We had a really fantastic time at nursery yesterday, learning about Nigerian culture and traditions with Temitope who is the Mum of one of our children at nursery.

Before her arrival we all looked at some pictures and videos about Nigeria and discussed that it was the place where Temitope was born but that she now lives in South Normanton with her husband and children, although her parents still live in Nigeria.

We looked at the colours of the Nigerian flag, Nigerian clothing and food and watched and listened to some Nigerian dancing and music. The children were very excited and Temitope’s son felt really special because we looked at lots of pictures of him and his family both in England and Nigeria. He was really excited to chat about his family and help him Mum to teach us more about the culture and traditions of Nigeria.

Temitope brought in many beautiful Nigerian outfits and was kind enough to let the children try them on during the nursery session. She showed them how to wear them properly and even dressed some of the staff in elaborate head dresses which looked really beautiful. We put on some music and videos from Nigeria and the children had a wonderful time dancing in the special clothes and chatting to Temitope. There was a fantastic feeling in nursery with singing, dancing and celebrating the traditions and culture of Nigeria which is very special to Temitope and all her family and really interesting for us to learn about too. We learnt that there are some differences between British and Nigerian culture but that other things are very similar.

Days such as yesterday are so valuable to all the children as it helps them to understand and value the similarities and differences between people. It broadens their knowledge of traditions and cultures from other places in the world and provides an ideal opportunity to celebrate the things that are special to the individual children in our nursery, making them feel special and a valued part of our nursery and wider community. The day also provided fantastic opportunities for speech and language as the children discussed and asked questions to find out more about the Nigeria…fantastic learning all round and lots and lots of fun!

We would like to extend our sincerest thanks to Temitope for sharing with us, allowing us to wear her beautiful clothes and teaching us all about Nigeria (also for the lovely traditional food that she brought in for the staff…yum!) and to her son for his wonderful enthusiasm and for doing such a fantastic job of helping his Mum today.