The Baby Room (Around 3-16 Months)
“Staff’s understanding and knowledge of child development and how children learn are phenomenal. Babies demonstrate high levels of curiosity and thoroughly enjoy exploring the environment and investigating the resources on offer. They are extremely motivated to become mobile as they rapidly move towards the toys and equipment that excite them.” (Ofsted, 2017)
Where it all begins! during this important phase, babies are exploring the world around them with all their senses and their whole bodies and so the resources and activities support and encourage children’s strong exploratory impulses.
Our carpeted area provides a soft environment for babies to crawl, roll, shuffle and wriggle whilst the messy play area has non-slip flooring; keeping children safe throughout their different types of play. We adopt a no-shoes policy for cleanliness and the safety of the babies.
There are baby changing facilities and a food prep area to ensure that staff do not need to leave the room and are supervising the children at all times.
SENSORY ROOM
Our sensory room provides opportunities for children to gain confidence by doing things that interest them at their own pace. This room is designed to help children to use all their senses and is particularly valuable for children with sight or hearing difficulties. Sometimes, the room is used as a base where children can hear a special story, with light effects or torches that they can control for themselves.
OUTDOOR LEARNING
We believe that babies sleep better at night if they’ve had some fresh air and sunshine during the day; they need the opportunity to use their whole bodies to develop their gross motor skills. Our babies have regular access to outdoor provision, both in the Waddler outdoor area and when taken for regular walks around the local community. We provide waterproof all-in-one suits for our babies so they can explore the environment whilst keeping warm and dry on cooler, wet days.
FEEDING TIME
We encourage self-feeding skills at every meal right from the start. Finger-feeding is one of the only safe early opportunities your little one will have to practice his finger coordination with very small objects and it is most often through the process of finger feeding that the pincer grasp emerges. Through self-feeding, babies gain “Visual Motor Skills” (hand eye coordination skills), refine sensory processing skills and independence whilst also enjoying a range of home-cooked, healthy, well-balanced meals cooked on sight by our fabulous chef (Please see our menu for information on our delicious dishes).
