Ninny's House

𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗻𝘆’𝘀!🏅 Throwing, catching, and building agility—all while having fun with friends! Learning teamwork and building a love for exercise one throw at a time. #NinnysHouse #OutdoorNursery #SportsFun #TeamWork

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲! The children had fun exploring this giant marrow—feeling the bumpy skin, learning how it grows, and peeking inside at the seeds and flesh. Seasonal food exploration, and fun, at its best! #NinnysHouse #SensoryPlay #SeasonalLearning #MessyPlay

𝗛𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲! 🧙‍♀️ Our tuff tray is bubbling over with magical fun as the children practice their potions and stir their way to stronger hand muscles! Perfect for helping to develop strong hand muscles ready for practising how to tie shoelaces, learning to hold a pencil properly, and emptying out the whole toybox on to the floor at home! #NinnysHouse #OutdoorNursery #FineMotorSkills #ImaginativePlay

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 🍁 The children recently enjoyed a walk, collecting feathers and conkers and visiting the ducks. The perfect seasonal adventure with all the colours of this beautiful season. Do you love this photo as much as we do? ☺️ #NinnysHouse #EarlyYearsEducation #OutdoorNursery #OutdoorLearning #ForestSchool

Ninny’s House is so very proud to sponsor this fantastic team of teen coaches who won their category in the Hampshire Cricket Awards last night! Huge congratulations to all of them for inspiring the younger generations in their cricket stories and huge thanks to the whole coaching team at @smb_cricket_club and @jonny_orange for inspiring them themselves ♥️ @hantscricketboard #ninnyshouse #smbcc #smbcccoach #inspiring teens #teamwork #inspiringcricket

It’s spooky season! 🎃 Our Halloween tuff tray is bubbling over with green gunge, mini pumpkins, skeleton bones, and creepy crawlies. Perfect for a bit of spooky sensory fun! The children are loving every slimy, squishy moment. 🎃🕸️ #Ninnyshouse #HalloweenFun #SensoryPlay

Fun in the baby garden! Our tiniest explorers are getting messy and learning the basics of construction—one dirt pile at a time! Watching them discover the world around them is what it’s all about. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #SensoryPlay #CreativeExploration #OutdoorNursery #LittleBuilders

Meet the Ninny’s Team! ☺️ Sue is our qualified teacher, with over thirty years’ experience of teaching at primary level, as well as with children with additional needs. Sue chose to change her path to early years education to get back to ‘the heart’ of being with children. Sue works particularly with our preschool children, developing their independence skills in readiness for them to start school. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation

A favourite at Ninny’s House: colour mixing! Our little scientists love experimenting with water, scooping, pouring, and squirting to create new colours and explore different methods. Messy, creative, and full of learning! 🧪🌈 #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #SensoryPlay #CreativeExploration #LearningThroughPlay

Messy play is the best kind of play! 🚧 Our construction site is full of digger trucks, dirt, and sand, where little builders can get their hands dirty and feel different textures as they explore. Rain or shine, the fun continues—because there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes! #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #SensoryPlay #CreativeExploration #LearningThroughPlay

The beauty of friendship! 💛 Two little friends sharing a story, pointing at the pictures, and making memories together. Moments like these remind us how important it is to foster connection and imagination. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #FriendshipGoals

Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside! Our tuff tray beach setup is bringing the ocean to the nursery with toy boats, crabs, and even a blue whale! It’s the perfect way to explore the wonders of the sea; learning through play is always our focus at Ninny’s. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation

It’s a bug’s life! Our little ones are diving into the world of insects, learning about butterflies, creepy crawlies, and how these tiny creatures play a big role in our ecosystem. 🐞🦋 Nature’s smallest species with the biggest impact! #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #SensoryPlay #CreativeExploration #LearningThroughPlay

Rawr! 🦖 Our dinosaurs are having a splash in their swampy home! The children loved exploring this colourful, interactive setup—complete with sand, water, and rocks. A prehistoric adventure was enjoyed by all the children. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #SensoryPlay #CreativeExploration #LearningThroughPlay

