Sacrewell Seedlings preschool group is our weekly club for 2 to 4 year olds, which offers toddlers the chance to learn about food, farming and its connection with nature.
We tend to base ourselves in Sacrewell’s beautiful sensory garden, where toddlers have the chance to see what’s growing in the veg beds, to get mucky in the mud kitchen, and to explore a range of free flow activities linked to the week’s topic. Most weeks we get crafty and make something interesting to take home with us. Sometimes we venture out of the garden to go on nature walks or to visit animals around the farm!
Sessions take place on Thursday mornings. Our April to May half term runs for 6 sessions, starting on Thursday 18th April and finishing on Thursday 23rd May.
- Week 1 Chicks and eggs – Thursday 18th April:
- Meet our chickens and young chicks
- Make a paper plate chick
- Week 2 Caterpillars and butterflies – Thursday 25th April:
- Meet and learn about our new caterpillars – we will watch them grow over the next few weeks and release them when they are butterflies
- Make a pompom caterpillar
- Week 3 Jack and the beanstalk – Thursday 2nd May:
- Plant beans for the Seedlings garden and to take home
- Make a bean collage
- Week 4 Salad bowl – Thursday 9th May:
- Sow salad seeds (tomatoes, peppers) for the Seedlings garden and to take home
- Paint a picture using tomatoes instead of paint brushes
- Week 5 Wiggly worms – Thursday 16th May:
- Go on a minibeast hunt and worm survey
- Help make a wormery for the Seedlings garden
- Week 6 Pond life – Thursday 23rd May:
- Go pond dipping and find out which little creatures live in the water
- Make a handprint frog
If you are booking a Seedlings ticket, and you or your child have any medical conditions, allergies, dietary requirements, access, or learning needs that we should be aware of, please send an email to learning@sacrewell.org.uk to let us know.
Seedlings Preschool Group Details
Please take a few moments to read about our sessions so that you and your child know what to expect.
- Our sessions run 09:45-11:00am. You are welcome to arrive at the farm from 9:00am and make your way to the farmhouse garden from 09:30am. Our session will end at 11:00am after which you are welcome to stay at the farm.
- Accompanying parents and guardians remain responsible for their child at all times.
- Our sessions focus on children exploring and enjoying the outdoors. Dress for the weather and in old clothes that can get wet and muddy, everyone is welcome to get as messy as they like at Seedlings!
- We try to be outdoors as much as possible, however, when the weather forecast is exceptionally wet we may adapt activities to include some shelter to keep everyone a little more comfortable.
- Activities such as art and craft, mud kitchen, digging and bug hunting will be spread out at ‘activity stations’ for you and your child to enjoy. We also have a focus activity every week which the group leader will explain and demonstrate to children and carers.
- We understand that young children can have short attention spans and often don’t like to sit still. Please feel free to take art and craft activities home to do later if your child is too busy to do theirs during the session.
- We finish each session together with games, stories and rhymes at our storytime circle. This is a lovely opportunity to share some time together and a gentle introduction to speaking and listening as a group.
- We make regular trips around the farm to look after and learn about different aspects of Sacrewell. Your group leader will keep you informed about the activities planned for each half term.
- We meet on Thursday mornings during termtime. There are usually 6 sessions per half term at a cost of £48 (20% cheaper than booking each session individually). For shorter half terms with fewer weeks, the price is adjusted. The cost for the half term is payable in advance and includes entry to the farm for the day for both the child and one accompanying adult. Extra adults (for example two parents or a visiting grandparent) are asked to pay our current entry price for the day.
- We also have a limited number of tickets for individual sessions which are available on a first-come, first-served basis, at a price of £10 per session.
Seedlings Activities
Here are a few of our favourite Seedlings preschool group activities:
- Foraging for berries
- Imaginative play in the mud kitchen
- Story times and songs
- Making bird feeders
- Planting potatoes
- A tractor tour of Riverford organic farm
- Making snuggly boxes for Sacrewell’s rabbits and guinea pigs
- Growing seeds in our polytunnel
We look forward to welcoming you and your children to Seedlings Preschool Group at Sacrewell!
If you have any queries please contact us at learning@sacrewell.org.uk