These little ones had been busy playing at the windowsill for a long period of time and they were so immersed in their play that they had no idea Stephen had been sat nearby and had been busy observing their actions and interactions!!

They were so very focused and engrossed upon their imaginative play with each other and they adored creating sound effects for the different cars and trains they were utilising to develop their exciting scenarios.

It’s so lovely to just sit back sometimes and listen carefully and observe in detail exactly how our children are playing and what they are saying and doing as they get lost within their thoughts and ideas and express their imaginations outwardly through their conversations, directions, sounds and actions as they become so engrossed within their play!

Play is our children’s work and they definitely take it VERY seriously!! There’s no slacking on the job here at Jollies xxxx

Spin, spin, spin, spin and spin!!! Some of us just love to spin in Terrific Twos and so Sian bought us a new exciting spinning fish chair that enables us to spin around and around and around just by using our body control!

This piece of apparatus is great for encouraging core strength and balance and the Jolly grownups could see both of these being utilised by their children immediately.

This little one just loved the spinner sooooooo much! He found it absolutely hilarious as he span around and around and around… He had quite a wobble on when he eventually stood up and walked away…

We love to feed our children’s interests and passions and allow their little bodies to repeat, repeat, repeat the actions their brains are driving them to do over and over and over again…

It’s truly fascinating stuff figuring out how little brains are wired and what this means for our practice as practitioners and, ultimately, how we can have the most impact upon their future development and learning! Xxxx

It’s all go in our Jollies Supermarket… there are baskets and trollies to be filled, transactions to be made, roles to be played, pennies to be counted and general fun to be had by one and all!!

Our recent visit to our local Coop has given our role play area even more meaning as we draw upon our own recent real-life experiences Xxxx

Jade and Latisha enabled their little Elephants to take their current role play interest and put it into practice as they got their shoes and coats on and headed off to a real shop!!

The children had spent all week shopping in their ‘Jollies Supermarket’ and they had been turn-taking, role-playing, counting pennies, making shopping lists and had generally been having an awesome time together. However, Jade and Latisha decided to take their room’s current interest to a whole new level as they went out and about in our lovely local environment and walked across the field to the Co-op!!

Before they set off they sat down together and wrote out a shopping list so that they knew exactly what they would be looking out for and getting and also to ensure they didn’t forget anything either!

They all walked beautifully and so, so sensibly together holding their friends’ hands and they had their fab listening ears on too as they talked together about keeping safe and also what they could see around them in their local environment.

When they arrived at the shop they walked around observing carefully; keeping their eyes peeled to help them find all the items they needed before putting them into their basket.

They then took their items to the checkout and used their money to pay for them before heading back to Jollies to enjoy their purchases… their yummy, scrummy strawberries, blueberries, veggie straws and even a cheeky chocolate biscuit!!!!

We’re certain their recent shopping experience will further enhance their future role-playing as they draw upon their real-life shared experiences recalling this very exciting trip!!

Our children’s interests certainly bring the fun and drive their learning forwards in the most exciting ways here at Jollies xxxx

The small world car wash had been a HUGE hit outside, so Cheeky Monkeys decided to do this again, but on a much bigger scale!!! However, to do this they needed to get the cars and bikes really MESSY first!!….

This was where the GIANT messy painting swiftly came in… in a flash they were sitting astride the ‘ride on’ vehicles steering them skilfully through the paint to explore the different tracks they would leave behind and they also investigated the textures and possibilities of this painty medium too, but not just with hands or paintbrushes, instead with larger vehicles!! … This was a definite added bonus for our little transport lovers!!

The children were soooooooo excited to have a turn riding the bikes and cars through the paint and they quickly made their choices as to which ones were their favoured mode of transport. They used both feet to push the vehicles through the paint; although some quickly decided they didn’t like the texture of the cold, wet paint on their toes and wanted it wiping off… although others were the polar opposite and ended up trying to cover as much of their bodies in the paint too as well as their ride on vehicle!!

Mission one was soon completed… the cars and bikes were finally VERY messy, so it was swiftly on to mission two…. it was time to start the cleaning process!!

Our children were observed being excellent at cleaning, ensuring they got into all the vehicles’ little cracks and crevices until the cars and bikes were most definitely SPARKLING clean!

