Enrichment Activites
‘Give children freedom to play for as long as they feel the need in an atmosphere of approval and love’
Cooking Classes
Children love getting involved in cooking classes and there are a whole host of benefits that come from children learning to cook. Cooking teaches children the hazards involved in food preparation, for example using knives, vegetable peelers, handling hot food. Together, before starting any recipe we first identify potential accidents, and talk about how to avoid them, children then internalise these lessons and remember how to stay safe whilst having fun cooking. Cooking requires hands-on use of a variety of maths concepts, including weight and measurement, this is a great way to introduce children and toddlers to the concept of weight and measure.Cooking is a sensory activity, as well as tasting the final product we encourage children to smell ingredients such as lemon, chocolate and vanilla, and talk about whether the smell is pleasant and if we think the food will be yummy. As well as smell, we discuss touch, asking questions such as “is the biscuit batter smooth or sticky?”. And after all the hard work the children taste the food. The children thoroughly enjoy the cooking and baking activities! In the past the pre-schoolers have developed skills such as chopping vegetables for the nursery cook to use in soup to be served at tea time, they have made a variety of baked goods such as cupcakes and biscuits and much more! 
Foreign Languages
Learning a second language builds on a child’s curiosity, willingness and ability to imitate words and phrases. There are many benefits of children learning foreign languages; it’s a great way to introduce children to different cultures and start the conversations about countries and to the world beyond Tooting and South London. Learning French, German, and Spanish at such an early age encourages listening and speaking skills as well as, bilingual brain development, and promotes better communicator in their mother tongue too! Toddlers and children are first introduced to colours, numbers, greetings and days of the week. Then will move on to learning about family, home, school, food and much more. 
P.E and Yoga
Movement isn’t just good for children’s bodies; it’s good for their minds too.At times it seems like toddlers and pre-schoolers have endless amounts of energy, it’s important that we channel that energy through play and physical activity to avoid children feeling restless and lethargic. That’s why at Mayfield we promote endless play and plan structured sports sessions for babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers. Introducing young children and toddlers to sport and movement improves physical fitness. It helps children form positive associations with exercise as they move from childhood to adolescents and increases the chances they will become active adults. 
Art Lessons
Our philosophy is to ‘engage, inspire and teach art with age-appropriate techniques.’ Preschool children have art lessons once a week. The children use a range of mediums including but not limited to pencil, oil pastels, watercolour, and acrylic paint. We teach children the skills and techniques to give them the confidence to create their own works of art. Art lesson help develop a child’s fine motor skills, regularly performing tasks such as gripping a paintbrush, connecting dots, mixing colours, and controlling the glue stick, are great ways to develop a child’s hand eye co-ordination. Guiding the movement of a paintbrush or oil pastel across a page allows the child to express their feelings and emotions without words, in a way that’s more comfortable for the child. The artwork is displayed in the gallery area, by the entrance of the nursery. Every morning on their way to nursery children are reminded of their potential as they proudly point out their art to their parents. Each child has a display book- a great way to see each child's art journey.
