Within our duckling's room, we don't follow a set routine as we work our day around the individual needs of the children. Our ducklings have a range of different needs as we range from 12 weeks to 2 years. We have babies that need lots of care and toddlers that are beginning to become more independent. We have a self-contained kitchen at the back of our room for bottle-making and sterilising. We follow the routine of the individual child the same as at home because we try not to unsettle the routine of the child; we know it is a big transition starting in the nursery. We like to keep this as easy as possible for both the child and parent/carers.
We help and encourage the ducklings with their confidence and independence, as babies learn many life skills in their first years. We encourage the children to transition from sitting up unaided to crawling, standing up, and from pulling themselves up to walking with confidence. We use a variety of different equipment and planning for the needs of each child in the room. We work with the parent/carers to ween the younger babies and transition the bigger babies from sitting in highchairs to sitting at our small table. We do this to build upon social interaction and self-help skills at our lunch and snack times, learning to feed themselves using spoons and forks and drinking from a cup with and without a lid.
We have lots of focus on sensory play as babies are just beginning to understand themselves and the environment. We have developed a sensory room filled with different lights and natural equipment to explore. We also have a big focus on schematic play and Heuristic play. All children develop a schema in childhood and through play and planned schematic experiences we can focus on what each is interested in. This helps them to engage and encourage our babies to learn about the world around them.
We like to be outdoors and exploring nature. We have a purpose built garden that we can access from our playroom this is where we can be active and build upon our gross motor skills. We also enjoy going for walks within our local community using our prams.