This week, we had a special guest at Ninny’s House—our very own founder, Ninny! Ninny had an amazing time with our ‘big’ children, attempting to build a house for our mummies... although it ended up looking more like the house of sticks from The Three Little Pigs! Before long, the children were all acting out the story, with little pigs and a big bad wolf having lively discussions about staying safe and even helping the wolf be a little less “big and bad.” 🐺 The fun was endless, so much so that Ninny had to take a breather and read the whole story—not once, but twice! 📖 As if that wasn’t exciting enough, two little adventurers discovered a frog hiding in a tyre! 🐸 With a bit of bravery (thanks to Emily!), the frog hopped away to the lake, leaving us all amazed. Ninny absolutely loved her visit and can’t wait to come back for more adventures soon! #NinnysHouse #Nursery #AdventurePlay

Time for breakfast! ⏰ Our children are invited in each morning to settle in and start playing immediately. For those having breakfast, this is served between 7.30am and 8.45am, followed by a morning snack around 10.15am. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation

How it all started… Some of our little architects wanted to build a dance floor, and with Montana’s help, they pieced together click-and-connect flooring. Their hard work paid off and we soon had our own nursery-style mini festival! 🎉 It was the place to be this summer! #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #ImaginativePlay #BuildingFriendships

Meet the Ninny’s Team! ☺️ Emily joined Ninny’s at the end of 2019 and is Level 3 qualified. Emily has taken great care in developing our Under 2's room into an exceptionally welcoming and secure environment which mirrors Emily’s passion for understanding the value early years attachment and child-centred approach to care and nurture. Our pre-school children benefit from both Emily’s artistic character and are often treated to some delicious homegrown veggies from her own garden. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation

The tuff tray is a big part of our learning journey! This week, the children explored colour awareness, sorting and mixing bright shades as they learned through play. A vibrant way to discover the world! 🎨 #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #ImaginativePlay #OutdoorNursery #SensoryPlay

A dance party is always a good idea! 💃 Ninny’s impromptu outdoor dance party brought out all the moves and smiles. Sometimes, all you need is a little music and a lot of fun! #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #OutdoorPlay #BuildingFriendships

Climb, jump, navigate! Our assault course is the perfect place for friends to challenge themselves, move their bodies, and enjoy active play together. The fun never stops! #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #SensoryPlay #Exploring #EarlyYearsEducation #ForestSchool

Diving into a sensory experience, with crunchy leaves and twinkling fairy lights. It’s a feast for the senses—light, touch, and sound all come together in this cozy corner of our outdoor nursery. Perfect for sparking curiosity. 💡 #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #SensoryPlay #FineMotorSkills #LearningThroughPlay

While we have been so lucky to experience some great weather in St Mary Bourne this summer, autumn is just around the corner, and at Ninny’s we understand that nature really is the best playground. From nature walks to collecting leaves, our outdoor nursery is a place where children connect with the world around them. Every day is a new adventure at Ninny’s. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #OutdoorPlay #ForestSchool #SensoryPlay #OutdoorNursery #LittleAdventurers

Meet the Ninny’s Team! ☺️ Ninny’s Nursery manager, Clare, is responsible for the day to day running of our Nursery and is a magnificent support to our staff and parents. Over the last 7 years Clare has shared her love of music and outdoor learning with our children. Clare is a Forest School qualified leader and shares her passion for outdoor learning with our Pre-School aged children, helping them to grow and flourish here at Ninny's. Clare is both a qualified Early Years’ Teacher and one of our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation

This fun activity allows the children to practice their concentration and pincer grip. Using colourful tweezers, they carefully pick up the paper worms and collect them in bowls. It’s a fantastic way to strengthen those tiny muscles that will help them with writing and drawing in the future! #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #EarlyYearsEducation #ImaginativePlay #FineMotorSkills #LearningThroughPlay

With the help of our Early Years Practitioner, Olivia, our adventurous little ones are mastering their homemade staircase. The joy of reaching the top and taking that big leap down is all about building confidence, coordination, and having loads of fun. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #OutdoorPlay #LittleAdventurers

On the road to fun and learning! 🚗🚌 No time for a detour! Our Learner Drivers are busy navigating their way through town, exploring the ins and outs of traffic with their cars, buses, and lorries. It’s a great way to build spatial awareness and develop social skills as they share the road. #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #ImaginativePlay #OutdoorNursery

