth and decay around them.
TREASURE BASKETS AND HEURISTIC PLAY: The term ‘Heuristic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘eurisko’ which means ‘serves to discover or gain an understanding of.’
MEADOW ROOM CHILDREN – explore a wide variety of everyday and natural resources in various ‘Treasure Baskets’ in their playrooms.
MOUNTAIN ROOM CHILDREN – explore natural and everyday items in their ‘Heuristic Play’ in their quiet room, where they can investigate the resources without disturbance or interruption.
COOKERY: To enhance children’s understanding of food and where their meals come from, and the impact of healthy choices on their holistic health, our children enjoy Cookery Classes. They are involved fully in the process from examining the ingredients, mixing, chopping and pouring, in order to encourage and develop independence skills.
BOOKS AND STORIES: We believe that children should be immersed in both the spoken and written word and provide a wealth of lovely picture books for the children to be able to look at and enjoy throughout their days in the nursery. We spend time both on a one-to-one basis and in groups, reading, talking about and sharing stories and picture books with all our children to encourage a positive approach and develop a real love of books.
GARDENING: We love to grow things at Willow House: our outdoor areas has different growing locations, where the children learn to care for living things – enjoying flowers, fruits and vegetables – and harvesting the food for our Kitchen Cook to prepare for us all.
DANCE: Dance develops children’s gross motor skills, helping them learn how to listen to music and rhythm, enjoying both unstructured and structured dance activities.