Little did the children from the Beeston setting of the Alphabet House Day Nursery group suspect that, when they let off their balloons in Beeston Square on 15th February, one of them would travel across the country, over the English Channel and land in Josselin, Brittany.
It was the first day back at the Nottinghamshire-based nursery after Valentine’s Day, and the children didn’t want to send a simple Valentine’s Day card. They wanted to tell the world who they loved most. And they chose balloon power to do that.
They all drew their picture of mum and dad apart from one little boy who insisted he loved his dog most. A ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ message was added with the nursery’s email address and a request to finders to tell the nursery where the balloon landed. The first to reply by email was Bernadette Marivain of Josselin, Brittany.
The pre-schoolers at Beeston are now firmly convinced that Valentine’s Day is for great mums and dads – not boyfriends and girlfriends. And they have evidence that their love can cross oceans. They have now sent Bernadette photos of them playing with their friends at the nursery and are determined to continue this new friendship.
With encouragement from manager, Amanda Crozier, the children have also started a transport project, with the focus on air balloons.