May 2023
What a difference a room makes - our new extension!
We were told it would be 6 weeks….a new builder and 6 months later we’re done, and it was soooooo worth the wait!!! It’s HUGE, filled with light, all fresh and bright, with carpet AND vinyl areas, 2 sets of double doors onto a fabulous new wrap-around patio, AND a main entrance door, a hatch into the Studio, and it has somehow brought the rest of our cute little old house back to life (or maybe that’s just because the dust is finally settling and we can see it again!).
In the old House, The Holt is now exclusively loose parts ‘tinkering’ and construction, giving the Bunnies plenty of space to design and build form their latest plans, big and small.
The Nook has been re-snuggled, with more cushions, more fairy lights, more blankies, more goldfish, an even more cosy place to curl up with a book and a cuddly rabbit, for a story or maybe a quick snooze!
The Den has become focussed on fine motor skills, such as threading, pegging, button games, straw weaving, numerous fidget toys, and every kind of mark-making tool imaginable, all of which are precursors to developing pencil control and early writing.
The Snug is still role play but is now very much real role play ie a house, full of real items to use in all those games of mums and babies and dogs…but no real dogs!
The Studio is perhaps the biggest, and most exciting change to the House that has been enabled by the new extension, as this is now TOTALLY dedicated to ‘messy-play’, workshop, painting, and creative play. We no longer have to clear everything away for snack or worry about having to clean up quickly (although the new vinyl floor will help with this!), as nothing else happens here now! Having been our cloakroom, snack room, and studio for so long, it will be wonderful to be able to make and create to our hearts content, all and every session!
Last but by no means least, is of course the extension itself. We have tried hard to come up with a new animal-home name for the new space, but nothing quite does it, so we think it will probably still be the Conservatory, as a nod to the old days! But the name is all that remains of what was the Conservatory! In here there will now be a designated area for maths activities, a huge range of writing and drawing equipment, a special place for puzzles and board games, a permanent playdough table, so much more small world play, and all the fantastic construction kits like Duplo, Stickle Bricks, blocks, and Magna-tiles are back! Everything in the Conservatory will have an element of self-selection, so the children can choose which resources they would like to use, as well as tidy them away again (!) all independently. There is a mixture of open carpet spaces and small tables, some stand-up and others with chairs, and it is a lovely fresh, surprisingly calm space to sit with friends for a chat when it’s snack time.
Basically over the last 6 months, with the creation of a beautiful new learning space in the extension, we have also completely over-hauled every room in the old House, making sure everything meets our vision for The Team and the Bunnies.
Thanks to everyone involved, for your positivity, your patience, and your enthusiasm. You’ve kept us going through a tough time, and now we cannot wait to get going! Look out for the stay and play sessions to officially open The Conservatory!