Our theme over the past week at Monkey Puzzle Marleigh has been Air Transport, and every room took off in its own direction. From babies to preschool, each group explored a different part of the topic in a way that suited their stage of learning, which is exactly how themed weeks work best in the early years.

In our preschool room, the children got talking about the many different ways people travel by air. They compared aeroplanes, helicopters and hot-air balloons, and thought about how each one carries people across short and long distances to new cities and countries. Conversations like these open up the wider world to young children and give them a reason to ask questions about it.

The highlight of the week was Marleigh Airlines. Our preschool and toddler children checked in with their very own passports and boarding passes, then flew off to different countries together. Role play like this turns a big idea into something children can hold in their hands, and it brings out some wonderful observations. As one child told us, “I wear headphones on the plane, it makes my ears go funny.”

Alongside the role play, the children observed how things actually move through the air. They explored wind, the gentle floating of a hot air balloon, and the engine power behind jets and rockets. They also picked up plenty of new vocabulary along the way, using words like pilot, runway, helicopter blades and jet with real confidence. Early science and early language grow side by side in moments like these.

A week like this one is about far more than aeroplanes. Your child builds vocabulary they will keep using, gains confidence in front of their friends, and starts to understand that the world stretches well beyond Cambridge. Role play develops imagination, turn taking and social skills, while observing how things move lays the earliest foundations of science. That is the thinking behind every themed week in our early years programme, and it is one of the many ways we help each child grow, explore and shine during their time with us.