Having mastered the basics of staying upright independently, generally walking, and the beginnings of language development, the 2-year-olds, and younger toddlers are ready for a little more!
A nursery routine has generally been established, although there is always the flexibility to snuggle or nap when necessary. The teamwork on physical and emotional confidence, encouraging the children to learn new things every day and working on their independence.
We design activities to help the children take their next steps in all areas. As well as this, we love to give the children the opportunity to make their own choices in what activities they want to get out and play with.
There is a huge amount of messy play and creative activities utilizing everything from the more traditional sand and water to foam and cornflour, moon sand, and a more recent favourite, slime. We also follow the Curiosity Approach to learning, which teaches the children to handle our toys with care and compassion and also encourages the children to use their imaginations and find their own way of doing things.
We have several small group times throughout the day where the staff will sit with the children and enjoy a nice story read by the teacher and also join in with lots of action songs, so the children have the opportunity to learn to sing as well as do the actions. Group time helps children’s language development massively! Not only are you teaching them to listen carefully to the stories, you are teaching them to learn new songs, learn actions to songs, answer questions about the stories and engage with their peers.
During meal times, toddlers are encouraged to feed themselves using a knife and fork and will have a small cup to drink from. We implement self-serving drinks so they can pour out their own drink and also be independent in finding their tray with their name on it.
All of our activities and resources are set out at a child’s height, and this makes it easy for them to access and choose what they would like to play with. As well as doing staff-led on our planning, we also allow the children to choose what they would like to play with and follow the child’s interests. We do a different topic every week, and this is the focus around their main activities. We ensure that all areas of their development are covered whilst, most importantly, they are having FUN!
Age of Admittance
Angels by Day welcomes children from the age of 6 weeks to 5 years. During term time and in the holidays, we also have a small number of places available for school age children, the majority of which are either the elder siblings of current children or ex-nursery children now at big school.
