Strawberries

Strawberries: 1 Year to 2 Years

The Strawberries' space is separated into two connected sections that can be used flexibly. They provide us with bright and active play areas for messy play and creative play and noisy activities such as singing, music and dance. There as also provision for quiet activities and plenty of time for cuddles. The Strawberries are just beginning to understand and enjoy the world of make believe; and they love the role play area with its little kitchen and simple dressing up costumes. Books are a great source of interest for the Strawberries and we make sure that they have open access to them throughout their environment. They love to look at picture books and of course snuggling up for a story during quiet times. As in Blueberries there is a minimum ratio of one adult to every three children so there is always lots of support for each child whatever their interests and needs.

Strawberries in the garden:

The Blueberries and Strawberries have direct access into their own garden full of age specific resources. We also encourage the Strawberries to use the larger garden area at quiet times. The Strawberries love the challenge of the big garden with the outstanding water and sand play, the extensive forest area and the growing area.

Strawberries in the sensory room:

Another important resource for Strawberries is the sensory room. The Strawberries have direct access to this space. The children love the different sounds, sights and sensations that the sensory room presents to them and because we are lucky enough to have a dedicated sensory room for each age group the facilities are specifically designed to meet their interests and needs.

Strawberries Socialising:

The Blueberries and Strawberries have separate spaces but often combine the groups at appropriate times of the day. It is very important that the younger babies are given access to the older children and vice versa. The little babies emulate the older and the older learn to be gentle and kind to the younger children. It is a vital part of their social development.

Weaning and meal times:

At the Mulberry Bush the quality of food provided to children is of upmost importance. This starts with their very first experiences of solid food. Please click on our Healthy Choices page for further information.

The Strawberries are seated in small, social groups for meal times and they sit at the table and start to learn the basics of table manners and start to learn to use cutlery. They are always supported by an adult to help them to cut food and feed themselves as well as to make meal times a fun, social part of the day.

Sleep room:

The Blueberries and Strawberries have their own peaceful sleep room. This has air conditioning for the summer months. The sleep room has a viewing window so that, as well as regular checks on the children, staff can keep a constant eye on the babies as they rest. We provide fresh linen daily for each child although you are welcome to supplement that with any individual sleeping items, sleeping bags, comforters etc that are helpful for your child.

Settling into nursery life:

When your baby joins the Blueberries or Strawberries they will be allocated a key person and taken through an induction process. Please see our inductions section on our Useful Stuff page for further information about our settling in process. This can be a time of anxiety for both parent and child so we work hard to make this as smooth and stress free as possible.

At about 2 yrs old your child will be ready to move on from Strawberries to Raspberries. Please see information on Transitions for further information about this process.