Parent feedback is one of the best ways for parents to gauge the quality of childcare provision when selecting a nursery for their child. Getting the choice right is incredibly important too; after all, it’s a major part of setting up children’s learning and development foundations. With that in mind, have you ever checked out the reviews, ratings and testimonials for Little Acorns Nursery, Padiham? If not, take a look below. We highlight some of the wonderful feedback received from parents of children under our care. It’s full of 5-star ratings and glowing comments and, needless to say, staff at Little Acorns Nursery are delighted! We’d like to thank each and every parent who has left such positive feedback; it’s hugely appreciated. When such positive feedback arrives, it makes our day, so a big ‘thank you’ goes out to all our parent reviewers. Take a look at some of the wonderful things parents past and present have said about Little Acorns Nursery below.
How is Little Acorns Nursery Rated by Parents?
• The nursery scores 5 stars out of 5 on Google.
• It scores 10 out of 10 on DayNurseries.co.uk
• 24 out of 24 ratings are full marks – no exceptions!
Details are correct at the time of publishing (late March 2025).
Below, we highlight just some of the wonderful feedback from parents. Every one of them also scored the nursery 5 stars out of a possible 5, with no exceptions — perfect feedback, in other words. At the end, we include a link where you can read the full versions if you’d like to see significantly greater detail.
“The best nursery around”
“Impressive nursery… Highly recommend”
“Couldn’t recommend this nursery enough.”
“Fantastic nursery.”
“IMPRESSIVE! Wow just where to begin about this amazing nursery.”
“I would not go anywhere else for my childcare! It’s like home from home.”
“I honestly cannot recommend Little Acorns enough. I have used many settings … and Little Acorns is by far the best I have used yet. The manager and all of the team are fantastic. They really do go above and beyond. No issue is too big/small.”
Zoe A.
(via Day Nurseries, 2024)
“From the get-go after looking around several nurseries, I knew this was the one we were going to choose.”
“Having a child with SEN has not fazed this nursery at all. I 100% recommend this nursery to everyone and anyone.”
“We moved our little boy to Little Acorns from another local nursery … We’re so happy we made the move!”
“If I could give 10 stars I would do. My little boy absolutely loves coming to nursery, cannot thank the staff enough.”
“Best nursery in Burnley … The staff go above and beyond with the children … You won’t find a better nursery setting in the area.”
“The nursery has gone through a complete renovation and they have excellent resources/rooms alongside amazing, welcoming and attentive staff.”
“I recommend this nursery from the bottom of my heart. The staff is absolutely amazing, they took the care to another level and I can definitely say I wouldn’t trust anyone else to look after my kids as I trust them! The environment is absolutely wonderful”
Alina G.
(via Day Nurseries, 2024)
“I couldn’t recommend this nursery enough. He’s got such a good relationship with his team leader, it’s lovely to see she goes above and beyond!”
“All the staff are amazing, I never have a worry with how he is as I trust them 100%. If I had another child … I wouldn’t want to place them anywhere else”
“My son absolutely loves it here … I barely get a goodbye from him he’s that excited to be there. He has come on so much … All the staff are absolutely amazing.”
“Little Acorns is a fabulous nursery. My son loves going and has come on leaps and bounds … I’m so happy with the nursery that I’ve booked my daughter in to start.”
“An amazing nursery with all the safety and facilities any mum would want for their child … my child loves going and I love how they have helped him grow with his speech and confidence”
“If you are questioning if this nursery is for you, stop it. It is. Your child will be happy, safe and nurtured here. I quite literally cannot recommend the staff or this nursery highly enough!”
“Absolutely amazing nursery … The staff are all lovely, kind and caring. The manager goes above and beyond for the children … They have all supported his struggles with speech and language and always provide detailed reports of how his day has been.”
Amelia P.
(via Day Nurseries, 2025)
The full versions of the parent reviews can be found on the Day Nurseries website and on our Google profile. Check them out for lots more detail and fabulous feedback for this well-regarded Padiham nursery and preschool.
A Nursery Place for Your Child at Little Acorns, Padiham
Your little one deserves the very best!
As you can see from the wonderful parent feedback, Little Acorns is an outstandingly good nursery. With star ratings and feedback as good as this, it is hard to beat as a childcare service in Padiham, Lancashire. If you’d like to explore the possibility of sending your baby, toddler, or preschooler under five to this wonderful nursery, please get in touch. We’re happy to answer questions, show you and your child around, discuss childcare funding options and more.
Located in Padiham, Lancashire, Little Acorns Nursery may also suit families living in towns and villages nearby including Hapton, Rose Grove, Burnley, Altham, Huncoat, Read, Simonstone, Sabden, Higham and Wood End.
One fantastic way to encourage children to connect with nature from an early age is by making homemade bird feeders. It’s a hugely popular activity amongst children of all ages, so today’s post is all about how to get started with your child. Although bird feeders can be made at any time of the year, the activity is perfectly suited to the winter and early spring. At this time, wild birds like robins, blackbirds, doves, and sparrows are really struggling to find food. And, with World Wildlife Day arriving in the first week of March, it’s very timely. Take a look!
A large, dry pine cone
Tie a piece of string securely around the top of the pine cone to create a hanger. Then, let your child spread peanut butter all over the pine cone using a spoon or butter knife. Next, roll the sticky pine cone in a tray of birdseed until it is fully coated. Once completely covered in birdseed, hang it outside on a tree branch or hook and watch as birds come to enjoy their treats!
Carefully thread the string through the outer shell of the monkey nuts, tying knots if needed to keep them spaced apart. Once you have a long garland, either tie the ends together to form a loop that can be suspended vertically or attach each end to stretch them horizontally between branches of twigs on a tree or bush. Once birds are used to the new addition to the garden, watch as blue tits, great tits and others enjoy cracking open the shells!
Cut out one or more large holes on the sides of the carton to create openings (adults should do this part for younger children). Thread can be attached at the top – try trapping it under the lid or get an adult to thread it through a hole. Let your child decorate the feeder with paint, stickers, or non-toxic markers. Fill the carton up to the opening(s) with birdseed and hang it up in your garden or balcony.
A clean, empty clear plastic water bottle
There are a few options for this type of bird feeder, as indicated in the photo examples. Either way, small feeding holes or ‘hatches’ will need to be cut (by a supervising adult) as openings. Optionally, cut small holes on opposite sides of the bottle and insert wooden spoons or sticks through them to create perches. Fill the bottle with birdseed and tie a string to hang it outside. Watch as birds land on the perches and enjoy their treats!
Expose some of an apple’s sides by removing some of the skin. Then, either attach string through (or around) the apple and hang it from a branch outside, or push a stick into it (carefully aimed away from you in case it goes right through) and push the other end into the ground. Watch as birds peck away at the tasty treat! Blackbirds, in particular, love apples!
Our personal favourite and key recommendation is sunflower hearts. These are the little kernels inside sunflower seeds and the good news is that by buying them as sunflower ‘hearts’, birds don’t need to remove the shells. Robins, blackbirds, doves, dunnocks, bluetits, great tits and pigeons love them! They’re generally inexpensive, in our experience, and are available widely, including in supermarkets.
Once your bird feeder is in place, keep an eye out for common garden birds. Typically, birds that are attracted to bird feeders in gardens include robins, bluetits, sparrows, and dunnocks although it does depend on what food you put out for them. Children are also likely to see larger birds like blackbirds, doves, pigeons, magpies and even crows, as they are likely to scavenge underneath for seeds that have dropped from the feeders. To help children identify which birds visit, ensure you have printed out our 
Even the youngest children seem to have an affinity towards playing a musical instrument. Put any child in front of a piano, guitar, or drum, or hand them a tambourine or shaker and they’ll immediately engage in generating sound and rhythm. It seems to be instinctive and children find music-making almost compelling — and great fun to boot. What’s more, children seem naturally keen to become better at playing instruments and, in time, to be able to play a recognisable tune. With that being the case, it’s often very easy to encourage them to take lessons, whether formally or informally, often leading to a lifelong vocational skill. What many parents may not know, however, is just how beneficial learning to play musical instruments is to little ones. Indeed, learning to play benefits them in often profound ways and that’s what we take a look at in today’s post.
When children play a musical instrument, learning to read music is a natural progression. Although it is communicated using different symbols, reading music is akin to reading words in a book. There is a flow from one side of the page to the other, every detail needs to be taken into consideration, and the left side of the brain is doing the work. Indeed, the left side of the brain controls reasoning and processes language. Whether reading music or words, each mark means something and communicates something to the reader. As such, children who learn to read music and do so regularly may find that it also helps them to read words in books.
