forest school Archives | Little Acorns Nursery School https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/tag/forest-school/ Wed, 15 Oct 2025 16:08:46 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 Little Acorns Nursery Open Day: Saturday 1st November 2025 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/open-day-saturday-1-november-2025/ Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:24:53 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=7374 Little Acorns Nursery is rated as a 'Good Provider' by Ofsted.Little Acorns Nursery is holding an Open Day on Saturday, 1 November 2025. We'll be opening our doors to Lancashire families, so they can see this wonderful childcare setting in person. There's no need to book — you are welcome to come along at any time between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. What's more, being on a Saturday, it should prove more convenient for working families. On the day, our team will be available for guided tours. We can show families the rooms, excellent facilities, and well-equipped outdoor areas, and answer any questions that you might have. Saturday is a non-working day at the nursery, so you'll have our undivided attention. Why not bring your own child with you, so they can see the setting too — and get a feel for how well they would fit in? Come along — we'd love to meet you!]]> Composting for Kids — Educational Fun That’s Perfect for Autumn https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/composting-activity-for-kids/ Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:24:23 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=7316 For children and under-fives, autumn is one of the most exciting times of the year.As the bright days of summer give way to crisp autumn air, parks, gardens, and pavements begin to fill with a carpet of crunchy leaves. For children and under-fives, autumn is one of the most exciting times of the year. With the landscape so full of textures, sounds, and colours, it's the perfect time to get outdoors, explore, and learn about the natural world. It’s also the ideal time for them to begin a simple but deeply rewarding project: composting. In today's post, we outline how children can approach this wonderful activity and explain its significant benefits.]]> How to Create a Fairy Garden for National Children’s Gardening Week https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/fairy-garden-activity-for-national-childrens-gardening-week/ Mon, 12 May 2025 21:18:24 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=7048 Today, we suggest a wonderful gardening-related activity that's perfect for young children.National Children's Gardening Week arrives in late May and is the perfect time for young children to get involved in gardening activities. In celebration of the event, we describe a wonderful gardening-related activity that's small-scale, easy, fun, and educational — perfect for little ones! The finished result is also rather magical and, once complete, lends itself to imaginative play. Today, we outline how children can make their own miniature fairy gardens. These are a great way to introduce little ones to creative gardening at a child-friendly scale. Under parent supervision* and largely using scavenged materials from outdoors, under-fives can let their imaginations run free and get creative! What's more, the results are simply enchanting and will bring magic and a whole lot of delight to young children!]]> Let’s Get to Know Wild Mammals! An Educational Nature Activity for Kids — with Free Poster https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/wild-mammals-nature-activity-for-kids/ Fri, 15 Mar 2024 12:09:04 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=6291 World Wildlife Day (3 March)Children and childcare staff at Little Acorns Nursery love nature. So, with World Wildlife Day coming earlier this month and Spring now upon us, it's the perfect opportunity to release our free Wild Mammals poster. Shown in full colour and printable in high resolution at A3 or A4, it features 20 British¹ wild land mammals that young children can learn to identify and look out for. Some can be seen when on walks, on holiday, or even perhaps at the local park, while others are rather more elusive — but that just makes it more exciting for children when they finally spot them! The poster is perfect for displaying on the wall at home — and is a fun way to both intrigue and educate children, including under-fives. With that in mind, why not download your free land mammals poster today, print it out, and get your little ones closer to nature?]]> Autumn Nature Hunt — a Fun Activity for Children (with Free Reference Sheet) https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/autumn-nature-hunt-activity-for-children/ Wed, 15 Nov 2023 14:32:20 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=6100 The autumn season brings with it a treasure trove of fascinating natural things for children to discover.By mid-November, autumn is in full swing and leaves are turning a myriad of different colours. Scenes of green, yellow, red and golden trees can be breathtakingly beautiful and the air is often crystal clear at this time of year — that's great for photos! The autumn season also brings with it a treasure trove of fascinating natural things that children can discover if they take the time to look. Indeed, an autumn nature hunt is the perfect excuse for little ones to spend some time outdoors, where they will also benefit from outdoor play and everything that nature has to offer children. Whether finding gorgeous sweet chestnuts, cute acorns, dangly catkins, fascinating fir cones or highly coloured leaves, children will love an autumn treasure hunt and are sure to be enthralled by what they find. It's a magical time of year! With all that in mind, we have prepared a free activity sheet that children and families can download, print out, and take with them as a visual reference when they next venture outdoors. We suggest children make a start soon, while all the natural wonders are abundant. Download your free Autumn Nature Hunt Reference Sheet (preview below) and get started today!]]> Let’s Find Minibeasts! A Simple Nature Activity for Kids (With Free Poster) https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/minibeasts-nature-activity-with-free-poster/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 11:41:14 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=5959 Today's activity is a perfect opportunity for young children to get closer to nature, and learn about some of it's incredible wildlife.Children and parents, let's go minibeast spotting! Whether you have a garden, neighbourhood park, or just a few potted plants, there are bound to be minibeasts visiting or living there. What's more, summer is the perfect time to spot them. Spending time in nature is hugely important for children and there are many benefits to children simply playing outdoors too. Today's minibeast activity is therefore the perfect opportunity for young children to reap all those benefits, get closer to nature, and learn about some of its incredible wildlife.