We’re not sure which provided the most fun? The process of getting them dirty or the process of getting them cleaned up afterwards?!?! xxxx

Team Jollies received a HUGE thank you today and felt very loved and appreciated through the kind words received from one of our children’s parents/carers this morning as they embarked upon their last Jolly day with us…

We love that our parents/carers work in such close partnership with us throughout the years as we support their children as they thrive and blossom and strive to reach their full potential and we truly thank them for this!

Here are some snippets from their email and a HUGE thank you to Team Jollies for making Jollies ‘Jollies’ as they truly put their heart and soul into making nursery life the best it can possibly be for our little ones…. xxxx

“Team Jollies,

I’m not really sure I can quite find all the words I want to say so here’s just a little essay .

The past few years **** has spent with you are precious to both of us.

I spoke to Tracey & was introduced to Tia I couldn’t have been more confident that I’d chosen the right place for **** (thanks for the recommendation Natalie!)

Tia is probably unaware how much she helped support both me & **** in that first year. She was so nurturing and fun; **** absolutely adored her. Getting to pick **** up & catch up with Tia at the same time was the highlight of each nursery day. She wouldn’t miss out on letting me know every detail of ****’s day & how she could remember everything we had going on outside of nursery along with all the other parents blows me away!

Knowing *** had her little haven at Jollies has helped us both immensely these past few years. You’ve supported her in being her true self & helped her blossom into my little sassy superstar.

Thank you to each & every one of you.

Laura smashing the toilet training in TT’s when I was near enough ready to give up!

I love hearing all ***’s stories about how silly Stephen is & how much she talks to him & Imogen especially makes me so happy that they’ve created such a safe space for **** to speak openly.

And Emma. ****’s forever & always number 1. No matter what mood **** is in, her face genuinely lights up every time she sees Emma. She is always telling me Emma is her favourite person ever & how much she loves her!

Oh and Sian with your snails – I think I’ve got a few years left of **** begging me to get her some. She absolutely loves them

The atmosphere & environment you have created at Jolly Giraffes is just amazing. We can walk through those doors having a rushed, stressful morning & are always greeted by a lovely smiling jolly face & I can’t tell you what a difference it makes to the rest of my day alone! Knowing **** always has so much fun & enjoys being with the grown ups as much as her children friends.

I cannot thank you enough & genuinely am so sad to be saying goodbye to you all!”

The cars were looking a bit dirty outside recently, so combining Cheeky Monkeys’ love of transport and water they quickly got to work to make them look SPARKLING again !!

The children accepted the mission with excitement and determination and didn’t hesitate to quickly get to work using the little cloths, sponges and soapy water to scrub, scrub, scrub!

Once they thought the cars were looking presentable the children placed them on the car garage, before quickly getting to work on the next car that had come to their car wash!! Xxxx

Cheeky Monkeys had lots of fun rolling the cars/trains around the roads/tracks and under the tunnels! This activity encouraged them to investigate how objects fitted into different spaces, figuring out which ones will fit and which won’t, as well as beginning to learn about, and explore, prepositions; e.g the car is under the bridge etc…

When nearby grownups commentated upon vehicles’ movements and modelled associated language and asked if our children could follow simple instructions to make vehicles travel different routes our children were developing their listening and comprehension skills.

Our children were also developing their own vocabularies and frequent excited squeals were interspersed with “ohhh car” “beeeppppp” “zoommmm” and some repeated “on unel (tunnel)” and “fast” and “slow” amongst many other words.

This was all whilst naturally developing core strength and stability as little bodies leaned, moved, stretched and balanced to ensure vehicles could continue on their journeys across the tray…

Beep, beep move out of the way there are just so many tunnels to explore!! Xxxx

Bonding with grown ups is just so much fun! (…. And so vitally important for learning and development to take place!) This little one has been sat this morning telling Alice all about how much he loves his brother and his new bathroom at home! He doesn’t like spiders though and Alice honestly couldn’t blame him for feeling like this…

It is so wonderful when we see our very lovely Team Jollies members who cover holidays and days off, and as a result often end up covering in rooms across the whole nursery, building bonds and spending time really getting to know the little ones they are looking after.

Our children love to talk and seeing them so at ease with their Jolly grownups and so engaged in conversation makes our hearts smile xxxx

Getting those little fingers working in a different way as beads were threaded… strengthening fingers, refining fine motor control and drawing upon hand/eye coordination. Plus there were opportunities to develop and extend colour recognition and counting knowledge too…

Sometimes a little bit of guidance, some suggested strategies to try, or the odd demonstration from a nearby supportive grown up was required, but patience and perseverance prevailed for our children as beads were added onto string. xxxx