Teamwork makes the dream work! 🌟 The children love working together to create amazing structures in our outdoor space. It’s all about cooperation, creativity, and a whole lot of fun! 🛠️🏰 #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #OutdoorPlay #BuildingFriendships

The Magic of Make-Believe! 🧚‍♀️ Our little explorers are having a blast in Fairy Land, where their imaginations run wild. They’re busy scooping sand, practicing their fine motor skills, and creating enchanted adventures for their fairy friends! #NinnysHouse #EarlyYears #PreSchool #SensoryPlay #Exploring #EarlyYearsEducation #ForestSchool

This just sums up the magic of early years for me entirely….the joy of learning maths, literacy, mark making and the celebration of diversity with a blackboard, chalk and conversation with a ‘more knowledgeable other’…..the children started out by measuring how tall they were…this lead to a conversation about who was taller, shorter, higher or lower…and then which mark was for who, how would we know? Could we use different colours? Or perhaps names? And who could write their first letter? No table, no chair, no guided sheet, no pressure, no child ‘forced’ to take part or to follow an adult lead activity…..just glorious learning through play, the joy of interactions between children and a skilled practitioner and the celebration of increased learning as an outcome. Perfection!! Oh, and a secret fairy garden to ignite curiosity for small world play, we couldn’t leave that out… ♥️ #earlyyears #learningthroughplay #skilledpractitioner #earlyyearsprofessional #thejoyofplay #playistheworkofchildhood ♥️

The joy of big loose parts, risky play and good friends…..♥️ #earlyyears #outdoorplay #outdoorlearning #childleadplay #riskyplay

We are ready to play…and ready for whatever the weather throws at us!! #earlyyears #childleadplay #childrenatthecentreoftheirlearning #playistheworkofchildhood

A week in pictures….and finally some sunshine! The joy of early years is the adventures that we go on with just a little imagination, so this week we have…been robots, ridden a jet ski, done a spot of metal detecting, been to the beach on a train, snuggled to read books, tackled obstacle courses and climbing walls and generally had huge amounts of fun!! ♥️ #early years #earlyyearsoutdoors #freshairtherapy #childleadplay #childcentredpractice #ninnyshouse

We have been learning about how to take care of our bodies recently. We were lucky to have a Nurse visit and teach us about our hearts and what happens in hospitals. We also had a lady come in and teach us about our teeth! We got to clean some giants teeth and sang some funny songs! #ninnyshouse #eyfsoralhealth #peoplewhohelpus #earlyyears #preschool #stmarybourne #nurseeyfs #doctoreyfs

What a lovely sunny day we had yesterday! The children had lots of fun scrubbing our muddy bikes from the previous wet weather days. We’ve also been celebrating Lunar New Year, Pancake Day and Valentines. What a busy week! #outdoornursery #stmarybournenursery #ninnyshouse #andovernursery #funinthesun #tufftray #lunarnewyear #nursery #earlyyears

The rain won’t stop us! We love when Stow Sports comes to visit. Rugby in the rain was so much fun 🏉 #outdoornursery #rugby #preschool #sports #physicaleducation #wetplay #ninnyshouse

What a fun and messy week we’ve had at Ninny’s! The children have been exploring our dinosaur swamp looking at the footprints their dinosaurs have made as well as practicing their scooping and filling skills. We have also been looking at harvest and of course Spooky potions! What have you been doing this week? 😁 #ninnyshouse #outdoorlearning #dinosaurswamp #earlyyears #harvest #tufftray #halloween #autumntufftray #preschool #sensoryplay #mathstray

It’s been a messy play kind of week in the baby room! Our babies have been splashing, squeezing, clapping and spreading in all kinds of materials. We were even lucky enough to spot a colourful rainbow in the sky!🌈#ninnyhouse #outdoornursery #under2s #earlyyears #earlyyearseducation #messyplay #sensoryplay #exploring

We have been exploring bug habitats, construction sites as well as fairytopias. Unfortunately the happy land town was on fire! Thank goodness our fire fighters came to rescue them! #ninnyshouse #outdoorlearning #outdoorpreschool #forestschool #tufftray #preschool #habitat #constructiontray #fairytopia #happyland

Absolutely delighted with the outcome of our unannounced environmental health inspection today! Huge credit to our fantastic team who work so hard to keep everything shipshape here at Ninny’s House 🙌🫶#ninnyshouse #earlyyearsoutdoors #superbteamwork

