From Our World to Yours

Hello from all of us at KatieB Kids!

We’ve had another busy month filled with lots of playing, wondering, creating and discovering together.

We’ve been bringing lots of the things we know from home into our play. We’ve looked after our babies, brushed their teeth, given them baths and made them breakfast. We’ve set tables, made pretend food and even opened our own mud pie restaurant! We love using the things we already know to create our own games and stories.

We’ve been very curious about the world around us too. We’ve searched for spiders and wondered how they make their webs, built a cosy home for a wiggly worm and explored some very interesting vegetables. Did you know that a parsnip has a spiky bit hiding inside?

Our imaginations have taken us even further. We’ve made animals and faces from clay, turned sticks into birthday candles and travelled all the way into space in rockets inspired by Whatever Next!

We’ve also been learning what it means to be part of our nursery community. Some of us have become Helper of the Day, we’ve cheered our friends through obstacle courses, helped new friends find what they need and discovered that sometimes a tricky job becomes much easier when we do it together.

Most of all, we’ve had lots of ideas of our own. Our educators have been watching and listening carefully to see what interests us, what we return to and where our ideas might take us next.

We can’t wait to show you what we discover!

Love,
The Children at KatieB Kids x

Who Matters in Your Child’s World?

Children show us who matters to them in all sorts of ways and they don’t always use words to do it. Perhaps your child saves the seat beside them for someone, copies something another child has been doing or asks whether a particular person will be somewhere before agreeing to go. Maybe there is someone they always choose to chase around the park, share with or seek out when they arrive.

These small moments give us glimpses into a child’s relational world. The people and connections that hold meaning for them.

As part of our current enquiry into belonging, we have been thinking about what it means for a child to experience themselves as known, to feel that the things, people and relationships that matter to them are noticed and understood.

Become a relationship detective

For a few days, rather than asking “Who are your friends?”, see what your child shows you.

Listen: Whose name keeps appearing in stories about their day?

Watch: Who do they choose to sit beside, follow, help, imitate or invite into their play?

Notice the little things: Do they save a place for someone, notice when they are missing or remember something that person likes?

Look beyond busy play: Connection can also mean sitting alongside someone, watching what they are doing or simply enjoying being together.

Stay curious: Instead of “Ava is your best friend, isn't she?”, try “I noticed you and Ava spent lots of time together today. Tell me about it.”

Something to wonder about…

At the end of the week, ask yourself: Who seems to matter in my child’s world, and how did they show me? You might find that the most meaningful clues aren't in who your child tells you their friends are, but in the small choices and connections woven through their day.

The Knowledgeable Observer

Looking beyond what children are doing to notice what they are thinking.

A child searches for spiders once, and it might simply be an interesting moment. But when they return to the search the next day, remember where they found one before, begin noticing webs and encourage their friends to be gentle, something more is unfolding. This is where the Knowledgeable Observer comes in. Skilled observation isn't simply watching what children do. Our educators look for the ideas underneath their play: What keeps drawing this child back? What have they noticed? What are they trying to understand? How is their thinking changing?

What happens next matters

It can be tempting for an adult who spots an interest to immediately turn it into an activity. But sometimes the best response is to wait. An educator might introduce a magnifying glass, find a book, offer a new material or wonder aloud alongside the child. At other times, they may simply make sure there is enough time and space for the child to continue investigating for themselves. The aim isn't to take over the enquiry, but to recognise when our involvement might help an idea travel further.

Try the educator’s lens

Next time your child becomes absorbed in something, spend a few moments watching before joining in. Instead of beginning with “What could I teach them about this?”, try wondering:

What have they already noticed?
What do they keep returning to?
What might they be trying to work out?
Do they need something from me? or simply more time?

You might offer a different tool or material, look something up together, ask a question, or do nothing at all. Because sometimes the most powerful way to support children's learning is not to lead them towards our next idea, but to notice where their own thinking is already taking them.

What’s Hiding Inside?

A potato or parsnip might be familiar at the dinner table, but what happens when we explore one before it becomes food?

This month, the children have been investigating winter vegetables. Rather than simply tasting them, they have washed, dried, rolled, dropped and snapped them, discovering their different shapes, textures and properties along the way. One discovery was particularly intriguing: the strange, spiky centre hiding inside a parsnip. Experiences like this invite children to encounter food in a completely different way. A vegetable becomes something to investigate: How does it feel? Is it heavy? Will it roll? What happens when it breaks? What's inside?

