Nursery World - An A to Z of enhancements: G is for growing

A focus on plants has given children experiences of growing butterflies and African land snails. By Amy Jackson

At our nursery we are inspired by many elements of the Reggio Emilia approach, including the concept of bringing aspects of the natural world indoors. Natural objects provide sensory engagement and stimulation and are open-ended. Our plants help children to make connections to the natural world and they contribute to a calm feeling in our learning environment.

The children enjoy caring for our plants and take turns to water them. They use their senses to explore them and comment when they notice changes. Plants are enhancements to some of our activities and add a natural element to tuff spot small-world play. We set up a tray based on First Day at Bug School by Sam Lloyd with soil, sticks, rocks, toy insects, plant pots, seeds and plants. Having this kind of authentic experience of playing with all-natural objects, except the toy insects, can lead to deeper engagement. The children developed their Communication and Language skills, talking about the story as they played. They explored and described many of the natural items.

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