Little Acorns was delighted recently to unveil our new Sensory Room at our Clayton-le-Woods nursery near Chorley. The space offers a holistic experience tailored to each child’s individual needs and features calming lights, soft play equipment, a variety of textures, and a sensory den. Designed to enhance engagement and enjoyment, the new sensory equipment, accessories, and resources facilitate a wide range of sensory experiences that support therapeutic, educational, and recreational goals for every child. Indeed, the new room has been a huge hit with the children who love to go there to relax, explore, learn, and engage with the wide range of stimulating activities.
The new Sensory Room is accessible throughout the day under the watchful eye of our dedicated early years professionals. It’s an inclusive environment that not only provides diverse sensory opportunities for all children but also offers a safe and calming space to help regulate and reduce instances of sensory overload. Watch our video and view the image gallery to get a flavour of what’s on offer in the new sensory space.
Sensory Room Gallery
(Click the images to view them large along with a full description).
The new Sensory Room at Little Acorns Nursery is designed to engage many of the eight senses, which help people and animals make sense of stimuli coming from the world and feelings within their own bodies.
The 8 Senses
What are the eight senses? There are five internal and three external senses:
The 5 External Senses
These help us make sense of stimuli coming from things outside our bodies:
- Sight (visual), i.e. what people see, including colours, shapes, movement, etc.
- Hearing (auditory), i.e. sounds people hear via their ears, including qualities such as pitch and volume.
- Touch (tactile), i.e. how things feel via receptors in the skin. Aspects like pressure, texture, temperature, and pain can be identified through this sense.
- Smell (olfactory), i.e. the sense, associated with the nose, that identifies the odours/scents of things around us.
- Taste (gustatory), i.e. the sense that identifies flavours — sweet, savoury, salty, bitter, etc.
The 3 Internal Senses
These help us to make sense and practical use of feelings inside us:
- Vestibular, i.e. the sense governed by inner ear mechanisms that help us with balance, movement (especially of the head), and spatial orientation.
- Proprioception, i.e. the sense of body awareness that gives us greater understanding and control of body/limb position through stimuli feeding back from muscles, joints, etc.
- Interoception, i.e. the sense that tells us about internal states like temperature, heart rate, and pain, as well as feelings like hunger, thirst, and even needing the bathroom.
Sensory Integration
One of the most important things to understand about senses in early childhood is that, although children are born with some basic senses and sensory equipment, their brains and neurological pathways need to both develop further and learn to process sensory stimuli. Such learning is aided only by active physical exploration and a wide range of experiences. This leads to something called ‘Sensory Integration’ — the interpretation and organisation of incoming stimuli, which will aid a person’s appropriate responses to them.
Some of the Benefits of Our New Sensory Room
For children at Little Acorns Nursery in Clayton-le-Woods, the equipment, accessories, and resources in our new Sensory Room will help in achieving that all-important sensory integration. Touching different textures, climbing, running, balancing, spinning, hearing sounds and seeing visual stimuli will all help young brains and synapses to better organise themselves and give meaning to the incoming stimuli and internal senses. By giving meaning to signals received, and enabling children to make sense of the related feelings and emotions, they will become better equipped to react in appropriate ways. Examples of such reactions may include moving in a particular way to achieve a specific outcome, adjusting their balance to prevent a fall, improving coordination and gross motor skills, optimally adjusting body position within a space, or even learning, through repeated experience, to ‘filter out’ some of the background stimuli when needed. The latter can be useful, for example, when a child is trying to focus on a particular task or, indeed, is trying to be calm and relaxed despite multiple stimuli being present.
A Safe Space for Children
As well as helping to stimulate those whose senses may be under-active or in need of development, sensory rooms also represent a safe and soothing space where children who are at risk of overstimulation can retreat. Whatever the scenario, the sensory room is a place where all children can decompress in a peaceful space and reset before returning to a group.
Sensory rooms are highly inclusive and will therefore also support development in children who are neurodivergent, for example, affected by ADHD or autism.
Nursery Places at Little Acorns Nursery
A Nursery Place for Your Child in Clayton-le-Woods, Near Chorley
If you are local and your child is under five, consider a nursery place for your child at 
Little Acorns Nursery (Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley). We are rated as a good childcare provider by Ofsted, and support free/funded childcare hours for eligible children. The nursery day also begins early, at 7:30 am, and remains open until 6:00 pm — convenient for working parents.
If this sounds of interest, please get in touch using one of the following options:
As well as providing weekday childcare for families in and around Clayton-le-Woods, Little Acorns Nursery may also suit those nearby in towns and villages like Clayton Brook, Clayton Green, Chorley, Penwortham, Farington, Bamber Bridge, Leyland, Thorpe Green, Whittle-le-Woods, Lostock Hall, Pippin Street, Buckshaw Village, and Euxton.
