Overview
Between eighteen months and three years, children change almost by the week. Vocabulary starts to snowball into short phrases, walking turns into running and climbing, and you'll see a child who wanted cuddles yesterday insist on doing everything themselves today. Our Toddlers Room is built around that pace of change, with a 1:5 ratio that lets our team notice which child needs a hand with a puzzle, which one is ready to be left to figure it out alone, and which one is having a hard morning and needs a lap to sit on.
A Typical Day
Much of the day is led by the children themselves, with free play woven through phonics groups, forest school time, and sessions from our LEEP and Wellcomm language programmes, which are particularly useful at an age when talking is developing so quickly and so unevenly between children. The garden and mud kitchen get used daily, whatever the weather allows, because at this age gross motor skills and confidence outdoors are moving forward almost as fast as language is. Meals are freshly cooked on site, and mealtimes double as a chance to practise the sitting, waiting, and self-feeding skills that toddlers are working hard to master.
Care & Development
Boundary-testing and big feelings are normal at this age, not something to fix, and our team responds to tantrums and strong opinions as signs of a child asserting independence rather than misbehaving. We hold that firmly alongside our Christian values and the wider ethos of knowing each child as an individual, something that matters just as much in a room full of strong toddler personalities as it does anywhere else in the nursery.
Why Families Choose Us
Parents stay closely involved through the Famly app, with daily updates on food, mood, and milestones, plus weekly notes and termly progress reports that flag where your child is heading next. Destiny Haven began in 2017 as a nursery for the whole community, whatever a family's faith, and that runs through this room too: toddlers from different backgrounds playing, arguing over toys, and comforting each other, which is its own kind of early learning.
- Ages
- 18 months - 3 years
- Ratio
- 1:5
- Outdoor access
- Daily outdoor sessions
Our other rooms
See it for yourself
Visit one of our nurseries
A show-around is the best way to feel whether we are right for your family. Meet our team, explore the spaces, and ask us anything about how we support your child.
Things parents ask us
Common questions
We treat tantrums and strong-willed moments as a completely normal part of being two, not as behaviour to correct. Staff stay calm, get down to the child's level, name the feeling for them, and offer a quiet space or a cuddle if that is what is needed. With a 1:5 ratio, a member of staff can usually step aside with an upset child without the rest of the group losing attention.
We use the Wellcomm and LEEP programmes alongside everyday chatter, songs, and story time, since vocabulary can grow enormously between eighteen months and three years but at very different speeds for different children. Staff narrate what children are doing during play and mealtimes to build vocabulary naturally, rather than only during set activities. If we notice a child's language developing more slowly than expected, we flag it early with parents rather than waiting.
Days are built around a steady rhythm rather than a rigid timetable: free play, small group activities, snack and mealtimes, outdoor time in the garden or mud kitchen, and a rest or quiet period for those who still need it. Forest school and phonics sessions are woven in through the week alongside the child-led play. The structure is predictable enough that toddlers feel secure, but flexible enough to follow what they are interested in on a given day.
This is the age where children want to do things themselves, from pulling on their own coat to feeding themselves at mealtimes, and we build in the time for that rather than rushing to do it for them. Freshly cooked meals are served in a way that encourages self-feeding and choice, and outdoor time in the garden gives plenty of scope to practise climbing, running, and managing their own body confidently.
We use the Famly app for daily updates on eating, sleep, mood, and activities, so you have a real sense of their day even if you were not there for it. On top of that, you will get weekly notes and termly progress reports that look at development against typical milestones for this age, and we will always raise it directly and early if something needs a closer look.
We take settling in at the child's pace rather than a fixed number of sessions, since some toddlers separate from parents easily and others need longer, particularly if they are also newly walking or talking. A key person is assigned early on to build that relationship and become the toddler's secure base in the room. We would rather extend the settling period than push a child in before they are ready.
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"Children are excited to arrive and separate easily from their parents and carers. They demonstrate a sense of belonging."