This week our babies have been busy exploring pumpkins in all different ways 🎃From scooping to painting (and of course tasting!), the babies have enjoyed all the textures. We have been practising both our fine and gross motor skills in our activities. #ninnyshouse #pumpkins #earlyyears #outdoornursery #forestschool #stmarybourne #halloween #babymessyplay #exploreearlyyears #nursery

☀️Fun in the sun! What a lovely start to the first week of term and a warm welcome to all our new children☀️ #ninnyshouse #earlyyears #outdoornursery #hampshirenursery #outdoorlearning

The joy of the beautiful area that we are lucky enough to call ‘home’ for Ninny’s House is that we can explore far and wide….these 15 little pairs of legs walked a mammoth 4km!! And all the while chatting and learning about the natural world, which just so happens to be one of our curricular goals….so a beautiful walk with the best little people we know and a big learning tick at the same time! What could be better?! #earlyyears #earlyyearsoutdoors #outdoorlearning #mindfulness #Ninnyshouse #ninnyshouseoutdoors

Today’s the day!! 🥳🥳 Although we are open all year round, today is the last day of this academic year and the day we celebrate our biggest little people going off to school! We are so proud of them all and will miss them very much! After party pics to follow 🎉🎊🎈#earlyyears #ninnyshouse #transition #earlyyearsoutdoors #partytime

The joys of child centred and open ended play…our children love mark making and our amazing staff love finding creative ways of facilitating it. We were recently gifted some long strips of artificial turf, which lent themselves to bring decorated with fabulous squeezy paint! As you can see, paint was squeezed out, pressed in, painted along, dotted around and blended in all sorts of ways as the children enjoyed strengthening their fine motor muscles, making their marks and telling us what they were. Then, hey presto!! 🧙‍♀️ 🪄 In a lovely, magical demonstration of how children direct their own, open ended play, our decorated turf was turned into an obstacle course! The children loved it, forming their own queue and managing taking their own turns beautifully. So today, our staff have extended that by saving the turf and recreating a different obstacle course that is accessible for all! The joys of watching children and learning from them are endless ♥️#earlyyears #learningthroughplay #earlyyearsoutdoors #childcentredlearning #childleadlearning #ninnyshouse

Mark making doesn’t have to be all about a pencil and paper, so the team came up with some activities to match the chilly weather and to encourage mark making all at the same time! #earlyyears #earlyyearsoutdoors #markmaking #grossmotorskillsdevelopment #ninnyshouseoutdoorlearning

Autumn has brought us plenty of treasures to collect and play with….and a VERY exciting visitor too! 🚜 🍂 #earlyyearsoutdoors #outdoorlearning #childcentredapproach #ninnyshouse #earlyyearseducation

Our child centred approach means that we cover all aspects of a child’s development. At times, we concentrate on a particular aspect and, today, we focussed on some aspects of fine motor development - scissor skills and threading! Timeless skills for life which start in the early years….look carefully at our threading activity and you will also see it’s a great example of differentiation - that is, one activity which is suitable for children aged 1, 2, 3 or 4. The children and I are so lucky to be looked after by a team of skilled and dedicated practitioners who take the time and care to get to know our little ones, assess their development and then plan activities appropriately. So….let’s play!! #ninnyshouse #earlyyearsoutdoors #earlyyearscareandeducation #playistheworkofchildhood #learningthroughplay #lifeskills

We love our visits from Katie @cookerydoodledoonorthhants - our very own ‘Cooking Katie’! The skills, concentration and conversation and language that are stimulated by her input with the children are a pleasure to watch. And the final results taste amazing too!! Thank you Katie ♥️ #ninnyshouse #earlyyearseducation #lifeskills #cookerydoodledoonorthhants

Who knew that our climbing wall would make such a fabulous camp? ♥️ #outdoorlearning #earlyyearsoutdoors #ninnyshouse #roleplay #childcentredlearning #childleadlearning

Anything to encourage mark making!! #ninnyshouse #outdoorlearning #prewritingskills #markmaking

