An Edinburgh community football club are opening a unique outdoor nursery.
The City of Edinburgh Council approved the plan from Spartans FC at Pilton Drive, to create the outdoor nursery for children aged 3 to 5, on Wednesday November 10.
The planning application shows the Willow Den nursery will include a heated den base for shelter, mound for play, woodland walk, woodland hideaway, mud kitchen for messy play, and even hammocks for impromptu rests and cloud gazing.
The learning facility will be open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4:30pm and the tents that will be used for shelter can be easily dismantled when football matches are taking place at the ground.
The children at Willow Den will be provided with a hot lunch every day and both a morning and an afternoon snack. They will be able to grow their own vegetables and prepare their own snacks too.
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Willow Den will aim to provide early learning and childcare to best prepare the children for entering school.
They explain their ethos on their website: “Children engage in play-based learning, in spaces where they have adventures, use their imagination, build, design and create, develop their curiosity and language skills through conversation and asking questions.
“We make mud pies and maps, we follow paths, we find and create dens and special places.
“With base camp located in Ainslie Park Football Stadium, there will be plenty of opportunities for children to engage in physical play and learning through sport if they choose to do so.
“We also have access to the woodland through our ‘secret gate,’ here we explore our natural environment, this spot is perfect for relaxing on a hammock for a bit of cloud gazing!”
Willow Den will have a team of staff trained in early years education, and outdoor play-based learning.
All of their staff are registered with the Scottish Social Services Council and recruited in line with safe recruitment policy.
They say staff will engage in regular training as a commitment to their continued professional development and the nursery’s ethos of ongoing improvement.
The Spartans Community Football Academy has been working with the local community and partners since 2003, to deliver programmes and initiatives that have a lasting social impact in North Edinburgh.
