Tiddlywinks Day Nursery (Kempston Rural) Limited
GoodBirth to 8+Long established
A day nursery in Bedford for children from birth to 8+, open 08:00 to 18:00, 5 days a week. They do not publish prices, so that is the first thing to ask. Rated Good by Ofsted in January 2022. Open since 2015, with 74 places.
What you might pay
This setting does not publish its fees, and no national dataset holds them. This is what childcare costs across the council, as a starting point for the call.
What childcare usually costs in Bedford
This is not this setting's price. It is the median hourly fee across all providers in Bedford from the Department for Education's 2025 provider survey. No national data holds what an individual nursery charges, so ring and ask.
Places, hours and the day
Who they take, when they are open, and what a day there includes.
Where it is
MK43 8RHWhat the inspector found
One grade is one visit. A run of them tells you whether it has been good for years or has only just got there.
Ofsted inspector, 21 January 2022 · read the full report
What it is like to attend
The nursery is warm, bright and welcoming for all children. They enter the nursery happily and become quickly engaged in a wide range of activities. Children develop great friendships and actively seek each other out to play with. They have good relationships with staff. Staff are kind-hearted and nurturing as they help children to enjoy their learning and develop their confidence. Staff praise children when they give the correct answer or work out how to do something. This helps to boost children's self-esteem. Children demonstrate good behaviour. They are curious learners and benefit from the experiences available to them. Children concentrate on and explore activities for long periods of time.
Children gain an understanding of mathematical concepts during a range of activities. They use magnetic bricks to make 'long' snakes and then lie on the floor and measure themselves against the number of bricks. The children discuss who is the longest. Younger children work out how many toy animals they can fit in their boats before the shark gets them. While playing in the garden, children look for shapes within the environment. They look at the roof and spend time working out that it is a cone shape.
Staff share books effectively with all children. Younger children enjoy looking at a book about zoo animals. They guess what animal is in the picture, then lift the flaps to find out. Older children look at the toys in a story sack. Staff read through the story, stopping at different parts to ask questions about what animal will come next. Children guess which animal it might be, then find the matching toy from the sack. This helps to support children's literacy development.
What Ofsted told them to improve
To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:
- support staff to develop skills to extend the learning of higher achieving children even further n help staff introduce even more vocabulary into children's learning and play.
- 21 January 2022Good
- 24 August 2016Good
Rated Good or Outstanding at 2 of the last 2 graded inspections.
Still missing for Tiddlywinks Day Nursery (Kempston Rural) Limited
- What it costs
- Funded hours
- Youngest age taken
- Meals
- Nappies
- Waiting list
No dataset holds any of this. Two parents telling us the same thing puts it on the page for whoever looks next.
What to ask them
None of this is in any national dataset and this setting has not published it, which is exactly why it is worth asking.
- What does it cost, all in? What is on top: meals, nappies, late pick-up, and what happens if you are late.
- Can I use my funded hours here? Whether they stretch them over the year, and the minimum days you have to book.
- Is there a place for my child's age? Baby rooms fill first and waiting lists are common.
- Who would my child's key person be? And how long have the staff been there. No dataset holds this and it matters more than anything above.
- Can I visit at a busy time? Mid-morning on a weekday tells you far more than an empty room after hours.
Day nurseries within a couple of miles
This one is first. Tick it and one or two others to see them side by side.