Love isn’t to be celebrated just for one day… love makes our world so much brighter and Cheeky Monkeys are still enjoying playing in their love-themed sensory tray… lots of scooping and pouring of coloured rice and lots of considering of ‘Guess how much I love you?’…. The answer? ……. We love our nearest and dearest lots and lots and lots!!!!! Xxxx

Our children and Team Jollies are soooo very lucky as we all have such wonderful families and friends who make our lives just that little bit brighter…

We LOVE to be loved and LOVE certainly makes our world go round, as it helps us all feel safe, secure and so, so happy!

We’ve had so much love heart, love-related fun over these past few days and we just want to say thank you to our nearest and dearest and that we definitely love them ALL very, very much!!!! xxxx

Thank you, Sian, our ‘Jolly Pancake Queen’ for making the whole nursery delicious pancakes today. We enjoyed both sweet and savoury treats (the melted chocolate, golden syrup and lemon and sugar ones were definitely more popular than the ham and cheese ones in the end ) and they were certainly delicious!!

Before we had this for our tea though our children had enjoyed playing in pancake sensory trays and had made playdough pancakes…. So when the real ones came along we were super excited!!!!!!

If you are making them at home tonight we hope you have a truly scrumptious time together!! xxxx

Our children’s conversations were all about holidays and when they had flown on aeroplanes with their families…. Cue inspiration for our next role-play area (we’ve recently also had a vets!) as Stephen created an airport to further their excitement.

There were arrivals and departures boards, passports to check, plane tickets to purchase, suitcases with clothes and accessories to pack… would it be a hot or a cold destination of choice? You’ve got to pack the correct attire you know , then there was the pilot’s cap and the wooden aeroplane to enjoy too.

‘Destination: FUN’ for the ultimate role-playing experience derived from our children’s very own interests

Have you got your ticket and passport at the ready as it’s almost time to take off aboard Jolly airlines?! Xxxx

Exploring Elephants has had a bit of a revamp, as we like to mix it up a bit here at Jollies, and little nooks and crannies (and dens!) have been created based upon the children’s current interests and fascinations.

The staff team are currently having a HUGE push around communication; so a snuggly story sharing throne and a revamped role play house area should provide lots of opportunities for developing this together.

Cars will be vrooming and zooming around the new car mat and babies will be snuggled up ready to sleep in their cot. Who knows what will happen at the table top?! Will it be small scale water play, crazy foam, drawing, building?

The possibilities are literally endless xxxx

As the Lunar New Year begins on 10 February; celebrating the Year of the Dragon, our children have enjoyed finding out more about this very special time of year and how it is celebrated by so many across the globe.

We would like to wish everybody a wonderful time celebrating and a very, very happy Lunar New Year

Latisha and the children were fascinated when they looked out of the window together…. The snow had started to fall and this caused great excitement!! There was talk of snowmen and snowflakes and soon after the group enjoyed wrapping up warm ready to go and explore the actual snow outside!! xxxx

When you are playing outside and you spot your brother through the window…

We’re not quite sure who’s the cheekiest one of all, but what was quite clear was that brotherly love was in full swing here at Jollies xxxx

If we’re not swinging until our hearts are content we are positively glowing with the possibilities our sensory room and all the amazing resources it has to offer…

From light up phones to a board of light switches, to balance boards, to bubbles and fish that glow, glow, glow…

This sensory space really does have it all going on!! Xxxx

Our newly-revamped sensory room has a rather wonderful Lycra suspension swing so our children can envelop themselves in material and feel enclosed and develop their awareness of their body in space through the sensory feedback they receive.

However, a new addition which can also be added and hung from the same special fixings has appeared… the Lycra can be replaced with a super whizzy bar with handles. Here our children can lift their bodies off the ground and revel at being suspended in the air; they can even go upside down if they so desire… and quite a few have a natural urge to get themselves into this position!! Soooo funny to explore the world hanging upside down from this angle… (and the balance and core/body strength required is phenomenal!).

Our sensory room has been stripped back and each room observes their children and then goes and grabs the most appropriate resources box from our huge collection of sensory boxes/resources upstairs in order to bring the maximum excitement and challenge into this unique space that truly matches their children’s energy, drive, wants, needs and interests so precisely xxxx