Hampshire House 

Bring on Spring 

The arrival of the glorious Spring weather has brought with it an abundance of learning opportunities to inspire our children’s sense of wonder and discovery. As you travel through Hampshire House this week you will encounter children planting carrots, cuddling bunnies, digging in dirt, collecting earthworms and toasting their toes in the sunshine.

Our young children learn best through rich, hands-on investigations which encourages discovery, experimentation, questioning and critical thinking. The children have been relishing in creating their own vegetable gardens, discovering how they can grow carrots sustainably by using the bottom of each carrot, and identifying different parts of plants and vegetables.

In preparation for their planting, whilst digging in the garden, the children came across a wriggly worm. This prompted a whole new investigation and discussion about the anatomy of worms. Some children inquired if worms had eyes and wondered how you knew if a worm was asleep. The children decided to draw representations of worms and discovered that they could even make ‘squirmy worms’ out of clay. By sharing their ideas with one another the children extended each other’s thinking. By the end of the week, we were all experts on earthworms. We also have a newfound appreciation for our worm farm, as we understand more about the important role worms play in our garden ecosystem.

It is not just animals under the ground that captured our imagination. This week Bobby shared with us her new bunny friend ‘Bugsy’, who hopped in just in time for Spring. The children were eager to touch his soft silky fur and asked many questions, What do rabbits eat?  Why do they have such long floppy ears?  How do they learn how to hop? Capturing children’s interest and promoting question in this way allows our children to gain greater understanding of the world around them, challenges their own thinking and creates new knowledge and understandings through collaborative interactions.

There is nothing like a child’s sense of wonder at the simple things in life, to inspire us all to slow down and take time ourselves and to marvel at the world around us…. and become curiouser and curiouser!

Ms Simone Cooke

Director Hampshire House