Links Day Nursery Balmedie

We offer experiences which encourage children to share their thinking, talk about their interests and help them imagine their theories. We encourage children to listen carefully to each other and give space and time to allow others to talk. We encourage children to use their imagination in role play, making models, painting and drawing.

We have lots of  space in this room devoted to explorative, creative, expressive and messy play including sand and water experiences, loose parts play, a crafts area, and a painting area. In these areas children can choose their own resources for making, creating and modelling, and mix their own paints.

In our large construction area the children will find a number of small and large ‘loose parts’.  These include a mix of organic and man-made materials including  large and small wooden blocks, tree log slices, shells, wooden curtain rings and bobbins, all of which encourage the children to make their own choices and use these imaginatively to explore construction in creative ways.

We also have a home corner which has a variety of kitchen utensils and small loose parts such as pasta, bottle tops, pegs, and wooden bobbins which the children can use in imaginative role play, as well as costumes, bags, hats and other fabric for dressing up. There are also dolls, dolls clothing, and prams etc for role play.

Literacy resources such as pencils, pens, felt markers, crayons, and different colours and sizes of paper and card are available for our children in baskets  dispersed around the room, along with notepads, stickers, rulers and envelopes. Children are are encouraged to explore mark making, letters, and words throughout their play, to label their own pictures, write during shop or home play, and write cards, letters, and labels for resources.  We also encourage children to play with rhyme and rhythm, and have fun with songs and rhyming words. The playroom is also rich in environmental print with labels recognisable to children.

Preschool also has a lovely story area with an array of favourite books, both fiction and non-fiction. We provide opportunities for small groups of children to listen to a story together, where they can see the illustrations in a book, ask questions and discuss likes and dislikes. As well as this we have books children have made themselves, and we encourage them to tell and share their own stories with story stones and puppets. There is also a cosy den for children to crawl in for quiet time with a book.

In our preschool maths area we develop numeracy skills in play situations, learn number rhymes, and play games which involve counting, sorting and grouping. As well as learning about numbers and counting, we offer play and learning experiences which promote a growing awareness of other mathematical concepts such as size, weight, measurement, pattern, 2D and 3D shapes, money and time. A variety of resources including puzzles, games, shapes, rulers, measuring tapes, weighing scales etc are available in the maths area to promote this learning.

The ratio of staff to children in preschool is 1:8