Here is a sample of a typical year at Colby Road Nursery.  We don’t always do every single activity and some years we do activities that aren’t listed below but we wanted to give you an idea of the type of activities that our children enjoy.  

The start of a new year is always a time of tremendous excitement for all of us at Colby Road as we look forward to celebrating and enjoying a diverse range of cultural and seasonal activities.   We are always delighted to hear from our parents with further suggestions and ideas so please do suggest away!

Winter Wonderland our children love learning about the seasons and nature.  From January to March we learn about winter and the children love working on creating a Winter Wonderland display full of magic and mystery (and some rather handsome snowmen!).

Love & Pancakes February brings us Valentines’ Day and a flurry of hearts will be sent home to all our lovely parents.  We have Shrove Tuesday and Pancake Day – so it’s aprons on for the children, sleeves rolled up and yummy pancakes served with banana or a squeeze of lemon will be made by the children and served for their afternoon tea.  

Chinese New Year falls between 21^st January and 20^th February each year and it is a time to celebrate, marvel in colourful lanterns and learn about the animal and element for that year.  In 2027 expect lots of cardboard goats and beautifully painted flames.  

The Joys of Spring  March is a special month for all our Mums at Colby Road Nursery.  All our Mums have a special treat which has been made by their little one and is sent home with love for Mother’s Day,  

We can’t miss out on the fun of St Patrick’s Day.  A great opportunity for dressing up, jigging to some Irish music and maybe searching for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.  We have fun making shamrocks to wear and we love telling legends from the Emerald Isle – after all the Head of Colby Road Nursery, Mary, is from Ireland! 

When Spring arrives we keep a keen eye on our buds in the garden, we look for little shoots and await the appearance of daffodils and then the delight of tulips.  This is particularly special for any of our children at Colby Road Nursery who have been involved in planting the bulbs in Autumn as gardening is one our very favourite activities.  

And then there’s Easter and all the excitement that comes with chicks, bunnies and designing and painting Easter eggs.  There is also introducing the children to learning a little about what Easter is about and why it is such a special time of year.  

Festival of Holi  we couldn’t resist learning about this festival in our Colby Road Nursery Spring schedule.  We look to India and we focus on learning about colour and vibrancy in a very special way.  We encourage the children to use as many colours as they possibly can to create something amazing.  

Parents’ Evening Twice a year at Colby Road Nursery we hold Parents’ Evening.  We see this as an important opportunity for parents to meet one-to-one with Mary, Head of Colby Road Nursery, to discuss their child’s progress.  We review the child’s progress and this is valuable opportunity for open discussion between parents and staff.  

It’s a special time for our Dads in June and our children get creative making something special for Father’s Day to be taken home with love for Dads.  

Summer – on the long sunny days, we enjoy our breakfasts, lunches and afternoon teas outside wherever possible.  There is nothing like fresh air to enliven our spirits.  It is magical for the children to have picnic style teas outside surrounded by nature - the chirping of birds, squirrels running up the trees, butterflies fluttering past and the waft of our spring flowers.  Being outdoors affords us an immediate opportunity for learning through all the sights and sounds.  

We are so proud of our lovely garden at Colby Road Nursery - it really is a great space for the children to get outside and move, exercise and play.   We all enjoying planting seeds together and then carefully watering and watching our flowers, fruits - and even some veg – grow.

The swing slide and climbing frame get plenty of use as do our areas for water play and sand plan.  For the team at Colby Road Nursery, our children having these learning and play opportunities outdoors is a key part of their daily routine.  

Summer Outing - every year at Colby Road Nursery, we enjoy taking all of our children on a Summer outing. All of our parents are invited to come along and we always have a marvellous day out for the children.  In past years we have visited the Horniman Museum and the children have loved the music room and the aquarium.  We have also had trips to the park for a wonderful picnic or a visit to a local farm.  Wherever we end up going, the children are always inspired afterwards, such as the aquarium which encouraged lots of painting of fish and seahorses.  We always welcome input from parents as to good locations for our outings so please do let us know your thoughts.   

Caribbean Celebration – inspired by the Notting Hill Carnival we thought we would bring our own Caribbean celebration to Colby Road Nursery at the end of August each year.  What magnificent costumes and colour is there to inspire the children.  We also introduce Caribbean food on our menu and Caribbean music and dance time so children can enjoy learning through play and fun (and drums!). 

Autumn enters and we have the most wonderful opportunity to explore and learn.  The changing of trees brings magnificent yellows, reds, oranges and makes our nature table a standout feature at this time of year. It’s a wonderful chance for our children to explore, to find acorns, apples, a big conker, that unmistakable crunch under foot and all that this season brings – it’s a glorious time to explore and learn.  Nature is in abundance and we at Colby Road Nursery, enjoy taking advantage!  

The season of ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’ will not pass us by without a scrumptious dish being cooked up by the children in cooking class, something nothing short of delicious and made using perfectly ripe apples. 

Eid – we enjoy learning about all cultures and at this time of year, we introduce the children to learning about Ramadan and Eid.  Eid cards are lovingly made with a focus on beautiful symmetrical patterns, moons and stars.  We get the opportunity to look at the number 5 and incorporate this in our designs and to celebrate the glory of the colour green! 

West African Harvest Festival / Thanksgiving - We love to introduce our children to all cultures at Colby Road Nursery.  We think it a great idea to learn about how Thanksgiving is celebrated in West Africa.  Our Deputy, Tinue, takes the lead on introducing the children to West African food, music and dress.  What a splendid way to learn! 

Rosh Hashanah gives us the chance to introduce the children to Jewish New Year and to try some of the key foods from this special celebration on our weekly menu.  Our afternoon teas will include apples, honey, dates and pomegranates which are symbolic foods in this festival.  

Halloween - Here at Colby Road Nursery our children are young, so we do not focus on the scary side of Halloween but on the creative.  The opportunities for dressing up and taking photos has arrived.  Make-up and wigs at the ready, this is going to be serious fun!  We don’t like to waste pumpkins but we do love to paint them – big, bright and orange – yet another treat to take home to our Mums and Dads.  

Guy Fawkes / Bonfire Night - The opportunities are endless, there’s so much our children can do – glitter, glue, sparkle, light and sound.  We have a themed wall and in years past, the children have enjoyed making a bonfire mural, made up of each child’s hands being dipped ins some wonderful yellows, reds and oranges.  We have also make some pretty impressive rockets, never have loo rolls been quite so transformed! 

Christmas - As this magical ending to the year approaches, our children at Colby Road Nursery are bursting with excitement.  Christmas songs are sung out loud and we look forward to our annual Christmas party to which all of our parents are invited.  

If we all behave very well indeed, Father Christmas might just make an appearance and we may have a special performance from our lovely Drama Teacher to round off the year!  

They say that Christmas is for children and here at Colby Road Nursery, we think that’s true however we’ve decided it’s for adults too and so we love to get all our parents and staff involved!!

Our Year

We have our yearly planner in place but we always strive to be spontaneous and open to and inspired by new ideas.  If the children become interested in something else, we are delighted to encourage and explore that with them.  

We also plan activities that follow a theme.  We use our lovely local area to enhance the children’s learning whenever we can.  We regularly visit the library at Crystal Palace and go for walks around the nursery in the local community.

We understand the importance of story telling and view this as a strength at Colby Road Nursery.  Children enjoy a range of stories during their time in the nursery, they usually have a few stories that become firm favourites and are requested again and again!  We also think it importance to introduce our children to a wide range of rhymes and songs.

We have our Drama Teacher on Thursdays each week.  The Drama Teacher is excellent at supporting the children to develop their language skills in a fun and creative way.