Nursery World - Outdoor - Fine days at Little Foxes

Children’s fine motor skills are developing speedily at Little Foxes Forest School, an outdoor nursery in Bristol, thanks to the range of activities on offer, Nicole Weinstein discovers

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In the ancient woodland of Stoke Park Estate in north Bristol, a group of 34 three- to four-year-olds are putting the finishing touches to a giant fox created out of willow to mark the outdoor pre-school’s first Art Week. Working with resident artist and forest pre-school educator Freya Morgan, the children have helped to weave the structure with orange and white willow sticks, cutting the sticks to size and helping to secure them at the ends.

‘It’s amazing to see how far the children’s fine motor skills have developed since they came to us six months ago when we first opened Little Foxes Forest School,’ remarks teacher and co-founder Lizzie Staite. ‘Many of them were not able to use scissors; they couldn’t hold a pencil and had no pressure behind it; they couldn’t peel a satsuma or turn on the water taps.

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