This August, Busy Bees Nursery in Quedgeley received a special visit from celebrity gardener, Charlie Dimmock, after winning Disney’s ‘Winnie the Pooh’ gardening competition.

Last month, Busy Bees exclusively joined forces with Disney to develop 'Winnie the Pooh' themed garden areas in the nurseries. Disney produced specially designed packs for each nursery, offering guidance and support on designing the best possible garden areas and creating great learning and fun outdoor opportunities for the children. Each of our nurseries entered their garden designs into Disney's national competition, giving them the chance to win a visit from Charlie Dimmock, who will be replicating the winning garden in a central London location.

Disney announced Busy Bees in Quedgeley as the winner of the competition, after narrowing it down to ten finalists. Disney faced a difficult decision, as nurseries had worked hard to create some wonderful designs. Busy Bees in Quedgeley were the chosen winners, as the nursery included themed areas designed to simulate all of the children's senses and make the most of the outdoors, including a Bamboo/Willow tunnel, vegetable/herb patch and a Buddleia butterfly area. Friends, family and local businesses helped the nursery start to develop the adventurous garden design in time for Charlie’s visit.

During her visit, Charlie Dimmock gave tips to the nursery on developing their new 'Winnie the Pooh' garden, as well as speaking to the children about their thoughts on their new play area. Charlie also brought with her lots of colourful flowers for the nursery to add to their new sensory garden, and presented the nursery with a winner’s certificate.

The partnership with Disney is the next step in Busy Bees’ efforts to encourage children at our nurseries to lead a healthy lifestyle, with large play areas in many nurseries, new adventure playgrounds in recently refurbished gardens, and partnerships with organisations offering activity play sessions, such as baby yoga, dance classes, and football.

Busy Bees' efforts follow recent campaigns and research, which have highlighted the importance of outside play, including the Government’s Change4Life campaign and the new government framework, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The EYFS recognises that outdoor play is a key part of developing children’s knowledge of the natural world, as well as their movement and imagination.

Operations Director, Marg Randles, said "Teaming up with Disney was a fantastic chance for us to create great learning and fun outdoor opportunities for the children at Busy Bees to enjoy. It was an opportunity to involve children and parents in the development of their nursery, and for everyone to work together on further improving our nursery gardens.

Busy Bees hope to work with Disney on similarly exciting projects in the future."