Success from Little Acorns
The last things you’ll find at a new parent and child class are plastic and computer screens.
Instead, the Little Acorns Early Years group embraces everything natural - from wooden toys to getting outside and exploring.
The twice- a- week group has set up home at St Leonards Church in Ayr and at the weekend staged a fundraising fair with suitably ethical crafts.
It has been founded by Emily Hamalainen and Culzean Ranger Katie Walker who were looking for something different for their toddlers Ella- Rose and Alexander.
Emily, 31, attended a Waldorf Steiner school and the new group is inspired by that teaching.
She revealed they’ll bake fresh bread each session - with that smell creating a wonderfully homely atmosphere.
She said: “There is just nothing down here at the moment like this so we hope this is the start of something special and worthwhile for children aged one to four.
“We will be following the seasons with an emphasis on getting outside as much as possible into the church grounds or over to Corsehill Park.
“It might involve apple bobbing, camp fires or lantern walks at twilight.
“In play they will always use natural materials such as beeswax crayons and leave it up to the kids to use their creativity and imagination.
“If we keep it simple we automatically create a calmer atmosphere and each session follows a general rhythm.
“With the bread making the children will kneed their own dough into a shape they want and pop it into the oven.
“Once it is ready the parents will share it with them.”
Each class will have a maximum of ten kids.
Legal adviser Emily moved to the area after her Finnish husband Antti landed a job at the National Air Traffic Control Centre in Prestwick.
The first session opens on January 25 and will be a reduction in driving for Emily, who has previously taken Ellarose to Glasgow for classes.