A REDDITCH nursery has embraced the great outdoors and decided the grass is definitely greener with their newly refurbished garden space.
Astwood Smiles Nursery’s garden’s original turf was laid in 2014 and went bald from constant energetic use, but it has now been renovated, complete with hard wearing astroturf,
The artificial grass means the children will be able to use it all year round and Director Olivia Waters is delighted. “It is so important to get the children outside as much as possible because the more fresh air they get , the more stimulated they feel.
“They also learn in different ways when they are outside and seem to become more creative. It really helps with early development,” she said.
“Our babies in particular have been enjoining the sensory experience this gives, with the texture of the new grass, so we are sure it will be a great investment.”
The outdoors plays a big part at Astwood Smiles, and nursery manager, Alison Byng, who has almost 10 years’ experience teaching forest school methods across Worcestershire, said: “We wanted to make sure we created an amazing environment for all our children, from the babies through to pre-school.
“The nursery parents are delighted too – many asking how they can get such a perfect lawn at home.”
The project was a big investment for the nursery and was made possible by the addition of some business booster funding through North Worcestershire EDR.
Redditch Borough Council Leader, Coun Bill Hartnett, said: “It is fantastic that Astwood Smiles can offer this opportunity to the children to really help them develop and get hands on experience of the outdoors.
“These children could be our future entrepreneurs, authors, scientists or even explorers so it’s wonderful that they’ll get such an amazing start with the help of this grant and all the outdoors has to offer.”
