Crow Kids Day Nursery

A mud kitchen for the youngest children, animal encounters and a garden rebuilt for sheltered play give Crow Kids Day Nursery a practical, hands-on character. This Walsall setting combines two age-banded rooms with themed learning that reaches beyond toys and books: children have explored a fire engine, planted vegetables and watched visiting animals up close. There is plenty to make a child's day recognisable.

At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the nursery Good overall, with improvements required in following children's developing interests and reducing distractions during organised activities. That judgement is a dated assessment, rather than a verdict on the garden and activities added since then.

Crow Kids has capacity for 50 children, accepting ages from 3 to 60 months. Nest Room serves the youngest children and Sky Room the older group. Full-day, morning and afternoon bookings give families different ways to use the setting, while stretched funding can spread eligible childcare support across the year.

Rooms and Ages

Nest Room, for children aged 0–2 years, supports early movement and communication, with a home corner, a sleeping area, space for eating and messy play, and its own garden with a mud kitchen. For a baby, that combination puts rest, exploration and outdoor experiences within the same room's arrangements.

Sky Room, for ages 2–4 years, brings together a creation station, a home corner and role play, alongside a spacious garden for exploration. These resources give older children different starting points for imaginative play and making things, rather than relying on one kind of activity.

The nursery's overall accepted age range and its room bands are separate measures. Likewise, its 50 places describe the whole setting, not the number of children sharing either room.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the statutory framework for learning, development and care; here, children learn through play, practising language, movement, problem-solving and social skills. Crow Kids adds a thematic curriculum shaped around children's interests. Its curriculum description connects this with creative activities, sensory exploration and healthy habits.

Music has a daily place, through instruments, dancing and singing. Story time supports listening and language, while arts and crafts introduce textures, shapes and colour through making. Outdoor play happens twice a day. These are concrete parts of the routine, giving children opportunities to use their bodies as well as their voices and hands.

Themed experiences show how that approach can work in practice. During the summer of 2026, Pirate Adventures at Crow Kids Day Nursery equipped role play with telescopes, maps, a treasure chest and a pirate ship. Children contributed ideas during stories, then continued the theme outdoors through balancing and imaginative movement. Pirate clothes or pyjamas formed part of the picnic occasion. The theme linked conversation, pretend play and physical activity.

In September 2022, babies' gestures and sounds received responses from staff, toddlers practised combining words, and older children developed their thinking through conversation. The local Bookstart 1000 stories initiative involved taking books home to share with parents. These examples show what language work looked like at that point; they should be read alongside the current story-time activities and daily music.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden renovation announced in May 2026 added shelter, planting space and grass turf, together with an obstacle course and water play equipment. Shelter makes outdoor learning less dependent on dry weather; the planting area gives children something living to tend. During World Plant a Vegetable Garden Day in 2026, children sowed seeds, explored soil and watered their planting, discussing what vegetables need to grow.

Visitors have supplied tangible links between themes and real life. Walsall Firefighters brought their fire engine in June 2026, showing equipment and giving children a turn with the hose while learning about uniforms and protective clothing. The Animal Man's February 2026 visit introduced animals including snakes, lizards and an owl. Children could observe their behaviour and features, adding first-hand encounters to learning about habitats.

An outing in December 2025 took children Christmas tree spotting in the community and to Walsall Arboretum Park. This was a specific seasonal trip, rather than a fixed weekly outing. World Book Day in 2026 brought favourite-character costumes into the nursery, connecting dressing up with children's interest in stories.

Relationships and Communication

A Parent Partnership Officer role gives family relationships a defined place in the staff structure. Current family events also create opportunities to share activities: the Mother’s Day Workshop in 2026 involved shaping and decorating play dough flowers, while the Father’s Day Garden Event 2026 included toy-car washing, ball games and hairdressing role play. Parents and relatives joined the children in their nursery activities.

In September 2022, staff knew their key children and planned around their interests and next learning steps. Parents received updates about development and ideas for continuing learning at home. Children also practised everyday independence, including tidying before lunch and feeding themselves as babies. These were ordinary, useful responsibilities rather than separate lessons in independence.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described cooperation with parents and outside agencies that helped children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive support and make progress. The current team includes a Special Education Needs coordinator role, providing a named responsibility within the organisation without making a blanket promise about individual outcomes.

In September 2022, visual prompts helped children understand routines, including newcomers and children learning English as an additional language. Staff gathered useful words from children's home languages so they could communicate needs. Gentle reminders supported sharing and turn-taking, giving young children practical help with feelings and behaviour.

Nest Room's sleeping area makes rest part of the youngest children's arrangements. Health learning also reaches beyond the nursery's own activities: a dentist visited in June 2025 to explain the job and tooth cleaning, and an optician's December 2025 visit explored looking after eyes. These encounters connected health habits with the people who help families maintain them.

Moving on is marked with a graduation celebration. Graduation 2026 brought preschool children, families and staff together for songs, poems from a key worker and gifts before the children moved on to school. It gives families a shared occasion to recognise that transition.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 45 New Street, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 3DF. Opening hours are 7.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, and the nursery opens for 51 weeks of the year. Bank holidays and a week at Christmas are closures to build into family childcare plans.

Three booking patterns have clear boundaries: a full day runs from 7.30am to 5.30pm, a morning session from 7.30am to 12.30pm, and an afternoon session from 12.30pm to 5.30pm. The shared midday changeover makes the difference between the two shorter sessions straightforward. Families can choose a whole day or a session matching the part of the day they need.

Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email at info@crowkids.co.uk or by telephone on 01922 474660. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered alongside paid hours. The entitlements include 30 hours over 38 weeks for eligible working families with children aged 9 months and older, universal provision of 15 hours over 38 weeks for three- and four-year-olds, and 15 hours of early learning or childcare for eligible two-year-olds receiving government support. Eligibility conditions apply to the working-family and two-year-old entitlements.

Families can use the standard 38-week funding arrangement or stretch their entitlement across 51 weeks. Stretching spreads the funded allocation across more of the year; it is a different delivery pattern, rather than an extra entitlement. That distinction matters when matching funding to attendance throughout the year.

Food is charged separately, including during funded sessions, with families able to bring their own food instead of paying; the example lunch and tea menu includes cottage pie, jacket potatoes and wraps. Parents supply nappies and wipes themselves, including for funded hours.

Keeping these categories separate makes the childcare arrangement easier to assess: funded hours, additional paid hours and food each have their own position. Bringing nappies and wipes is a parent responsibility, rather than a charge included with childcare.

• Following interests and protecting concentration. The September 2022 improvement points concerned extending spontaneous interests and reducing distractions during organised activities. On a visit, ask how staff now adapt an activity when a child's interest changes and how quieter listening activities are arranged.
• Nest Room's daily rhythm. The youngest room combines a sleeping area with eating, messy play and its own garden. Ask how settling and sleep routines work for your child, and how many children normally share the room on the days you are considering.
• Funding across the year. Standard and stretched funding sit alongside separately charged food and parent-supplied nappies and wipes. A written quotation should distinguish funded hours, additional paid hours and the food arrangement for your chosen session.
• Family participation. World Book Day involved character costumes, and the Easter Bonnet Parade 2026 included bonnets made with family help. These occasions suit families who enjoy contributing to themed activities; ask what participation involves across the nursery year.

Crow Kids suits families seeking either full-day care or shorter morning and afternoon sessions, with funding that can follow term-time or stretched delivery. Its strongest current attractions are concrete: Nest Room's own outdoor space, the renovated garden and themes extended through visitors, planting and imaginative play.

The Good judgement from September 2022 supplies useful context, while the concentration and emerging-interest improvement points deserve attention. For parents who value practical exploration and opportunities to join their child's nursery activities, there is a clear proposition here. The choice should turn on how the room routine and funding arrangement fit the individual child and family.