A typical day at Little Forest
We open our doors at 7.30am and serve breakfast until 8.45am.
9 – 9.30am Free play is offered upstairs, table top activity such as play dough, jigsaw puzzles and the light box.
9.30am Welcome and together time, we share stories and news and discuss our day ahead, we often do yoga then go downstairs and get ready for the woods, garden or stables.
10am Free and structured play is offered, our activities are based around personal interests, the seasons or natural themes, Wild and free play is offered in the forest, stables or garden for free exploration.
10.30am hand washing and morning snack.
11.45am Hand washing, lunch and stories.
12.45pm -2pm Relaxation for babies and young children, or free play for older children usually taken to the stables or for an outing.
2.30pm-3.30pm Fruit platters are served, stories, drawing, arts & crafts, yoga.
3-4pm Free play, singing and dancing.
4pm Tea time and then free play upstairs or in the garden
5.30pm Home time.
*Routines are subject to change and may vary from season to season. The day may also include visits to local parks or play groups.
Settling in
When children first join Little Forest, they will be allowed to settle in at their own pace.
We encourage parents or carers to visit the premises with their children shortly before they are due to start. This gives them an opportunity to look around and ask any questions, it also gives parents the opportunity to complete the necessary paperwork for registration if this has not yet been completed.
If necessary, the parents or carers may stay with their child during the first few sessions to help them settle in, however prolonged settling in sessions with parents can have the opposite effect.
Home visits can be arranged to help with transitions.
If a child seems to be taking a long time to settle in, this will be discussed with the parents or carers to see what can be done to make the transition easier.
Key person
The Key Person ensures that within the day to day demands of the setting, each child for whom they have special responsibility feels individual, cherished and thought about by someone in particular while they are away from home.
Parent involvement
Parent involvement is very important to us, your child’s learning journey will be sent home regularly for you to look through with your child, feel free to add ‘wow’ moments and observations and tell us about special occasions or celebrations you may have at home. It is very important that this is returned to us so we can continue our work in progress.
Learning Journey
Each child at Little Forest will have their very own Learning Journey full of photographs and activities which they have done at the setting. Celebrating your child’s achievements and time with us they are a wonderful keep sake of your child’s time with us.
Two-year-old progress check
The Early Years Foundation Stage requires that we supply parents and carers with a short, written summary of their child’s development in the three prime areas of learning and development – Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Physical Development; and Communication and Language – when a child is aged between 24 and 36 months. Your child’s key person is responsible for completing the check using information from on-going observational assessments carried out as part of our everyday practice, taking account of the views and contributions of parents and other professionals.
Nutrition
All the food served to our children will be as organic as possibly sourced, we will recycle everything we can and grow an array of our own produce.
When purchasing foods, we use the ‘Yuka’ app. This checks a product for salt, sugar, additives etc and informs us of an alternative product if required.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day to keep our energy levels up, we offer a variety of low-sugar cereal, porridge and toast.
Snack time is normally outside in the Forest, this could be a fresh fruit platter or cheese straws toasted on the fire pit.
At lunch we usually serve a hot meal, however during the summer months we may have outside picnic lunches.
For tea, we always offer a 2 course meal that is cooked in house and is freshly prepared.
Mealtimes are important to us, this is a great opportunity to build conversations and enhance speech and language skills.
All children should bring a named water bottle.
Throughout the day and at meal times we encourage the children to drink fresh water or milk.
Babies and children are ALWAYS supervised whilst eating.
All needs can be catered and planned for.
Oral health
Tooth decay is associated with delays in speech and language development and school readiness. It can also impact the family, as parents or carers may need to take time off work to take their child for treatment.
Little Forest is aware of the need to follow good oral hygiene practices and to avoid eating foods and drinks with high sugar content.
We would like to support you in training your child to clean their teeth regularly by helping him/her clean their teeth after lunch. We would therefore request that you provide us with a suitable toothbrush.
These will all be stored in a small plastic container in our bathroom and we will help your child clean his/her teeth regularly.
