Welcome back to Blackberry House Day Nursery Newsletter! In our monthly issues we will be letting you know of the achievements and beautiful learning opportunities that children engaged in that month from across our four settings. We will also be providing you with two articles that will keep you informed within the sector and might even provide some helpful information! In this month’s issue we have covered the importance of Healthy Eating in young children as well as Advice on Fussy Eaters.
Thank you for your continued support and enjoy reading!
February 2025
This month we have been super busy looking at our new outdoor environments and understanding the areas around us. We all continued to explore our winter themed activities as we moved through various of aspects of the winter season. We loved spending time together in our forest schools and enjoyed drinking some hot chocolates afterwards to warm ourselves up.
We were lucky to experience all types of weather this month including frost, cold, the warm sun and even some rain! The children absolutely loved exploring the ice and jumping in puddles in our gardens! Our children also started exploring and learning all about People Who Help Us. We had some lovely visits from our local fire engines and police vehicles and even had an ambulance on our sites for the children to learn about being a paramedic! We continued with the theme as we engaged in multiple activities helping us have a better understanding of how the police, firefighters and medical team help us all.
Under 3's
Our Under 3’s worked super hard on their physical development skills this month as they explored our garden areas and moved construction resources around. We also loved exploring our PE sessions as we practiced some baby-yoga and playing in our gorgeous ball-pits! Our Toddlers also participated in our Blackberries SPA where they were able to relax whilst having a foot massage and a facial, what great fun this was!
We have seen a lot of interest in Dinosaurs this month therefore we provided plenty of both outdoor and indoor opportunities for our youngest babies. Our babies looked at exploring a dinosaur world outside as well as exploring our sensory swamp tray with different seeds, colouring and leaves. Our Toddlers also enjoyed being the nursery chef’s whilst making mud pies in our mud kitchen using various of resources and tools available.
Our youngest children also looked at how the police works as they explored making finger prints with paint. We looked at different patterns and shapes that we’ve made as we role played criminals too.
Our babies also explored sensory-love trays as we participated in Valentine’s Day this year. The children were receiving extra cuddles to make them feel loved and appreciated but also had a lot of heart-shaped fun in our activities.
Over 3's
Our Over 3’s have been super busy working on their construction skills as we build own fire engines and constructing pretend fires that we then put out. Our children loved working together in a team to create amazing vehicles and absolutely loved spraying our paint fires with real water. We also looked at practicing are letter formation, mark making and scissors skills as we role played in our Hairdressing areas.
Children also loved being the nursery chef’s as they practiced colour mixing to make new food! We continued exploring different occupations as our children were invited to our very own Blackberries SPA – this was a highly popular and enjoyed activity as the children were able to relax with a foot spa and a face mask!
We continued learning as we moved onto our own health and bodies, and all about how the medical teams can help us. Children loved looking at our bodies and learning about how things work. We even created our own X-Ray pictures as we continued exploring our bodies.
Our children also explored how the police supports us as we learnt about footprints and tracking down criminals in our muddy gardens. We looked at different shoe sizes and set up some pretend role play for them.
As we approached Valentines’ Day, we ensured all of our children are feeling super loved by us all by offering heart shaped breakfasts and an extra load of cuddles, which we all love! Our children participated in making thank-you cards to our special loved ones to make them feel loved too.
Our Preschoolers also learnt what it means to be a pilot as they took their friends on multiple adventures on our Blackberries’ aeroplanes. What great fun!
Towards the end of the month, our oldest children engaged in a lot of Pirate activities as we explored their ships and their clothing. We loved creating our own pirate ships and pretend to be pirates all day, what a fantastic opportunity this was!
Links to Development Matters
Staff Forest School Training Day
At the beginning of the month, our staff across all sites joined us for our Forest School training day. We used our time together to develop a deeper understanding of our forest school areas and improvements/changes made to them. We looked at the learning opportunities we have provided for our children and reflected on them whilst coming together with new ideas for the new term. Our staff used this time to further develop their own understanding and experience in order to be able to provide the best possible experience for our children!
At Blackberries, we all share the passion of outdoor provision and understand the importance and opportunities that Forest School provides to our children, therefore we constantly work on supporting our staff’s knowledge and own experience to ensure we all provide the best possible start and experience for all of our children.
