Much of early biology takes place in the nursery garden, exploring the minutiae of life through small creatures such as spiders, bees, worms, slugs and snails.
Practitioners can harness children’s innate interest in the natural environment by providing resources that enable children to collect, observe, classify and question. Small creatures in their natural habitats can be explored using magnifying glasses, viewing containers and binoculars, and these observations can be complemented with high-quality information books, photographs and video clips.
Dr Julian Grenier, head teacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre in east London and lead on the revised Development Matters guidance, says, ‘What’s important is to build on children’s natural exploration – mixing mud, water and leaves to make “potions” or hunting for worms and woodlice. When appropriate, sensitively ask them questions which focus their observation: What do you notice? How do you think worms move?
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