All About Me: Helping Children Discover Themselves and Their Families at Monkey Puzzle Marleigh, Cambridge
Over the past three weeks, the children at Monkey Puzzle Marleigh, our day nursery in Jubilee Square, Cambridge, have been exploring three connected themes: all about me, all about my family and all about my body. In every room, from our youngest babies to our preschoolers, children were supported to recognise their own features and names, to think about what makes them special, and to talk about what family means to them. It is a gentle, joyful way to build identity, belonging and confidence in the early years.
Babies Discover Family Faces, Flags and Mirror Play
In our baby room, the theme came to life through the senses. Using their hands and brushes, our babies swept away oats to uncover photographs of their own families and the flags of their home countries hidden underneath, a lovely way to celebrate each child’s background and bring a familiar face into the nursery day. Mirror play helped them begin to recognise themselves, while interactive songs about body parts added movement, rhythm and plenty of giggles. For your little one, this kind of sensory play lays the foundations for language, self-awareness and a secure sense of who they are.
Preschool Explores the Five Senses
Our preschool children took part in a five senses activity, learning the names and uses of different body parts and the senses they connect to: sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste. Handling a range of everyday items, they described what they noticed in their own words, from something soft, to something that smelled like washing powder, to something that felt like ice. It is a wonderful example of how hands-on exploration stretches vocabulary, encourages careful observation and gives children the confidence to share their thinking with others, all key building blocks for the move to school.
Why Learning About Themselves Matters for Your Child
Knowing who they are, who their family is and how their body works gives young children a secure base from which everything else grows. Themes like All About Me nurture self-esteem, help children value their own background and the backgrounds of their friends, and build the personal, social and emotional skills that sit at the heart of the early years curriculum. For you as a parent, it means childcare in Cambridge where your child’s name, face and family are known, celebrated and woven into their learning every day. It is one of the many ways we help every child at Monkey Puzzle Marleigh feel they truly belong.