It's 9am. Mozart music is playing in the background and Sam is sitting in the hanging chair watching the other children play. Cora is in the tent tending the dolls, Lucas is painting at the easel and Amelie and Aisling are in the garden watching the wrens nesting.
This is a typical after-breakfast scene at the baby room at Archway Children's Centre in the London borough of Islington. The children, aged 11 months to two years, toddle and crawl confidently between the quiet area, workshop space and outdoors.
Every detail in the baby room, from the selection of double primary colours in the paint pots to the adult-style drinking cups, has been designed to challenge the under-twos and promote their independence.
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