I recently visited the fantastic Puddle Ducks Day Nursery in Croughton, meeting with Lesley Grant, the owner of the Nursery for a tour and an update of their work. The Nursery focuses on introducing young children to every day challenges through the ‘curiosity approach’ which allows toddlers and young children to discover for themselves. They minimise the use of plastic, so right from the start the children are using proper crockery and cutlery and even glasses for their cheers over lunch! When i visited there was a fantastic messy play activity going on with pink pigs in a trough of pink mud made of pink jelly and pink angel delight - it smelt fantastic but needed full body aprons!

The Nursery is also focused on being environmentally friendly, and they aim to recycle as much as possible, using repurposed wooden crates and everyday household items for toy storage.

Giving every baby the best start for life is something that I am extremely passionate about, and it was good to discuss the work of the Early Years Healthy Development Review that I am chairing with Lesley and her staff, and receive feedback directly from them.