Our approach at Ninny’s House is child centred - our ethos is ‘Every child an individual, every child at the centre’. Consequently, the children are at the centre of everything we do - yes, even preparing snack! The children help to choose, sometimes buy and to prep their snack, therefore promoting and fostering their ability to advocate for themselves, their self help skills and their sense of self-esteem, pride and achievement ♥️ #earlyyearseducation #ninnyshouse #childcentredlearning

All things play dough and mark making today ♥️ #earlyyearseducation #outdoorlearning #ninnyshouse #playistheworkofchildhood

God bless your Majesty ♥️ God save the King #elizabeththegreat

What better to do in the rain than to wash your bike and then take it out for a ride?! Very reasonable rates at Ninny’s House if you need your bike washed, only £60 I’m told! #outdoorlearning #earlyyearsoutdooors #enablingenvironment #ninnyshouse #childcentredlearning

The weather hasn’t quite made its mind up but we are outside and on the go! Our younger children are going to their yoga session before coming back for snack, which our older ones will have prepped for them 🍌🍎 Have a lovely day everyone ♥️ #earlyyearsoutdoors earlyyearscareandeducation #outdoorlearning #freshairtherapy #thereisnobadweatheronlybadclothing

We are ready for PLAY - the most imporatant work of childhood! Are you?! Then come on down to join us! #earlyyears #playistheworkofchildhood #learningthroughplay #outdoorlearningenvironment #ninnyshouse

‘Big build’ has always been a huge hit with our Ninny’s House children - block play is a very important developmental stage, and I think these photos show just how versatile and important that is! From simple to more superior towers, to stability testing such towers, to walking the plank to a ‘pirate ship’, through to a small but complex ‘airport’….the possibilities are endless! And the rich conversation and learning is a joy to behold…today one of our little ones decided he needed a ‘taller friend’ to help him reach his ever growing tower, which lead to the older children lining up in height order to establish who was the tallest. The mathematical language and learning going in was fantastic! And, of course, a thank you hug is always included ♥️ #earlyyears #outdoornursery #playingistheworkofchildhood #outdoorlearning #childcentredpractice

Our children really enjoyed junk modelling and playing with good old cardboard boxes last week….so our brilliant team extended that behind the scenes to create Buckingham Palace in time for the Platinum Jubilee! We have read stories and talked about the Queen and her amazing 70 year reign, so we hope the children have shared that with you at home. We also enjoyed dressing up as kings, queens and princesses, or in red white and blue, and had a lovely Jubilee picnic! Now the children are back for a new week, I wonder where their interests will take us? #earlyyears #playistheworkofchildhood #aboxcanbeanythingyoumakeit

Role play is very popular at Ninny’s House at the moment, and it’s a very important developmental stage too! Children use adults and the world around them to inspire their play and to recreate everyday routines which support their physical, social and emotional development. Our practitioners will choose the right time to trust the children with real world tools for their play, as you can see here with the china crockery. The concentration, care and skill used here by our little chap who is only two is awesome to watch ♥️ #learningthroughplay #realworldplay #trust #earlyyearscareandeducation

Doesn’t everyone need a jet pack when going on a walk up a big hill? ♥️ #earlyyears #playistheworkofchildhood #imaginativeplay #creativity

Fine motor skill and upper limb strengthening play….or, as the children call it, making lemonade - or soup - or coffee - or medicine - in fact, whatever their imaginations decide!! The photos clearly show the effort, determination and strength the children are using as they squeeze, squelch, press, and force every last drop of juice out of their lemons, limes and oranges. This is play - the children are totally immersed in it - but these are also fantastic pre-writing skills of core strength, shoulder stability and strength, and hand and finger fine motor strength. Fabulous!! By the way, the ‘lemonade’ tasted delicious and the faces we made whilst tasting it were very funny!! #playistheworkofchildhood #earlyyears #prewritingskills #pretendplay

The children are talking about springtime at the moment and all of the developments that they can see in nature on our lovely walks. So our practitioners brought some of that nature inside, with a vase of tulips used as an invitation to paint, with a variety of tools provided…as you can see, printing with a fork produces a very pretty tulip! However, as always, the children are free to steer their activities in their own direction and you can see the beautiful variety of paintings that were produced….the true delight though, is in the breadth and depth of conversation as the children describe in detail what they are painting, the level of motor skills they are using to manipulate their chosen painting tool, the core and upper limb strength they are using whilst kneeling up or weight bearing through their arms as they paint….not just a pretty picture after all then! #earlyearseducation #holisticlearning #playistheworkofchildhood