Learning to play a musical instrument and read music requires thought, deep concentration, and analysis. All such activity is great exercise for a child’s developing brain. It gets synapses firing, helps in the development of new connections, and truly enhances cognitive development. It’s rather like a multi-gym for the brain!
When children learn to play a musical instrument, collaboration is a natural next step. Whether joining a band, writing songs as part of a team, or playing in the school orchestra, such collaboration is a fabulous way for children to make new friends and acquaintances. Through making music, their friendship circles will naturally grow and that’s a wonderful benefit.
Music is almost magical in its ability to set moods. It can bring calm and reduce stress, for example. It can make us – and children – more meditative and reflective, more energetic and ‘pumped’, and anything in between. It can and often does lift our spirits too. It’s a wonderful way for children to experience and even change emotions and, when chosen appropriately, is good for their well-being.
Even the youngest of children will take pleasure from shaking a homemade shaker, beating a box or drum, or jangling a tambourine. Such things are great starting points to introduce little ones to musical instruments. They can later progress to more advanced instruments like ocarinas, recorders, keyboards, guitars and so on.
At Little Acorns Nursery, we know how beneficial learning to play an instrument is for under fives. Indeed, children at this 
Today we bring you a guide to toothbrushing for under-fives, inspired by children at Little Acorns Nursery taking part in Lancashire’s Let’s Get Lancashire Brushing campaign. An initiative of Lancashire County Council Public Health, the programme is designed to educate and encourage young children, including toddlers, to brush teeth for 2 minutes twice a day using age-appropriate toothpaste. What’s more, their message is that it’s never too young to begin and can even start before the first tooth has surfaced. At Little Acorns Nursery, the programme is supervised by staff and is intended to take place in tandem with toothbrushing at home — it does not replace it. Nursery staff guide children to establish a positive and proactive routine around toothbrushing, to foster good habits around oral hygiene, and thereby minimise tooth decay and problems associated with it.
Primary school applications need to be submitted while the child is three or, at the very latest, has very recently had their fourth birthday. Because applications received on time are processed first, failure to apply by the due date means a child is less likely to receive an offer for their preferred school — places may no longer be available that late in the day.
Choosing a primary school for a child is an important step for any family. Somewhere conveniently close makes sense — and indeed is one of the most important criteria for offers, as we’ll see later. After all, you don’t want to be late dropping off or picking up your child because you’re stuck in a traffic jam miles away. Somewhere local will also mean your child has friends who are conveniently close by, which is another good thing. And, of course, if your child’s sibling already attends, then that school would usually be a natural first choice, assuming you’re happy with it of course.
While the eligibility criteria for school places are not identical for all locations, there are several factors that are fairly standard. For example, schools closest to a child and those where a sibling already attends are usually favoured. Children may also be more likely to be accepted at a school where a parent has worked for 2 or more years. Church/faith schools are often also more likely to accept children who share the same faith. 
Primary school offers are first sent, by email, to those who applied on time and included a valid email address on their forms. Offers to such families are released on the morning of the 16th of April or the next working day if that happens to fall on a weekend or public holiday. Others who supplied an email address on their application, but who applied late in respect of the 15 January deadline, will usually receive offers via email the same day, although later on. Others, without an email address specified on applications, will receive offers via Second Class post, so are likely to see offers later than the 16th of April. Some local authorities, however, allow people to log onto a portal to view offers from that date. Note that those applying ‘in-year’ receive offers on different dates to the standard ones specified above.
Today, we remind Padiham families that Little Acorns Nursery supports the new — free — childcare scheme for eligible children including babies as young as just 9 months of age. Although it’s available only to eligible working families, the bar to entry is fairly low. The childcare funding is therefore attainable for many families. This free childcare is not just limited to babies either and, what’s more, it’s due to become even more generous from September 2025. In our guide below we’ll outline who is eligible, how much childcare funding they can access, how many childcare hours that equates to, and what the eligibility criteria are. If you’re the parent of a baby, toddler, or child up to three years old, this is for you.
For those working families who are eligible, the scheme provides 570 hours per year of free childcare to children aged from 9 months to 3 years. This is normally taken as 15 hours per week for 38 weeks, usually aligning with the standard educational term-time weeks for school timetables. That said, it may be possible to stretch the hours over more weeks of the year if your childcare provider is able to accommodate such flexibility.
