Maples Day Nursery, Basingstoke - Birth to 5 years

The Maples Day Nursery in Basingstoke is situated at 2 Anstey Close in Basingstoke. The Nursery has opened its doors as part of Naturally Curious Childcare and provides quality nursery care, learning and a home from home experience for children from Birth to 5 years of age.

The Maples Day Nursery follows the Curiosity Approach and is currently undergoing an accreditation. We provide natural and authentic materials within the child’s play to spark imagination, independence and first-hand experiences. We offer amazing learning opportunities to suit the individual child allowing them to flourish and grow. 

Unlike our other settings, Maples offers you a flexibile approach to care, when you need it. You have the choice of: 

• Full Day (8am to 6pm)

• School Day (9am to 4pm)

• Morning and Afternoon sessions (8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm)

All on a term time or all year round basis. 

The nursery holds up to 26 children with direct free flow access straight out onto our inviting garden area. Your child will enjoy risky play by building with large planks of wood, crates and cable reels, alongside loose parts play with shells, buttons, blocks just to name a few. These open-ended resources really spark children’s imagination and curiosity. Children are always supervised but staff to do not interfere, as we believe children need to make their own risk assessments during their play.

Children are encouraged through independence to control their own learning and have the freedom to 

self-select according to their own current interests. Practitioners use what they know about the children to plan learning invitations to entice your children covering all areas of learning such as adventurous play, promoting physical development, personal, social and emotional development plus the skills to stay safe and manage appropriate risks. 

Our vision is to grow happy, independent children, supporting them holistically.  One of the advantages of Maples being a smaller setting is that we can really build a foundation to learning through our strong parent partnerships and personal relationships with children.

The Great Outdoors

Your child will have lots of access to the outside and the elements - remember dancing in the rain and splashing in puddles as a child yourself? The main room leads out to our secluded garden, allowing for outdoor play all year round - we do all those things you don't like to do at home!

Your child will have continued free flow access to our garden area providing opportunities to promote gross motor development with climbing and building, a variety of constructions using loose parts such as drain pipes, wood, tyres, logs, a giant sandpit and the very popular mud kitchen.

Nature is promoted by planting flowers, herbs and growing vegetables in our vegetable garden seasonally. It's our view that the garden is an extension of the inside area and all if not more learning takes place in the great outdoors. We also make use of the great green area's surround the nursery and we often visit the shop next door.

It's known that children sleep better, eat better and behave better with outdoor play and fresh air. In the warmer months children eat outside and even sleep outside where possible.

Take a tour of Maples - this video was shot on one of our Open Days.

At Maples, our Early Years children enjoy freeflow access to the outdoors throughout the day. Those aged two and above can move freely between our indoor and outdoor environments, exploring and learning in both spaces. Our babies also enjoy regular outdoor experiences, venturing into the garden twice a day between their naps and feeds. In our garden, we continue to nurture independence and curiosity.

The children love getting involved in planting vegetables and flowers, helping practitioners to set up the garden based on their interests. They even take part in simple risk assessments to support their adventurous play, for example, when building obstacle courses using large loose parts. We’re incredibly fortunate to have access to a large green space, a park, and nearby woodland, which we explore as often as possible. 

During our outings, the children go on nature walks, collecting natural treasures such as leaves, conkers, and pinecones. These experiences spark rich conversations about nature, habitats, and the wonderful creatures that live there. Whether climbing, running, or foraging for mini beasts, the children have endless opportunities to move their bodies, develop their confidence, and deepen their connection with the natural world.

As we like to have a home from home experience, our mealtimes are not rushed. Our mealtimes provide an opportunity for discussions between the children on their tables. We also encourage the children to self-serve their meals and drinks to promote independence and gross motor skills.

Nursery practitioners enjoy welcoming your child into the Nursery with open arms and big smiles. Each child has a designated key worker who will track your child’s learning and development and whom is your first point of call. We have an open-door policy, which means that we are always here if you would like to speak to us about any queries, at any time of the day.

For more updates and snap shots of our daily life take a look on our Facebook page - spaces are always limited so give is a call today on 01256 333113.