We are hiring! Please follow the link below for the opportunity to join our outstanding, professional and forward thinking team. We can't wait to hear from you! https://uk.indeed.com/job/early-years-practitioner-a1624154cc62d177

We’ve been so busy having fun that we haven’t posted much lately! Here are a few snaps from last week whilst we all take a well earned rest over the long weekend ♥️ A very happy Easter from us all at Ninny’s House, see you next week for lots more adventures! #outdoorlearning #lookingfortreasure #childcentred #playistheworkofchildhood

Sunshiney walks in between April showers, looking to see what we can see and what treasures we can find ♥️#outdoorlearning #freshairtherapy #earlyyearsoutdoors #physicaldevelopment #learningthroughnature #findingwalks

Tuesday is yoga day with Kylie at Ninny’s House, and the children LOVE it! The levels of concentration, focus and mindfulness in children aged 2, 3 and 4 are amazing to watch. Our lovely early years practitioners join in to, though it would be true to say that the children are somewhat more flexible for sure….♥️ #earlyyears #yogaposes #mindfulness #namaste

Exploring our new outdoors! The play, physical skills and conversation that were stimulated by a fallen tree were phenomenal…one quote in particular made me smile - “This bit is not so very stable, Ninny!” #outdoorplay #outdoorlearning #riskyplay #riskyplaymatters #riskyplaybenefits #riskyplayiscrucialfordevelopment

One of the first conversations I had yesterday morning went thus…. “Ninny, I can’t play with the play dough!” “Oh! Why not?” “It’s too sticky and yucky and it sticks to my hands and I can’t make anything!” “Then what do you think we should do?” Cue the most fantastic collaboration, children working together to identify that they needed some flour…the flour was found and our ‘big boys’ worked together to rescue the play dough, using not only their collaborative and critical thinking skills, but their hand and arm strength too, all vital ‘school readiness’ and pre-writing skills….finally, when it was ready, they divided it up and shared it with their littlest friends. And, to boot, we discovered that our ‘ice cream cones’ make a brilliant noise when clapped together, which lead to an unplanned and child lead singing session 🎶 🎵 What a fantastic start to our day and what a super learning opportunity ♥️ #earlyyears #learningthroughplay #playistheworkofchildhood

#ninnyshousedayout #outdoorlearning #freshairtherapy #bestteamever♥️

We are so very proud of how the children have settled into their ‘new’ Ninny’s House this week. And, despite the weather, we are still spending as much time outdoors as we can….after all, what else would you do when you find the biggest puddle in the world?! ♥️

And we are ready! The first leg of our ‘new’ Ninny’s House journey has begun - we can’t wait to see you all tomorrow! Thank you all for your fantastic support, we are all hugely grateful ♥️

Are you passionate about working with children? Do you have a desire to progress your career? Do you love the outdoors? Would you like to work with a committed, friendly, forward thinking and dedicated team? If so, look no further! Ninny's House is hiring and we would love to hear from you - please apply at https://uk.indeed.com/viewjob?t=early+years+practitioner&jk=c230b0b62b6d95b3&_ga=2.33063804.336408625.1646663634-591503864.1606227316

‘Mark making’ is very popular at Ninny’s House, and it rarely means sitting down at a table with a pencil in hand! All of these standing up activities - rolling, printing, pressing, finger painting, upright or vertical drawing on a board - are fantastic for core strength, upper arm strength and fine motor skills which, in turn, are vital for future writing ability. The best part, though, is hearing the children narrating the marks and pictures they produce - a road made from a paint roller or the dinosaurs on the chalkboard 🦕 all lead to fabulous conversation and language between children and practitioners. So much learning to come out of so much play! 🥰

On nicer days than today, when we don’t have to stay indoors and batten down the hatches, we love nothing more than going for a walk in the surroundings of Ninny’s House. The benefits, both physical and emotional, for children and practitioners, are immeasurable ♥️ As you can see, there was a special guest on this walk - ‘Ned the Ted’ - our much loved bear who is presented to our ‘Star of the Day’ each day, to go home with them for a sleepover. I only wish I didn’t have to blur out our gorgeous little faces so that you could truly see the pride, confidence and huge boost to self esteem that Ned generates in the children - their smiles say it all! #earlyyears #understandingbehaviour #positiveapproaches #outdoorlearning #benefitsofoutdoors

