Since spring, children at Whipper Snappers nursery have been becoming badger experts, thanks to an onsite badger sett which is growing larger by the day.
Whipper Snappers is based at Felmoor Farm in Essex and is surrounded by acres of fields and farmland. The animals were first spotted roaming the fields earlier this year by the parents of nursery owner Lynda Bocarisa, who live on a farmhouse in the nursery grounds.
Lynda's parents are keen wildlife watchers and after seeing the first two badgers, they began leaving out bread for them to eat. One evening they chanced upon the sett, which is located at the edge of one of the fields hidden beneath a pile of old pieces of wood. 'From the front you wouldn't know it was there,' says Lynda.
The new arrivals generated a lot of excitement among children, parents and nursery staff - 'Everyone wanted to have a look!' says Lynda. Staff began giving mini tours of the sett, which has grown steadily larger with ever more badger holes appearing around the area.
Night life
Nursery staff, including the deputy nursery manager Amy Connell, saw the opportunity to link the new arrivals with the children's learning and the Foundation Stage curriculum. They began adding learning about badgers to their weekly activity planning.
Staff thought up badger-related exercises aimed at improving communication skills, learning about the natural world, working with equipment and tools and taking part in imaginative role play.
Unfortunately, the badgers' nocturnal lifestyle means that the children have not had the chance to see one in the flesh. To help the children visualise the animals, staff showed them pictures and explained that certain creatures such as badgers, owls and bats only come out at night.
'The children were really excited when they saw the pictures and couldn't wait to tell their parents all about it,' says Amy.
Props and play
Back in the classroom, the children carried on talking about the badgers and took part in spontaneous role play, hiding under sand trays and moving chairs, pretending to be badgers hiding underground.
The children made a wall display of the badger sett using a variety of materials including different coloured card, paper and pictures. Nursery staff stuck on 'tunnels' made from black paper and photographs of the children visiting the sett.
Amy gave the children some clay and the children set about making model badgers, which they painted in black and white stripes when they had finished moulding them.
At story time, staff read to the children badger-related stories such as The Rescue Party and Percy's Friend the Badger by Nick Butterworth and helped the children understand more about the real animals using factual information books.
With a badger puppet as a prop, staff explained the badger's lifestyle, including its favourite foods of worms and small mice.
Lynda believes that the project has been an experience the children will always remember. 'It's great that the children have seen a badger sett when they are just three or four years old,' she says. 'Most of their parents had never seen one before. It's been a unique experience for the children and they are now more aware of wildlife and the world around them.'
Last spring's pre-school children may have moved on to infant school, but the badger sett is still going strong. 'It's like a whole colony now,' says Lynda. 'My parents spotted four last night.'
Meanwhile, deputy nursery manager Amy Connell is busy thinking up more badger-related activities for the new pre-school class. 'We're going to build a badger trail,' says Amy, 'so the children can take their parents around when they come and visit.' NW
