Our EXPLORERS
18 months-2 years
Our new Tweenies Room opened in 2022, and was created in response to staff feeling that the oldest children in Babies Room needed greater challenge to support their learning and development.
What better way to respond to this need, than by creating a purpose-designed room?
Our Tweenies Room consists of two spacious areas and is carefully designed to support children as they transition from the Babies Room to the Tots Room.
The first area of the room features a welcoming home corner, where our Tweenies begin to explore role play by reenacting familiar routines and experiences from home and nursery. This supports their understanding of the world while helping them to build relationships and develop early social skills as they interact with their peers.
Alongside this is a well-resourced construction and small world area, which supports the development of both fine and gross motor skills. Construction and small world play provide rich opportunities for language development, as children are introduced to and practise both familiar and new vocabulary through meaningful, play-based experiences.
We also offer a cosy corner, which provides a calm and comforting space where children can come together to share stories, look at photographs of themselves and their families, and relax. With a soft rug and plenty of cushions, this area offers a peaceful environment where our Tweenies can rest or sleep after busy and exciting play.
The second half of the room is divided into two additional spaces. One area is dedicated to messy play and is stocked with natural resources that support sensory exploration, imaginative play, and the development of social and language skills. Alongside this is an extensive mark-making area, where children can express themselves creatively using paint, chalk, and playdough, supporting early fine motor development and self-expression.
The final area features a climbing resource that allows our Tweenies to practise cross-lateral movements and develop their physical skills. This resource also encourages imitative play and supports all three Prime Areas of Learning.
The Tweenies’ garden offers a rich and engaging outdoor environment designed to support all areas of learning through play and exploration. At the centre of the garden is a large walk-in sand pit, surrounded by a mud kitchen, construction area, water play area, and a planting station where children grow and care for herbs. These areas encourage sensory exploration, imaginative play, problem-solving, and the development of social and language skills.
At the heart of the garden, there is a cosy decking area where children can build relationships, share stories, play peek-a-boo, and enjoy time together in a calm and welcoming space.
As with all of our rooms, the Tweenies also have access to our outstanding forest and farm area. Here, children walk across the uneven forest floor, exploring natural textures, sights, sounds, and smells. Time spent outdoors provides endless opportunities for our Tweenies to develop new language, build physical confidence, and deepen their understanding of the world around them. We truly believe there is no better place to learn.
In Tweenies, we continue to embed the key features of our curriculum, so that children learn and develop through play. As with Babies Room, we use key points to create a natural rhythm to the day, creating a solid foundation upon which learning can take place in a safe, supportive environment. We begin each day with our Good Morning song, followed by spending time as a group reading and talking about our book of the week. The song bag plays an important part of this time, and our Tweenies like nothing more than selecting an object from the bag and singing a nursery rhyme.
Messy play forms a key part of each day in Tweenies. Our skilled practitioners, place different, engaging resources out for the children to encourage and stimulate language and sensory development. And no day at Explorers would be complete without time outdoors. Our Tweenies love nothing more than going for long walks on the farm, watching the animals in the fields and learning about the machines as they go about their work.
As children move from Babies to Tweenies, our staff continue to work with parents and carers to establish and develop each child’s individual care routine. We really value the open dialogue we have with parents and carers, and recognise the vital role that this relationship plays in a child’s development. As in Babies Room, we continue to share the Home Book each day, detailing key moments in each child’s day.
As an eating routine is well-established for many children by the time they join Tweenies, we focus on the continued development of independence, allowing children to explore new tastes and textures for themselves, whilst also enjoying the wonderful social opportunity that mealtimes at Explorers bring.
Each room has dedicated team members who work with all our children to ensure a happy, secure and thriving environment for all.
We would love to welcome you and your family to have a look around our beautiful, inspiring setting. Give us a call and book your visit today!
