Acorns

Atherington Acorns is a friendly and supportive baby and toddler group for children from newborn up to pre-school age. We are lucky to have families from Atherington and surrounding villages coming along regularly every week, giving mums, dads and carers the opportunity to make new friends from the wider area.

The first hour is spent in free play time. We rotate the toys so there is always plenty of stimulation for little minds. Sometimes we will do a role play activity like an animal hospital, flower shop or mini café.

At the same time we have a craft table set up. The children make an item to take home, such as Elmer patchwork elephants out of old milk bottles, mother’s day cards with flowers painted with forks, marbled paper using special paints… often the craft will be based around yearly events such as Easter, Hallowe’en, Christmas etc.

One of our most popular activities is our messy play tray. This is different every week: toy diggers in sand, sea creatures in jelly or shaving foam, a fairy forest with pine cones and flowers. The children love getting mucky and exploring new textures and toys they wouldn’t be able to at home.

We have had lots of new mums and babies too, so every week we set up a soft play area with play mats, cushions and sensory baby toys, so the little ones have space to explore safely.

At the end of the session the children help tidy up, then we have snack time and a singalong on the carpet.

We get out into the sunshine as much as possible during the summer term. The children and parents love spending time in the community garden. Being outside means we can have lots of messy play with the mud kitchen, paddling pool, slip-and-slide and bubble machine. We also use the bike track with our range of little trikes and toy cars.

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