Acorn Nursery at Cold Harbour in Milton Keynes are celebrating their re-opening of the nursery with the completion of a beautiful shelter, created by Stony Stratford wood sculptor, Ian Freemantle.
The shelter, which will be used for outdoor play by both the nursery children and those attending outdoor playschemes, was created during the lockdown and used handprints made by the staff and children of keyworkers that had continued to attend Acorn’s other nurseries.
The shelter also incorporates a rainbow, to recognise the Covid-19 crisis and the support for key workers and their families.
Acorn are waiting for the government to approve plans for playschemes for the summer holidays, and are hoping to run an outdoor holiday playscheme at the site.
The extensive outdoor play area has a lot of newly planted trees to extend their forest school area, and Acorn plan to make the site available for other children’s groups and organisations when the lockdown is over, as part of their mission to increase opportunities for outdoor play and learning in Milton Keynes.
Sammy Bradbury, the Manager at Acorn Cold Harbour, said: “The children love the new shelter and it has already enhanced their play opportunities”.
Ian also has plans to create a tree house for the Acorn nursery at Stony Stratford, and has some lovely curved timber ready to use for it, but the financial impact of Covid-19 has meant that the nursery is now planning some fundraising activities in order to be able to afford it.
All of Acorn’s nurseries are now open, and they are also busy with preparations to open their newest nursery in the heart of the city centre, at the new YMCA building.
Check out photos of the new shelter here:
