Nursery World - Special focus: Refreshing provision with free flow and sustainability in mind

How can early years settings update their resources indoors and outside in order to meet the individual needs of children as well as being sustainable? Karen Hartreports

Wear and tear and pre-school settings go hand in hand, and it can seem like the need to repair and replace furniture and resources is never ending. Although cost will play a big part in any decisions around purchases, there are many requirements nursery managers face that reflect the changes in the whole ethos of childcare, such as creating a seamless transition from indoor to outdoor play, and an environment that not only supports an eco-friendly approach but also promotes the idea of sustainability throughout the curriculum.

NEW APPROACHES

New approaches in pre-school practice highlight the importance of the individual child – working with personal interests, schemas and any developmental needs. In a busy nursery, most resources will also need to be suitable for a range of children, and there are some interesting new products available, such as sensory play mats – interlocking, textured orthopaedic mats that can be used as a resource for children needing sensory input. These mats can be used by everyone, as they are fun for children to walk over in their socks, feeling the different shapes and textures underfoot.

Recording and playback devices are another resource originally used for children with special educational needs (SEN), primarily non-verbal or children with speech and language difficulties. These are now available as motion-activated, interactive toys that play back messages, aiding speech development and interactions.

A big consideration when making an expensive purchase is the aftercare available from the supplier. Cosy Direct has supplied comprehensive care notes to cover all its resources via its website, while Community Playthings, a company specialising in the design and manufacture of solid wood furniture and play equipment, provides a 15-year warranty on all equipment and phone support.

Michelle Reid, early years content editor at TTS Group (part of RM Resources), has found pre-schools are now looking for resources that provide multiple play opportunities.

‘Nurseries like to update their provision to make sure there are plenty of open-ended resources that can be used in different ways and across different areas, along with resources that replicate modern life – such as role-play resources,’ she says. ‘We are also seeing an increase in nurseries looking for resources made from natural materials such as wood, with neutral tones for a more calming environment, as well as looking for advice on how to create engaging, flexible learning environments that support children’s development and the needs of every learner. This can include guidance on the resources available and the different ways they can be used to promote inclusive child-led learning.’

New government funding has brought about another area of change for many pre-school settings, as the larger cohort of younger children results in the need for more baby-room space.

Jane Hooper, regional early years business development manager at supplier YPO, has seen this reflected in an increased demand for baby care resources. ‘Pre-schools are expanding services for younger children, including nappy-changing areas, sleeping accommodations, feeding chairs and age-appropriate resources,’ she says. ‘We’re also seeing a demand for sensory and outdoor learning products for children under two, such as mud kitchens, mark-making easels, water-play stations and role-play areas.’

OUTDOORS

Outdoor play is probably the one area of nursery life that has seen the biggest change in recent years. The shift away from ‘outside playtime’ equipment and towards free-flow or total forest provision has radically changed the way practitioners think about their outside space. ‘Wild play’ is on the rise, with children playing and learning in a natural environment without, or with few, manufactured toys, instead relying on the abundance of nature, sensory experiences and their own imaginations to supply a fun and stimulating environment.

Many recent pre-school resources focus on the care of wildlife and the natural world, such as frog and toad houses, minibeast towers and interactive solitary bee hives. Another more recent development in outdoor resources are ranges aimed at the under-twos, including mud and play kitchens that are built to a smaller scale.

SUSTAINABILITY

Many suppliers are taking on board the requirements of nursery customers by bringing sustainability to the forefront, promoting care and repair services to extend product life and finding innovative ways to ensure their products are as eco-friendly as possible.

‘Sustainability, without a doubt, is on people’s minds, and many nurseries are looking for ways to make little tweaks wherever possible so they can play their part,’ says Michelle. ‘This ranges from raising children that are more environmentally aware to using resources that are responsibly made, sourced or designed to last many years. Many nurseries are also looking to reduce their waste, so buying resources that stand the test of time. At TTS, our robust safety testing and the standards of quality we adhere to ensure that resources are fit for purpose. This not only helps budgets but avoids sending more waste to landfill.’

Cosy Direct, supplier of outdoor educational resources, has implemented many initiatives to offer pre-schools eco-friendly products, which include no single-use plastics and cutting transportation by manufacturing 95 per cent of its resources in the UK and Europe, as well as offering equipment constructed from upcycled materials.