We’ll try to simplify the eligibility criteria for you. Whether it’s for a baby aged 9 months, a toddler of 1 or 2, or a child aged 3 or 4, there are essentially four main criteria for this specific type of childcare funding:
Well, it’s good news. It’s already the case that all 3 and 4-year-olds living in England are eligible to receive 570 hours (15 per week) of free childcare anyway. That’s available under what’s known as ‘Universal Entitlement’, a Government childcare funding scheme that’s been around for some time. What’s more, those working families that are eligible for the ‘new’ free childcare for children aged 9 months to 3 years are also likely to be eligible for a top-up of their child’s Universal Entitlement once they reach the ages of 3 and 4. In those cases, they’ll be entitled to 30 hours per week over 38 weeks (or however the 1140 free hours are spread out). That’s because the eligibility criteria are the same (see section above).
Parents and caregivers have a simple yet incredibly powerful tool at their disposal to significantly boost the education of children under five: reading with them. In study after study, this simple activity has been shown to transform a child’s early years of education, giving children short-, medium-, and long-term benefits that even extend into adulthood. With that in mind, we take a look today at the many benefits and incredible power of reading with children, especially those under five.
When you read to them, the cognitive benefits to children are profound and this is backed-up by findings from multiple studies. The benefits include improved memory, problem-solving, logical thinking, and memory skills. Even children’s attention spans are seen to improve when parents regularly read with them.
One of the biggest winners when reading with children is the boost to their language skills. Indeed, a 4-decade study (
If children are to get the most from reading, it’s important to read with them. That’s all about making it interactive, engaging and fun to ensure children are involved. There are a number of ways to accomplish this and doing so will be the key to them gaining the most benefit from the activity.
Pyjamarama is a one-day fundraising event that’s organised through the children’s reading charity BookTrust. It takes place each year across a variety of UK settings including homes, schools, preschools, nurseries and more. As well as being great fun for those organising and taking part, the initiative is beneficial to millions of disadvantaged children. The ultimate aim is to raise money to fund the purchase of books and resources, so that every child in the UK gets the chance for bedtime stories and each family has proper reading opportunities. The initiative is hugely popular, great fun, and transforms lives. Today, we take a look at what to expect, how to get involved, and the many benefits of Pyjamarama.
Pyjamarama is always a fun day for both adults and children. The added aspect of pyjamas makes it special, quirky and relaxed. And, at the end of the day, it’s incredibly worthwhile. Not only does it raise money to give disadvantaged children and their families opportunities for reading and bedtime stories, but it also encourages those children taking part in Pyjamarama to read more, for pleasure as much as anything. Additionally, it gives children a different perspective and encourages altruism and empathy for others less fortunate than themselves.
Children, adults, and whole families are gearing up to take part in the world’s biggest garden wildlife survey in early 2025. Organised by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), the Big Garden Birdwatch requires just one hour of your time during late January 2025. It’s free, hugely worthwhile, and will benefit nature, conservation, and children themselves. So, why not set a date for your diary and take part? Today’s post explains how to enrol, what to do, and how it will benefit all parties involved.
The Big Garden Birdwatch is designed to keep tabs on wild bird populations in the UK. It’s a survey that’s been undertaken across the UK every year since 1979 and allows the RSPB and conservationists to monitor whether any bird species are under threat. Sadly, survey findings in recent years have found this to be the case, with overall bird populations having declined by a staggering 38 million in the last 60 years. Song thrushes alone, for example, have declined by 80% and even the UK’s most populous bird species, House Sparrows, have declined by 57% since the survey began.
The Big Garden Birdwatch is also a great way to get children outdoors, close to nature, and to introduce them to the concept of nature conservation. By taking part, children can contribute to bird conservation as well as directly benefit in a number of ways themselves. For example, they can 
Enrolling your child or family into 2025’s Big Garden Birdwatch is easy and free. Simply 
Decide on a natural spot where you’ll undertake your hour’s birdwatch. Your garden, local park or even a balcony will do fine.
Enjoying Birdwatching?
As leaves start to blanket the ground and the earthy scents of autumn begin to infuse the air, it’s the perfect time to engage children in a captivating adventure that celebrates the season. In today’s post, we’ll introduce you to an Autumn Nature Hunt, an exciting outdoor activity for children that’s not only entertaining but also educational.