The importance of Healthy Eating and a Balanced Diet in nursery aged children
Children under the age of five grow and develop very quickly. Due to this, they need the right nutrients to support their growth and development. A balanced diet supports their physical and mental development as well as reduces the risk of developing health conditions including obesity or type 2 diabetes. It also provides essential building blocks of their brain development, healthy growth and a strong immune system. Children need nutrients and vitamins to prevent deficiencies leading to potential health conditions or risks. As carers, we should be encouraging children to additionally drink around 6-8 glasses of water each day, having at least 60 minutes of exercise each day and ensure our children get enough sleep. All these factors contribute to a healthy diet providing the children with a good foundation for a healthy lifestyle.In general, it is understood and recommended that children under the age of 5 follow the 5-5-3-2 portion guide based on the 4 food groups that they need in order to develop and grow healthy. 5 portions of starchy food (bread, rice, pasta, cereals, potatoes), 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 3 portions of dairy foods (cheese, yogurt, milk, fromage frais) and 2 portions of protein foods (meat, fish, eggs, nuts, pulses, tofu, soya etc) are recommended each day to support children in their development. Each food group ensures the right nutrients are provided and each group plays a role in supporting our children’s growth.At Blackberries, we understand and value the importance of a healthy diet in young children, allowing parents to choose whether they wish to provide a packed lunch/dinner or choose our menus instead. Our parents have this option to ensure their child/children are supported in their healthy lifestyle journey and that they have a balanced and varied diet. Our chefs on-site provide balanced meals that are carefully selected and prepared to suit the needs of our youngest and pickiest children too. The menus are regularly reviewed and adapted when and where needed to ensure the children get a good variety and ability to explore new tastes too.If you have opted for a packed lunch, your setting will be asking you to regularly complete our Lunchbox Questionnaire. This questionnaire allows us to review the allergens that your child is bringing into the setting and ensure we are keeping all children safe. Please be mindful that we are a Nut Aware nursery that doesn’t allow any whole nuts or nut products in our settings. We encourage all of our packed-lunch families to familiarise themselves with our Healthy Lunchbox guidance that allows them to understand what a balanced and a healthy lunchbox is. We discourage multiple sweet or chocolate products as well as sugary drinks and encourage a healthy alternative or one sugary treat and milk instead. Please refer to our policies found on our website or enquire at our nursery setting to understand more.Lunchbox example: Ham sandwich, cheese snack, choice of fruit, healthy treat Cheese wrap, sausage snack, choice of vegetables, healthy crisps Jam croissant, rice crackers, choice of fruit, healthy treat
What to do if my child is very picky?
If your little one is loosing interest in their packed lunch, it is worth considering our hot-meal option. It is a fairly popular one across our sites and one that some parents and children regularly alternate. Our chefs carefully review our menus on a regular basis and ensure our meals are up to a very high standard with fresh ingredients on a daily basis. Some of our children enjoy having a hot-meal instead as it allows them to have a direct conversation with our chef or be with other children that they are not normally around. Each sitting, whether it is a hot-meal or a packed-lunch one, all children are encouraged to socialise with other children and adults around them, however some may find wanting to socialise with a different group or simply taste the meal that their chef has made for them. Our children are often also encouraged to participate in our Little Chefs activities which only further support their interest in food exploration. Those that are especially picky will see this as a good introductory experience to some of the foods they haven’t tried before. Engaging in these activities allows children to also work on their social skills as well as emotional and personal development, which can support those that are picky with their food.It is understood that patience is the key. If your child is a picky eater and isn’t open to trying new food as much as you would like them to, be patient and continue offering the food. Studies have shown that some children will be the pickiest around 2-6 years old and will need a food being offered around 15 times before they might attempt to try it. Being patient with your child and praising them for trying allows them to feel relaxed and prevents a negative relationship with food from forming.Some children need some extra motivation to try a new food, and might benefit from a ‘fun’ lunch! Occasionally, some are also more interested if they help prepare their lunch and food with the grown-ups.Please remember that every child is different, and that each child might need different approach and strategies to support them. If you are concerned about your child’s eating habits, please always seek medical advice.
