Meet Rainbow and Cloud - Our Newest Members of Nursery!

11th September 2024

We’re thrilled to introduce the newest (and fluffiest!) additions to our nursery classroom here at Tenterfields—meet Rainbow and Cloud, our adorable 17-week-old guinea pigs! These two cuties have been enjoying their summer settling in at Miss Ellerton’s house, and they are now ready to become part of our Tenterfields family.

Why guinea pigs, you ask? Well, we believe that having animals in the classroom offers so many wonderful benefits—not just for our children, but for our staff too. Plus, we’re giving these rescue guinea pigs a loving home where they can thrive!

What’s in it for the children? Studies have shown that animals help support children’s self-regulation, providing calming moments through gentle care and cuddles. Our children will get the chance to build bonds with Rainbow and Cloud through daily feeding and care routines, which are an important part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework.

We’ve even named them Rainbow and Cloud to tie in with our EYFS behaviour policy, where we use rainbows and clouds to describe behaviour choices. How perfect is that?

Learning through play and care Rainbow and Cloud will give the children a fantastic hands-on learning experience. From watching them grow and change to observing their eating habits, our children will get a close-up look at life with pets. And to top it off, they’ll even have the chance to grow vegetables for the guinea pigs to munch on—what a great way to learn about responsibility and nature!

For those children who don’t have pets at home, this will be a special opportunity to connect with animals and experience the joy of caring for them.

We can’t wait to see how much joy and learning these furry friends will bring to our nursery class.