Oak Room Transforms Spring Showers into Rich Sensory Learning Opportunities
Children in Oak Room at St Philips Marsh Nursery School have been making the most of recent spring rainfall, which has enhanced their outdoor mud pit into an extraordinary sensory playground. This Bristol early years setting embraces natural weather conditions as valuable learning opportunities, allowing children to fully experience their outdoor environment.
The enhanced muddy conditions have provided exceptional opportunities for rich sensory exploration, enabling children to investigate different textures and consistencies through hands-on discovery. Early years practitioners at this Bristol nursery support children as they dig with their hands and various tools, exploring the transformed wet earth and developing their understanding of natural materials and their properties.
Beyond sensory learning, the enhanced mud pit has become a catalyst for imaginative play scenarios. Children are creating elaborate stories and adventures inspired by their muddy discoveries, demonstrating how natural environments can stimulate creativity and narrative development within this innovative Bristol early years setting.
Fir Class Celebrates Successful Garden-to-Table Learning Experiences
Children in Fir class at St Philips Marsh Nursery School have been fully immersed in comprehensive gardening experiences throughout this term, developing deep understanding of plant growth and natural life cycles through hands-on learning. This Bristol nursery’s commitment to outdoor education provides children with authentic connections to the natural world.
The young gardeners have demonstrated remarkable enthusiasm whilst planting seeds, carefully tending to their individual garden plots, and celebrating the successful harvest of radishes planted earlier in the term. The excitement reached its peak as children carefully washed their freshly harvested radishes before cutting and tasting their home-grown produce, creating meaningful connections between their growing efforts and the food they consume.
These comprehensive gardening activities strongly support key areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage, particularly Understanding the World and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Through these experiences at this Bristol early years centre, children develop crucial understanding of the natural world whilst building essential life skills including responsibility, patience, and care for living things.
The garden-to-table approach adopted by St Philips Marsh Nursery School demonstrates how high-quality early years education can combine practical learning with curriculum objectives, ensuring children develop both knowledge and skills that will serve them throughout their educational journey and beyond.