‘Big build’ is a very popular activity at Ninny’s House….and just look at this amazing creation! We observed children aged two, three and four years old working together to communicate, collaborate and create this masterpiece - in this case, an airport for their planes! Amazing, creative play ♥️

Our Ninny’s House children love their Forest School sessions. This week the children concentrated on using tools to make their own ‘bow and arrow’ from their chosen materials. So much imaginative play resulted! ♥️

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Here at Ninny’s House, every experience is a learning opportunity! Lunch time is a social occasion where the children help lay the tables, count how many friends are eating with them and self-serve their own lunch. Adult practitioners sit with the children and share the same lunch, stimulating conversation about likes and dislikes, trying new tastes and modelling table manners and how to use a knife and fork. Everyone enjoys the experience together! xx

Fluffy mud recipe: ⬇️ Toilet paper Soap flakes Warm water Fluffy mud is super easy to make. All you need to do is rip up some toilet paper, I do usually use a whole roll. Add a cup of soap flakes or you can grate up a soap bar of your own choice. And some warm water I usually use 2 cups worth. The fluffy mud will come out white and you can mould it into shapes and figures however if you like you can add a little paint. For instance before I added brown paint and then used the fluffy mud for a farm set up. Not that we don’t like using real mud and soil too but it’s something different. It is ideal for those children who do not always like getting mucky hands as after playing your hands feel smooth and soft from the soap. However today I did not have soap flakes or a bar of soap so I used fairy washing up liquid which does also work it just makes it green or yellow instead of white. I let the children explore and I modelled that you can mould the fluffy mud. I purposely didn’t mould all the tissue as encouraging children to do it really strengthens their hand muscles. This was an indoor activity tray whilst we were warming up. Along with play dough, lego and dress up in our preschool room. (In case you’re curious I added salt underneath for finger drawings) #fluffymud #sensoryexploration #preschoolinspiration #earlyyearsideas #easyrecipes

Ninny’s house is now closed for Christmas. Despite the challenging year we survived through 2021 with your help! Hooray🎄 It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying the Christmas party today. We would like to thank all of you for the lovely gifts you gave that was very thoughtful. Have a happy Christmas and a good new year. We will see you all in 2022 🎉🥳🎁 Lots of love from Ninny, Clare, Sue, Emily + Emily, Brennan, Charlotte, Sophie, Sally, Zoe, Vicky and Danni xx

This morning a group of girls made the sand tray Christmassy calling it “Christmas sand” and then started building snowmen. Have a look they are wonderful, really creative. #creativethinking #childrenideas #sandplay

This is a popular activity at Ninnys. Using hammers and nails whilst learning about patterns, shapes and sizes. #mathematicactivities #shapesandcolours #learningthroughplay #learningeveryday #earlyyearsmaths

We often set up towns and villages for children to play with, which gets the children talking about their community. They ask each other where they live and they try to describe to each other a little bit about their lives. Including their families, friends, pets, hobbies, interests, dislikes and much more. Visits to PYO, Finkley farm or the local village shop, all this conversation is being stimulated through play. We encourage children to see the similarities and differences of the people in their family and their community. We are helping children understand the world they live in. #understandingtheworld #peopleandcommunities #smallworldplay #physicalactivities #earlyyearssetting

As its turning to the Winter months we have been talking about the exciting snow we had at the weekend. We are hoping for some more however until then we are making our own snow. Today with mouldable soap the children created an igloo! They found several hidden penguins and wanted to give them a home. It was a messy activity as underneath the soap was different coloured paint ready for them to discover and use on the natural objects. #hiddentoys #tufftrayideas #soapplay #seaanimals #nurseryplay #nurseryinspo #outdoorplay #playwithpaint