Minibeasts

Minibeasts are fascinating little creatures that come in many shapes and sizes. Each is a unique little character and many are simply enchanting. Take bumble bees, for example, with their adorable furry bodies, stripes and antennae, little ladybirds with their cute spots, or stick caterpillars that look just like twigs! There are so many different types, so we've put together a free identification poster showing 30 of our favourite minibeasts that are likely to be lurking nearby if families take the time to look. The poster is free to download and share. Print it out in colour at full size (A3) or reduce it to A4 for children to take outdoors. There are little tick boxes too, so children can mark which minibeasts they've seen as time goes by.]]> Wildlife-Friendly Flower Growing Fun for Under-Fives https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/wildlife-friendly-flower-growing-activity-for-under-fives/ Fri, 14 Jul 2023 15:34:54 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=5907 This wildflower-growing activity gets children outdoors, closer to nature, as well as doing some good for conservation and wildlife.Today's flower-growing children's activity follows on nicely from last month's butterfly-counting activity. Once again, it focuses on getting children outdoors, closer to nature, and doing some good for conservation and local wildlife — including butterflies. Also, as we know, outdoor play is important and getting closer to nature is hugely beneficial to children. This time, it's all about growing wildflowers that help to feed pollinators and encourage them to come to gardens, balconies, patios, plant pots, and window boxes where children live. As well as butterflies, the pollinators include bees, hoverflies, dragonflies, damselflies, and some non-flying insects like beetles. What's more, you may well find that wildflowers attract birds and sometimes even bats too! Pollinators are not only beautiful and adorable, but they're essential for a healthy environment and to pollinate food crops. So, all in all, this is another hugely worthwhile activity for under-fives and older children to get involved in. It's also great fun and educational. So, without further delay, here is our simple guide explaining how children and families can start growing wildlife-friendly flowers to support and attract these magical little creatures. Enjoy!]]> The Big Butterfly Count: a Nature-Themed Activity for Families https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/big-butterfly-count-nature-themed-activity/ Fri, 16 Jun 2023 12:26:31 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=5855 The Big Butterfly Count takes place in July and early August each year, when most butterflies have reached adulthood.Many will have heard of the Big Garden Birdwatch that takes place every year in January. However, fewer are aware of a similar activity called The Big Butterfly Count that takes place in July and early August. As well as being extremely worthwhile, it's a wonderful activity for both children and adults to get involved in as citizen scientists. The activity helps with butterfly conservation, is educational for those taking part, and encourages families to get outdoors, closer to nature. And, as we know, getting closer to nature is very good for children and people of all ages. Today, we take a look at this wonderful butterfly-spotting activity and explain how children and families can get involved, help these beautiful little pollinators, contribute a little time to the conservation initiative and benefit themselves at the same time.]]> Bird Spotting Activity for Kids – with Free Poster https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/bird-spotting-activity-for-kids-free-poster/ Mon, 15 May 2023 07:30:22 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=5783 Free A3 bird poster for children use to see how many birds they can spot and identify over the course of a year. Read on (below) for download instructions.Are you looking for a fun and educational activity for your children? Why not encourage them to do some bird spotting? Not only is it a great way to spend time outdoors, but it's also a wonderful opportunity for them to learn about nature and develop observation skills. As we know, being around nature is hugely beneficial to children and outdoor play is important. To help you get started, we've created a free PDF poster featuring 40 British birds that children can try to spot and identify. Whether little ones are in the garden, park, or countryside, there are plenty of opportunities to see these beautiful birds in their natural habitat. Children can even try to spot birds when they're simply looking out the window — this is quite an accessible activity. So why not download the poster, print it out, and head outside with your children? Instructions are given underneath the preview image available in the full post below. Who knows, your little one(s) might just discover a new passion for birdwatching and nature!]]> Significant Childcare Funding Announced for Families https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/significant-childcare-funding-for-families/ Sat, 15 Apr 2023 13:30:42 +0000 https://www.littleacornsnursery.school/?p=5736 Significant New Childcare Funding Announced for Families.

A Guide to the Game-Changing Childcare Funding Initiatives Announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget 2023

Generous and far-reaching childcare funding reforms were announced in the Spring Budget 2023 last month. The Chancellor of the Exchequer's new funding plans should give more parents, including those of even younger children, access to significant help with childcare costs going forwards. The new initiatives will:
  • allow Generous childcare funding was announced in the Spring Budget 2023, giving more parents, including those of even younger children, access to significant help with childcare costs.parents to return to the workplace sooner after the birth of their child if they so choose;
  • help fill vacant jobs in the workplace;
  • allow parents (particularly women) to progress their careers sooner after starting a family;
  • help to boost the UK economy, and;
  • perhaps most importantly give more children access to a good early years education, starting potentially at a younger age. Beginning no later than the age of 2 has been shown to better prepare children for the transition to school, boost children's education overall, improve GCSE grades, improve career prospects and even increase earning potential once they reach adulthood. Learn more about the benefits of a good early years education here.
So, the new childcare funding should make a huge difference for those families that are eligible. Let's take a look at the 3 key childcare funding initiatives announced...]]>