For most families, electronic screens are everywhere. Across the country, there are TVs in living rooms, with many households also having them in kitchens, dining rooms, and even bedrooms. Smartphone use is also prolific. Additionally, we have tablets, computers, game consoles, e-readers, and even wearable smartwatches that have screens. So, rather like the movie title, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” electronic screens are nothing short of ubiquitous. But what effect does watching such screens have on people, particularly children? And is there an argument for taking a significant break from them once in a while? Today’s post explores the topic and explains Why Every Family Should Try a Digital Detox, whether for a day, a week, or significantly longer. Let’s dive in.
Common sense alone would dictate that spending hours watching electronic screens is, at the very least, unnatural for children. When you think about it logically, time spent staring at one spot, remaining physically inactive, cannot be good for young – or even old – brains and bodies. Indeed, studies have revealed some unsurprising findings relating to excessive screen use, especially for children, whose young brains and bodies are still in their infancy. Those under five are undergoing rapid brain development, so it’s a particularly crucial time for them. Indeed, 
A decrease in levels of stress, anxiety, and other emotional difficulties;
Unplugging from electronic screens has been shown to benefit families as a whole. Days and evenings together seem more relaxed and often feel significantly longer when screens are switched off. Then, families are soon likely to increase levels of connection and presence. Away from screens, there is likely to be more spontaneity and creativity too, with more talking, reading, playing, drawing, and making. Children will often display excitement about beginning each new activity, too. The overall family mood is often also improved, leading to a healthy and congenial atmosphere, with noticeably more laughter. What’s more, everyone becomes more aware of each other, engaging in group or sibling activities more readily, and being overall more attentive to one another. Then, when it’s time for bed, everyone feels more rested, and children will generally fall asleep more easily than ever before. Incredibly, all such benefits and this newfound quality time are achieved simply by stepping away from electronic screens.
When children and families unplug from electronic screens, it becomes natural for them to spend more time outdoors, closer to nature. That’s important because both outdoor play and a closer proximity to nature have incredibly significant benefits all of their own. To demonstrate that using just one example, studies showed that a mere 20 minutes spent closer to nature will improve a child’s happiness. In fact, nature boosts mental health so significantly that even just a view of nature through a window has been shown to boost academic grades, test results, and overall academic focus — incredible!
With Chorley Football Club being only 4.8 miles and a 14-minute drive from 
Participation in sports benefits children in many different – and often profound – ways. That’s especially true for children in their early years, being a stage when they learn fundamental skills like jumping, running, throwing and catching balls, etc.
Sports and active hobbies will also help little ones hone balance, agility, coordination and motor skills. That’s incredibly important during early childhood as these key skills are still developing and, as the old proverb goes, “practice makes perfect.”
Sport is a great socialiser too. Through sport, they’ll get used to interacting with other children as well as coaches, teachers, or childcare professionals. Moreover, children not only make new and deeper friendships through sport, but also learn social skills before, during and after such play. These skills and benefits will stay with them for the long term and will help to enrich their lives in profound ways.
As we discussed in our recent post 
Designate an area in your home for play. It doesn’t need to be elaborate — even a corner with a few age-appropriate toys, books, and art supplies may be sufficient. Ensure, of course, that the space is safe and free from hazards before your child embarks on their play activities.
Outdoor play also offers a wealth of learning opportunities. It promotes physical health, stimulates the senses, and allows for unstructured exploration, which all contribute to holistic development. Take your child to the park, explore nature, or simply play with them in the back garden if you have one. Outdoor activities will also foster an appreciation for the natural world. Indeed, we wrote a whole post about 
Reading is a wonderful way to support learning through play. Choose age-appropriate books, of course, and be sure to engage in interactive storytelling. Ask and encourage questions about the story, encourage your child to predict what might happen next, and ask them what they might do if it were them in the story. Books and reading teach children so many things and, like pretend play above, truly encourage their imaginations and get their creative juices flowing. 
Arrange play dates with other children or involve siblings in play activities at home. Social play helps children learn essential social skills like cooperation, sharing, and conflict resolution. It’s also a great way to make new friendships, learn from each other, and become a closer member of friendship circles.
In the world of child development and early education, there is a simple yet profound truth: children learn best when they are learning through play. Play is the universal language of childhood and, indeed, it transcends both borders and cultures. Whether it’s building sand castles on a sunny beach or arranging blocks on the floor at home, play is the gateway through which children explore, discover, and grow.
As adults, we often associate learning with classrooms, textbooks, and structured lessons. However, for children, the process of learning is a dynamic and ever-evolving adventure, with play being their very best companion during the journey.
Do babies benefit from play? Absolutely. Play is the first way through which infants start understanding their world. They use their senses to explore toys, grasp objects, and make sense of the environment around them. Sensory play, such as touching different textures or listening to soothing sounds, stimulates their developing senses and lays the groundwork for future learning.
During the run-up to the age of 5, play is integral to children’s development. During this phase, children are like little sponges, soaking up information from their surroundings. Play allows them to experiment, make connections, and refine their cognitive and many other skills. Skills enhanced through play include:
Creating playful environments — we understand the importance of a conducive environment for learning through play. With that in mind, we provide carefully designed play spaces that are rich in stimulating materials and resources. These spaces allow children to engage in various types of play, from imaginative to sensory, in a safe and supportive setting.
