Our Play Spaces
At the centre of all learning within the nursery are the children. Staff members provide children with a wide range of opportunities for spontaneous, planned and purposeful activities both within an indoor and outdoor environment. From our experience children learn best through play, that is why active learning is a key component within every area of the nursery.
We have lots for your child to discover making every day exciting, stimulating and fun.
The Bluebells (3months – 1 year olds)
The Bluebell room provides a safe, secure, welcoming space for our youngest nursery members.
Holistic and exploratory play are key elements within this room, with toys and play equipment used to help stimulate movement, curiosity and wonder. Some typical actives if you popped in to see us would include: Exploring different shapes and textures in a treasure basket, Singing and shaking instrument along to music, Playing Peek-A-Boo and lots of stories & rhymes of course…
Exploring however can be a hungry and tiring task, so feeds and sleeps fall within their own daily routines. We have individual sleep pods or rest mats, where children can recharge. We offer a range of healthy meals and snacks in conjunction with any milk feeds you wish to provide; our menu foods are easily blended or mashed to suit the developing pallet. Parents of babies requiring formula or breast milk should send in clearly labelled bottles of breast milk or sterilised bottles and formula to allow feeds to be stored and freshly prepared as required.
The Buttercups (1 – 2 year olds)
The Buttercup children build on their early foundations within a nurturing and fun environment.
These early experiences of movement and physical activity can help develop the skills, attitudes, and confidence to be active throughout their life. We provide a variety of resources and equipment enabling the children to be physical and have fun, be creative using different textures, smells, sounds and tastes i.e., feeling materials, ‘gloop’, jelly, ice, pasta (cooked and uncooked), adding varying smells to water and dough, music and arts, share stories and take part in a variety of play and learning experiences whilst starting to develop a sense of independence.
Furniture has been selected with the children in mind and is therefore very specific to their needs – tables, chairs and units allow for exploration and independence enabling the children to cruise, select and explore resources in their own time.
The Daisies (2-3 year olds)
Within Daisies, we promote children’s independence in daily tasks from putting jackets on to starting to pour their own water or milk at snack and mealtimes.
Small roleplay areas allow the children to explore and develop imagination. Imaginative play helps allow children to express themselves verbally and physically, act, react and interact, and try out different roles and scenarios within safe boundaries of their own making.
By the age of two, children will often show signs of symbolic thinking, for example pushing a block of wood around the floor as a car. Everyday activities such as talking on the phone or using keys will begin to be acted out. Creative, sometimes messy, activities are always on the go and include the old favourites of playdough, jelly, mud, stones, etc. allowing those senses to further develop as well as giving the children the opportunity to listen to different music, animal sounds and sounds from the world. The list with regards to sensory experiences is endless but the results are beneficial for all.
The Juniors (3-4 year olds) and The Seniors
(4-5 year olds)
Within our Junior and Senior rooms, children build on the solid foundations they have developed within the earlier stages of nursery and begin their Curriculum for Excellence journey.
Scotland’s curricular framework encompasses care and education from 3-18 years old. Active learning and learning through play is a key approach and focus throughout this early stage of the curriculum creating a new, interesting, breadth and depth approach to all learning experiences.
We aim for a balance of intentional and responsive learning experiences, where children have opportunities to initiate and lead their play. Through consulting with the children, we also become aware of their interests and needs, which are included in our plans for learning.
Within our 3–5 year old rooms, we endeavour to promote independence, confidence and a sense of achievement, as well as supporting the children’s transition to school.
We partner with South Ayrshire Council to provide funded Early Learning and Childcare sessions throughout the full year. As each individual child’s attendance varies, we can provide advice on how these funded hours could best fit in to your own individual family circumstances within your time at Riverbank.
If Riverbank seems like the right fit for you, please call, email or use contact us to arrange a visit, discuss your requirements or register for a place.
