The Nurture in Nature

About Me

So this is my first blog and my very first entry. A look into the life of an early years educator. I am stepping a little out of my comfort zone by going into the world of blogging but I am going to give it a go and I have read a lot of ‘how to write your first successful blog’ blogs so let’s see how it goes!

My name is Lizzie Noble and I am a Forest Childcare Childminder and Early Years Educator. I’ve been working in early years and education for over 20 years within all kinds of early years settings and as an early years development officer. Most recently as a childminder in Leigh-on-Sea where I started my own business – ‘Little Explorers’ 3 years ago.

Why Blog?

I wanted to start blogging to share some of my experiences, ideas and resources for the early years community and to just have an opportunity to celebrate the wonder of early childhood. These early stages of life are truly remarkable and I have been lucky enough to witness first hand the beauty of childhood over my career and more recently as a Mummy myself. Plus as I have been told countless times by my friends; I just really like to talk, so I thought why not just blog!

How we put the Nature in Nurture

At Little Explorers our focus is really on the wonders of nature. I created ‘Little Explorers’with the ethos in mind that children love to explore the world around them. I aim to provide an environment which will foster their curiosity and creative development through nature. Over the past three years I have been so privileged to watch the tribe of little explorers grow,flourish and develop. Using the outdoor environment which supports their natural desires to investigate and ask questions about the world in which we live. What astounds me is their pure drive to just immerse themselves in their surroundings and by using nature as the teacher we have unlocked a wealth of learning opportunities for all ages ranging from young babies to 8+ year olds!

What has happened is the children have developed wonderfully secure attachment relationships with each other and their self confidence and self esteem has thrived.

Just this week one of the Little Explorers parents highlighted how their child was ‘thriving in the wild, being free -just the way they’re meant to be’. Which was just so wonderful to hear and reaffirms that by allowing children the freedom to just ‘be’ in their surroundings they can develop security. Young children’s natural order is to want to explore, but they also like clear boundaries for how far they can go, and how to get back. Helping children develop their physical orientation skills and enable them to take risks can ultimately help them to navigate life.

I spend a lot of time just allowing the children the freedom to openly run in safe open spaces. I have noticed that this gives them so much confidence in their own abilities to then return safely and a sense of ownership over their environment. So often we can restrict children due to reasons of worry, safety and concern and we can end up herding them with too many limitations. This is not always a bad thing to do and we have to keep them safe; but if we don’t also allow them the chance to be free at times and manage their own journeys will they ever really know how far they can safely go.

Here at little explorers I have found that letting them be free in ‘nature’ has allowed them to feel ‘nurtured’ and secure and what more could we ask for, for our youngest wildlings.

I thank you for taking the time to read me.

If you liked this one please come back, as next week is all about Mud!