Why we’re choosing neutral spaces across our settings

Have you noticed our nurseries using natural material such as hessian or brown paper as backing for displays and organic resources such as baskets, pinecones and logs for discovery and play? Whilst some believe that early years should be full of wonderfully bright and bold displays there are reasons why our practitioners are choosing to step away from these in preference for neutral colours on displays and in rooms, which are less of a distraction and allow our brains to focus on the child’s work and not the backing!

Colours affect our emotions, behaviour and mood and have a huge effect on how children learn and understand information. Nursery age children are especially responsive to colour.  The high contrast in the colours black and white registers powerfully on a baby’s retina and sends strong visual signals to the brain – stronger signals mean more brain growth and faster development.  The colour red, however, can often make children feel tense and aggressive whereas a neutral palette can provide a feeling of space and calm.  Importantly, a neutral colour scheme is believed to enhance young minds, allowing children to develop from their learning activities without too much stimulation.

It is a similar situation with the choice of toys and resources we use across our nurseries.  Wooden and natural resources encourage imagination and creativity in our little ones. As we develop new resources made from natural materials, we are conscious of their environmental impact too.  Children learn through being able to freely play with and explore loose parts (wooden baskets, pebbles, logs, curtain rings, metal bowls, pinecones, and large buttons for example).

Benefits to such resources and this type of play include:

• improved hand eye coordination
• development in gross and fine motor development
• advances in language and literacy through making choices and sharing resources
• improved creativity, problem solving and communication as children talk to others during play to share new language and vocabulary.

At Kids Planet it’s important that the children in our care feel comfortable,  relaxed and ‘at home’.  Our balanced colour schemes throughout our enabling environments encourage babies and young children to to feel emotionally safe and contribute to a sense of peace in our nurseries, enabling them to explore, discover, play, and learn.

If you’d like to take a look around one of our award-winning nurseries, please use our Nursery Finder and get in touch with one of our Nursery Managers who will be happy to show you around.

If you are looking to find a nursery then why not use our simple tool to locate the nearest Kids Planet Day Nursery to your postcode?

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