Louise Lloyd-Evans is founder of Young Friends Kindergarten in Hove, East Sussex. Winner of Nursery World’s Eco-Friendly Early Years Award 2024, Louise is passionate about integrating nature into early years, and through a child-initiated play approach has turned Young Friends into a sustainable nursery, right down to creating and renovating the setting.

‘We try to make sure all our equipment, furniture, etc. is either second-hand or upcycled, and I also make new stuff by adapting what we have – I just made a new table for our baby room,’ she says. ‘I do have to buy new sometimes, such as the cots I’ve just bought, but I only do this when it’s really necessary, to keep within the ethos of our nursery. One big purchase I recently invested in was our log cabin, which is a lovely comfy space protected from the elements. This has given us more space for children to play and explore.

‘There are no ready-made toys at Young Friends, it’s all loose-parts play. If children want to play with a doll, they make one from something like a piece of wood with a jam jar stuck on top for a head. Children learn how to use real tools in a safe environment with all safety precautions in place – there’s never a shortage of materials children can use to create with.

‘We have carried out quite a bit of rearranging due to the new government funding, which has led to more babies coming to us now. I’ve moved our baby area upstairs to give us more room, but this did mean parents were having to bring babies up an outside staircase – not perfect as it was open to the elements. I decided to invest in making this a covered area.

‘As a sustainable nursery, we obviously use washable nappies, which we used to send away to a launderette. We managed to make this more eco-friendly by keeping everything on site, investing in our own launderette, which saves money long term and, in our case, also needed to fit in with our sustainability ethos and curriculum.

‘All our meals are plant-based and additive-free. Children’s lunches are supplied by The Professional Nursery Kitchen, but we create our own snacks with children using fruit and vegetables grown in our allotment, such as beetroot muffins, seeded crackers and our home-made breadsticks – all bumpy and knobbly! One of my best investments has to be our Thermomix – it does everything, cooking, chopping, mixing, etc. and means children can complete a recipe from scratch. I’ve redesigned our allotment for maximum growing space and hired someone to work in the growing season.

‘Ultimately, some of my best investments have involved quite a bit of outlay, but these have often brought the best long-term savings. Being sustainable does pay off, and not just in a business sense but obviously for the planet too, and that’s what we’re all about, sharing that message with our children.’

CASE STUDY: The Nest Nursery

Sophie Hutton is a speech and language therapist and owner of The Nest Nursery in Bolton, Greater Manchester. The Nest is a specialist provision catering for up to 15 children a day from birth to five with a range of complex medical and neurodevelopmental needs.

Sophie changes the layout of her provision as needed. She says, ‘Children come to us at The Nest with a wide and diverse range of needs, which helps dictate the whole layout and look of our nursery. We provide a calm provision in neutral tones to reduce any sensory overload so children can investigate and explore their surroundings to build their unique skills in their own way.

‘The physical surroundings are so important to our children. Over the summer, I changed the layout of the whole setting to benefit children starting. I’ve also just opened a new, smaller room for children who need the environment modified further. A lot of our budget gets taken up with physio equipment as the NHS doesn’t supply everything we need, and the cost-of-living crisis has had a big impact, with everything getting more expensive, but we’re always looking for innovative new resources. We’re constantly buying new, as recycled materials are usually not suitable for us as we have so many children with pica – a compulsion to eat non-food items – as well as children who will regularly put objects in noses, ears, or elsewhere. We recently bought resources from Smyths’ new sensory range, and we’ve been very pleased with everything – really good quality.

‘A lot of the toys we buy are bought for individual children’s interests, for example, we have a child who loves spinning everything, so we look for items that will make good spinning toys.

‘We don’t always use specialist manufacturers; we shop around and use IKEA and Amazon for some of our purchases. Five years ago, buying from high street stores would have meant buying three times over as the quality was so poor, but now there’s some really good-quality products available and we’ve become wise to what resources will last, for example, products with a veneer surface are not good at all.

‘Sometimes I need to rearrange our setting to create new experiences, as many of our children have very fixed self-inflicted routines. This happened with a child who loves maths but is reluctant to try any resources that take him away from the maths corner. I’ve now moved the home corner right up next to his favourite area to make the transition to a new play area easier for him, to encourage him into other areas of the nursery.

‘An area I want to work on next is our outside play space, as we have inherited a lot of our big outside equipment from our mainstream nursery and I’m looking at ways to change things around.’

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