Daisy Hall – 9 Months – 2 ½ years
The Daisy hall includes an exploratory area where the children get to explore with sand/water and other media and materials, a home corner, story book room, an art area, a baby room and a large play area which all encourage the children through imaginative and creative play.
We as a nursery believe that babies need a protected environment to feel safe and secure with opportunities to be physically active and try things out for themselves. The Daisy Hall is an environment designed to meet the needs of babies and the younger child. We have created a safe and fun place for small children and babies to explore and develop as they play.
We understand that babies of this age need lots of cosy spaces that they can snuggle in to when they just need to have some quiet time. Staff will make sure that children have cuddles and attention throughout the day so they continue to feel loved and cared for while at nursery.
Buttercups Hall
At Happy days we believe that learning through play is fun, we provide a positive experience of early years education, helping the children approach school in a confident and enthusiastic way. The Buttercups hall is designed for children aged 2 ½ + to encourage child led activities through learning and play.
The Buttercups hall is large, light and has plenty of space, the hall is made up to cover the 7 areas of learning. Ranging from a home corner, literacy and mathematical area. We also have a construction and exploratory area. We support young children’s development and learning through structure, free play and children’s interest.
Softroom
Our Softroom is a fantastic resource where the children can enjoy climbing, bouncing and creative play, encouraging both their physical development and social skills. The softroom is very popular and is great fun especially on wet days when the children can still get plenty of exercise.
Kitchen
The Kitchen is a bright and fun place where children eat and socialise together, the kitchen area is also used for children’s activities such as cookery and small group activities. To see more on the cooking with the children at Happy Days and the benefits then please click here
At Happy Days we encourage healthy eating, we encourage all children to eat independently and to sample a variety of tastes that enrich their pallet. In addition to main meal times, water, milk and fresh fruit and vegetables are also available throughout the day. We supply these healthy snacks twice a day but parents/carers must provide lunch boxes if their child is staying for lunch or dinner. We do not provide any juices apart from baby specific juices at request and supply of the parents. We actively support parents during a baby’s weaning process. At Happy Days snack and meal breaks are considered sociable time with the children eating and chatting together. If a packed lunch is provided please do not send in any products containing nuts as we may have children attending with nut allergies, please note that we cannot heat up rice unless permission is provided. Please notify us if you have any concerns about your child’s dietary needs.
Garden
The children spend time every day outside playing. Our garden has a variety of play equipment including climbing frames, bats and balls, rock climbing wall, and a vegetable garden, gazebo and beach hut. We encourage lots of exploratory play in our mud kitchen and growing area.
To find out more about our children’s fruit and vegetable garden and the benefits it can provide please click below
Lunch and Dinner Time
Happy Days does not provide prepared meals and therefore for lunch or dinner your child will need to bring in a prepared lunchbox. We have microwaves to warm food up and can serve this on plates with cutlery. We have two dedicated full size fridges for keeping just the children’s lunch boxes.
Children attending an AM (morning) or Full Day session will go to our kitchen for lunch. Those with a PM (afternoon) session will need to book a Lunch Hour session if they wish to attend lunch.
For those staying to 6pm we will also return to the kitchen around 5pm for Dinner.
During lunch/dinner the teachers will join the children as mealtime is very important to the children’s social development – and vital for when they start school.
Snack Times
Happy Days provides healthy snacks twice a day. These are prepared by the teachers and served in the kitchen. These typically include a range of fruit, finger vegetables, crackers, rice cakes, oat biscuits and raisins. The vegetables and fruit are all stored in their own fridge which is restocked once a week.
Cookery
Children love cookery time and so at least once a week the children will prepare simple meals and baked food. During the summer we make use of the vegetables and fruits that the children have cared for in our garden. Click below to see more on Children’s cookery
We also welcome any parents/carers to come to do cookery with children. This can be as simple as cookies or cultural specialities like homemade pasta (great fun) or rice balls.