Essential Resources: Nursery World visits… N Family Club Stoke Newington

N Family Club’s atelier, or studio space, is in the attic of a former community centre in the leafy suburb of Stoke Newington. In this calm but energised space, children straight from Forest School are emptying collections of natural materials onto workstations, eager to combine them with clay, glue and paint to make creations.

Lumps of clay are being patted, rolled and squeezed and children are pressing pine cones, leaves and snippets of thyme into the mixture to make patterns on their nature ornaments.

‘We bring nature into the setting and incorporate it into our expressive arts curriculum,’ explains Bethany Jones, deputy manager of the 72-place setting. ‘But we also take inspiration from artists around the world and the local built environment.’

MINDFUL MOVEMENT

The Reggio-inspired workshop, or laboratory, has a warm, natural interior that mirrors the rest of the setting and follows the N design principles of creating ‘imaginative spaces’ for children, families and teams. Children have daily access to the space on a rotational basis, in small groups of up to ten. ‘It’s a safe space for children to express their emotions and creativity through different mediums of art, sensory play and mindful movement,’ Bethany says.

‘We follow the Reggio approach of listening to the child, and our educators are devoted to enhancing children’s individuality and curiosity and fuelling their creativity,’ she adds.

One corner of the room is set up as a mini yoga studio, with yoga mats, soft yoga bolsters, coloured scarves and a collection of textured cushions. A group of three-year-olds are sat in a circle on a soft rug, rolling a large soft dice with pictures of different yoga poses on each face.

‘It’s sleeping butterfly!’ a girl shouts as she moves over to the mat to strike the pose, with her friend following as he holds onto a weighted dog while getting into position.

Another child takes a card from the Little Yogi Deck by Crystal McCreary and tries to replicate the Wet Noodle pose, with her educator, Verona Alili, alongside.

‘The yoga deck focuses on emotions and helps children recognise where different feelings manifest in their bodies,’ explains Verona, who specialises in expressive arts.

‘Sometimes, we use the cards as prompts to discuss feelings, reassuring them that it’s ok to feel angry or sad and giving them the tools to self-soothe, whether that be getting their energy out through large-scale, messy play art or through breathing techniques. Other times, the yoga poses might spark children’s imaginations and we talk about fairy tales, such as Sleeping Beauty, or make up other magical stories,’ she adds.

Yoga is one of the nursery group’s ‘N Extras’, along with cookery, Spanish and Doodle Dance, which are core daily or weekly learning experiences that are embedded into continuous provision.

‘We have a strong focus on mindfulness and helping children to self-regulate,’ says Bethany. ‘We practise breathing using the “blow the bubble” technique or, for those who prefer visual stimulus, we use an expandable breathing regulation ball. The Colour Monsterbook [by Anna Llenas] is used throughout the setting. We’ve also developed mood metres, which are charts with different emotions, and the children like to use the weighted animals and blankets to feel grounded and secure.’

WHOLE-SETTING APPROACH

Creativity is encouraged throughout N, which takes its influences from Bruner, Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Forest School. The N curriculum contains four pillars, focusing on:

• Holistic Health
• Self Expression
• Global Responsibilities
• Inventive Ideas.

Examples of the artwork and range of mediums used to create them are on display in the atelier. Globes made out of papier-mâché hang from the ceiling. Mud paintings created using pipettes and sponges are pinned to the wall. Hapa zome, the Japanese art of flower pounding, where children release flower pigments onto fabric by beating it with a hammer, canbe seen in the large pieces of collaborative artwork.

There is a canvas made of intricate patterns, formed by using scraping tools with acrylic paints. A sculpture of the local community made out of recycled materials and decorated with paint and tissue paper sits on the floor with the book Iggy Peck Architectby Andrea Beaty sitting alongside.

‘Children work collaboratively on long-term projects, often taking materials to the forest for immersive, large-scale art experiences,’ Verona explains. ‘For those that are building up their confidence in getting messy with paint, glue and mud, the atelier allows them to develop their curiosity in a safe and familiar space.’

ARTIST OF THE MOMENT

There is a wide variety of drawing and paint media – of many shades and hues – along with containers of different kinds for investigating colour combinations. Crayons, charcoal, powder paints, chalk and oil pastels are placed on low-level shelves for easy self-selection. Children mix their own colours using powder paints and measuring cups and transfer the paint into pump bottles to be dispensed.

Paper, card and canvas are in plentiful supply, with lots of different sizes, types, textures and weights. There are acetate sheets for lightbox activities and plenty of artists’ work on display, as well as reference books for inspiration.

Large scrap books document the work that children have undertaken on self-expression. A quick glance reveals a selection of painted flower crowns on a print-out of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

‘We focus on an “artist of the moment” that links in with what’s going on that month. For example, if the focus is the weather, we might choose someone who paints or creates sculptures of the changing seasons. We then link this to the planned art learning experiences, for example, looking at how paint travels when it drops to the ground,’ says Verona.

The teaching strategies used ‘inspire freedom-focused teaching, capturing the curiosity through innovative projects’, says Bethany.

She adds, ‘As educators, we allow children to experiment, be creative and show excitement about their ideas, asking open-ended questions and extending their learning without interfering with the process.’

Artist of the moment – Pablo Picasso

When focusing on the work of Pablo Picasso, educators would initiate the following steps, as outlined in the N Curriculum cards:

Print out a picture of his work, ‘Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper’, produced in 1913.

Invite children to look at the picture and ask them what they can see.

• Look at the materials used in the collage and prompt questions, such as ‘Did he paint the whole guitar?’
• Ask children to pick a selection of objects that they can display, such as kitchen objects or toys, and invite them to make their own collages using paints, scissors, glue, newspaper and magazine cut-outs, and crayons.

The intent behind the activity is for children to select appropriate materials for a specific purposeand use their own ideas to recreate a famous art piece.

The role of the educator is to interact with the children and extend their ideas, while not interfering with the process, and celebrate their uniqueness.

N FAMILY CLUB’S BEST BUYS:

• Best investment: TTS’s Colour Changing Light Panel, from £99.99, is great for experimenting with colour changing: https://bit.ly/3SAUOUV
• Best medium-priced resource: The deep pressure of TTS’s Weighted Lap Buddies and Blanket, from £32.99, helps calm and relax children – https://bit.ly/4bcIvFv; and the Expandaball Breathing Regulation Aid, £6.99, is good for demonstrating breathing techniques – https://bit.ly/3SBFlDV
• Best cheap buy: Recycled materials from local scrap stores.
• Explore and create with: Hand Grip Playdough Tools from Cosy – https://bit.ly/42jERp7; Sensory Stones from Yellow Door – https://bit.ly/49GijBN; Unprimed Canvas Fabric Roll 1.8 x 5m from TTS – https://bit.ly/42A7n6b; Jakar Compressed Charcoal Sticks 12pk – https://bit.ly/3OrV8Td
• Further information: https://nfamilyclub.com