Before we eat it, explore it

At home, try choosing an unfamiliar fruit or vegetable, or simply look differently at one you use all the time. Before cutting or cooking it, let your child investigate.

What does the outside feel like?
Does it have a smell?
Is it heavy or light?
Will it roll?
What do you think might be inside?

Then cut it open together. You could compare the inside with the outside, look for seeds, notice patterns and colours, or investigate which parts feel different.

There is no need to know all the answers. “I don't know, shall we find out?” is a wonderful response to a child's question.

Connecting children with where food comes from

Exploring ingredients before they are prepared can give children time to become familiar with food without the expectation that they must immediately eat it. It also creates natural opportunities to talk about where our food comes from, how it grows and which parts of a plant we eat. And importantly, exploration doesn't have to mean waste. The vegetables we investigate can still become part of lunch, a recipe or another planned use afterwards.

When children have opportunities to look closely at the food they eat, an everyday ingredient can become a connection to something much bigger, the soil it grew in, the people who grew it, the season it belongs to and eventually the food on their plate.

Step Outside Together

September can be a lovely month for being outdoors. There are still warm days to enjoy, while the first signs of autumn begin appearing around us.

And outdoor time doesn't need to involve an elaborate activity. A walk, a garden, a local park or simply taking a little longer on the journey home can give children opportunities to move, notice, wonder and connect with the people they're with. Sometimes the simplest invitation is enough: What can you hear? What has changed? Where shall we go? What have you spotted that I haven't?

Looking for a little inspiration?

We've brought together some of our favourite Outside Play Ideas for families, simple invitations for getting outdoors, exploring together and making the most of the world on your doorstep.

A Moment to Pause

Children’s days can be wonderfully busy. They move between people, places, play, conversations and experiences, often with very little space between one thing and the next.

Mindfulness with young children doesn’t need to mean sitting still, closing their eyes or trying to empty their minds. It can simply mean helping them pause long enough to notice what is happening in the present moment. That might happen while listening to rain against a window, feeling the wind on their face, watching something move in the trees or stopping to hear how long the sound of a bell lasts. In fact, we saw a lovely example of this at nursery this month. During our .dots work on Concentration, one child sounded the singing bowl and gently moved their ear towards it, listening carefully as the sound gradually disappeared. Nothing complicated was needed. Just one sound and enough time to notice it.

Try a one-minute pause

Choose something you can experience together and give it your full attention for just a moment. You might:

• listen for the furthest-away sound you can hear

• watch clouds moving across the sky

• hold something natural and notice how it feels

• listen to a piece of music until the final sound disappears

• notice where you can feel your breathing moving your body

You don't need to tell your child to “be mindful”. Simply wondering “What can you notice?” is enough.

Why pause?

These tiny moments aren't about expecting young children to be calm or still all the time. Movement, noise, excitement and big feelings are all part of childhood. Instead, they introduce children to the experience of bringing their attention to one thing for a short time; something they can gradually draw upon when they want to pause, focus or reconnect with what is happening around them.

When a Space Becomes Their Place

Adults create lots of spaces for children. We choose where their toys live, arrange their bedrooms, set up play areas and decide what goes in the garden. But something interesting can happen when children are given opportunities to shape those spaces for themselves. A blanket draped between two chairs becomes their den. A collection of treasures appears beside the bed. Furniture is moved to make room for a game. A cardboard box is positioned somewhere very deliberately and, long after we think its usefulness has passed, we're told “No! I still need that!” The space has begun to hold meaning because the child has had a hand in creating what happens there.

Give them a little ownership

Choose a small space your child uses regularly and resist the temptation to decide exactly how it should work. It doesn't need to be an entire bedroom. It could be a shelf, a corner, a windowsill, a patch of garden or somewhere to play. Ask:

“What would you like to do here?”
“Is there anything you need?”
“Where do you think that should go?”

Then see what happens. Their choices may not be the ones you would make, and that's part of the point.

Why does it matter?

Having some influence over their environment gives children an opportunity to experience agency: my ideas can affect the world around me. They can make decisions, solve practical problems, change their minds and discover what works for them. And because they have contributed something of themselves, an otherwise ordinary space can gradually become a place with meaning.

This doesn't mean children need complete control of their environment or that every creation has to remain forever. It's about making room, where we can, for children to leave a little of themselves in the places they inhabit. Sometimes belonging isn't only about being welcomed into a space. It is also about being able to shape it and feel, in some small way, “this is mine too.”

Growing our Community Together

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“Until next time, here’s to curiosity, creativity, and plenty of muddy knees!”