for our Mini Explorers
Mini Explorers Nursery is a unique concept in early years childcare and the first and only Farm School in the UK.
Imagine a world in which children are free to roam fields, walk dogs and alpacas, feed sheep, collect eggs, dabble in ponds, scramble over logs and ditches and clamber about in tractors and combine harvesters. A world of good old-fashioned fresh air and exercise, and – in winter at least – probably quite a lot of mud!
A unique concept in early years childcare
Set on our own 260-acre farm near Bedale, on the edge of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, Mini Explorers Nursery is a unique concept in early years childcare. As far as we are aware, we were the first Farm School Nursery in the country!
Our days are shaped by the seasons on the farm and the natural world around us. We believe passionately that children should be given every opportunity to immerse themselves in the great outdoors and be offered unrestricted, carefree access to the open countryside.
The first Farm School in the country
Stunning location in the countryside
Our nursery lies at the heart of our own fully-working farm, and our children are given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the farming landscape.
Yummy home-grown and home-cooked food
Food is integral to the fabric of life at Mini Explorers. All our food is home-cooked on site from fresh, local produce by our amazing resident chefs.
Mini naturalists in the making
We believe passionately in the importance of exposing children to the natural world at every opportunity in order to grow their understanding of the world.
Health, safety and hygiene
Farms are living, working environments and the health, safety and hygiene of our Mini Explorers is at the heart of all our practices.
Explore a World of Adventure
Whilst our outdoor environment is sculpted by the farming calendar, many of our activities are entirely child-led. If our babies are enjoying watching a combine harvester cut corn, or our toddlers want to stop and turn a fallen tree into a spaceship, or our farm-schoolers want to build a fairy castle in the paddock, then this is what we’ll do. We know their hungry little tummies will tell them when it’s time to head back to Crabtree Hall for a home-cooked lunch (or, when it’s time to unpack our picnic baskets in the summer). You’ll hear your children talk of animals and machinery, paddocks and polytunnels, mud kitchens, ponds and fields, we could go on. And then there’s our enormous sandpit – more like a mini beach in fact – where so many of our Mini Explorer adventures begin!
Do you want your child to be part of our unique nursery?
Fantastic indoor and outdoor spaces
What the parents are saying?
Yorkshire's award-winning Farm School Nursery
WINNER: Best Rural Education or Training Business, UK Rural Business Awards, 2019