Thank you team for coming in today to shuffle around the nursery. We have made some improvements to support our child led play. Outdoors we now have a play dough station. Where the children can access all ingredients needed to produce their own play dough and they can be encouraged with recipe books. We also have an outdoor open-ended art area where children can access paint, glue, materials by themselves to get creative. And lastly, very exciting, we are creating a tool area! Well supervised children will have access to tools to make wooden objects of their choice. To support this we are asking if any parents or friends have any spare tools they no longer need. Or bits of wood, scrap materials, car tyres etc. If so please let us know it would be very appreciated and will be well used. Thank you. We are excited to see how the children respond to our new changes! See you tomorrow. #artarea #curiosity #curiosityapproach #constructionequipment #looseparts #outdoornursery #childdevelopment #childrensinterests #babyarea #toolplay #mudkitchenideas

Happy Friday! We are all ready and set up waiting to see you all 👋 #physicalactivity #movement #outdooradventures #ridingbikes #freeplay #childcare

Thursday, 11th November Remembrance Day 2021 at Ninnys house. #poppies #remembranceday #remembrance #takingpart #ww1 #childrensplay #artwork #playdough

We hope everyone had a lovely weekend watching fireworks. We are still celebrating from Halloween weekend here at Ninnys house! We often find children are more interested in events after they have experienced it. Therefore we are supporting their interests and we are smashing pumpkins, dressing up and making spider webs at Forest school. #creativity #childrensinterests #outdoorplay #halloween2021 #forestschool #childrensideas #follow #handskills

Loose parts play is popular in our baby room. We are asking parents and friends if you have any spare loose parts at home that our children would be able to play with. Some examples of loose parts are on this table. Other examples of what we are looking for are, pebbles, sea shells, wood slices, pegs, dried fruit, corks, chains etc. We are also looking out for door handles, locks, clogs, padlocks, small mirrors to create our own busy lock board for in the garden. If you have any of these things that is not being used and you’re happy to give to us then we would be very grateful and it would be well played with. Thank you. #cognitivedevelopment #finemotorskills #grossmotorskills #looseparts #loosepartsactivity

Wondering what your child is up to? They are most likely playing in one of these dens. Did you know that building a den with your child helps with language, mathematical, physical and social development. It also requires creativity and determination. We build dens outside at any time of the day. Dens can be reassuring for a child when they want some quiet time in a comfy area. Often when a child asks to make a den we encourage the child to ask some more friends to join in as building a den requires team work. With a team of young children they learn to negotiate, share, problem solve and cooperate whilst having fun and achieving a goal. At Ninnys house we have a luxury of several building materials so they can build on the patio or the grass area or down at Forest school. But if you’re at home use a cardboard box they will have fun for hours. #denbuilding #den #teamwork #creativity #outdoorplay #eyfsactivity #eyfsoutdoors #play #outdooractivitiesforkids

We had an open-ended activity this morning of pouring multi coloured water down our funnels and pipes. This activity helps children develop fine motor skills by filling, scooping and pouring out different sized containers. It does also support childrens gross motor skills by carrying the large buckets and bowls. Water play also develops childrens maths concept as we speak about water being heavy and we speak about less and more. For instance some children like to count how many scoops it takes to fill up a bucket of water! Our children were actually a bit disappointed that it wasn’t raining today so displaying a transporting schema they created their own puddles to splash in! #waterplay #wetday #waterchanneling #mathactivity #physicalactivities #outdooractivities #wellyday #childrenactivities #outdoorplay

🎃Have a look through our morning activities today! 🎃 Since it is the last week of October (😱) we have had out several halloween inspired activities. Our ‘worm’ tray which was spaghetti, blended up chickpeas and food colouring was very popular to play with. We saw fine motor skills being used all morning from pinning novelty pumpkins to finger painting to using tweezers to pick out conkers between sticky jelly. #messyplay #nurseryideas #playoutside #pumpkinpainting #spaghettiplay #outdoornursery #halloweenactivities #finemotorplay #jellyplay

Our Thursday group have been doing so well down at Forest school that they have been treated to a real fire and marshmallows. 🔥 They loved the experience and couldn’t wait to tell their mummys and daddys. Well done. #forestschool #outdooractivitiesforkids #bonfire #roastedmarshmallows #ruralnursery #outdoornursery

Leaf, chickpea, conker soup! #creativeplay #naturalresources #foodplay #roleplay

The fairies are here to make this thunderstorm disappear. 🧚‍♀️🧚 #magicalwoods #fairygarden #outdooractivitiesforkids #outdoornursery #fairyroleplay #smallworld #busy #pumpkin #pumpkincarving