What Is the Child Care Experience Programme?

If you are looking for a realistic infant simulator for childcare training, nursery education, health and social care, or early years qualifications, the Child Care Experience Programme by Realityworks is one of the most advanced childcare simulation programmes available today.

Designed to recreate the experience of working in a real nursery or childcare environment, the Child Care Experience Programme allows students to develop hands-on childcare skills in a safe, controlled classroom setting. Available exclusively in the UK through AnatomyStuff, this innovative infant simulation programme is transforming how colleges, schools, and training providers deliver practical childcare education.

The Child Care Experience Programme is the latest advancement in infant simulation training.

Think of it as a pop-up nursery within your classroom. Students are responsible for caring for multiple infant simulators at once, helping them experience the realistic challenges of working in childcare, nursery, and early years settings.

Unlike traditional classroom learning, the programme provides immersive, scenario-based training where students can practise caring for infants, make mistakes, build confidence, and learn from real-life situations without putting real babies at risk.

The programme helps students develop essential childcare and nursery practitioner skills while managing realistic everyday responsibilities and challenges. 

The Child Care Experience Programme has been specifically designed to integrate into a wide range of childcare and education qualifications, including:

• Early Years courses 

• Childcare courses 

• Education and Early Years T Levels 

• Education and Early Years V Levels 

• Health and Social Care courses 

• Vocational childcare qualifications 

• Nursery practitioner training 

• College childcare programmes 

The programme is already being used by leading educational institutions across the UK and Northern Ireland, including Belfast Metropolitan College, East Kent Colleges Group, Telford College, and South West College. 

The Child Care Experience Programme includes both 3-month-old and 9-month-old infant simulators, allowing students to experience caring for babies at different developmental stages.

Students learn how to:

• Feed, burp, rock, soothe, and change infants 

• Respond to infant care needs appropriately 

• Handle infants safely and correctly 

• Manage multiple babies at the same time 

• Record care activities in the Baby Care Journal 

• Respond to emergency scenarios including choking incidents 

• Communicate effectively with parents and carers 

This creates a realistic childcare training experience that prepares students for future careers as nursery practitioners, nannies, childminders, teaching assistants, and other childcare professionals. 

One of the biggest benefits of the Child Care Experience Programme is its ability to recreate the pressures and responsibilities of working in a real nursery setting.

Students clock in for shifts, manage care schedules, prioritise infant needs, and complete documentation just as they would in a professional childcare environment. Random scenario cards introduce unexpected situations involving infant health, safety, and parent communication, helping students develop problem-solving and decision-making skills.

This practical, career-focused training aligns perfectly with the goals of modern childcare and early years qualifications, which place strong emphasis on employability and real-world experience. 

An essential part of working with infants is being prepared for emergency situations, which is why the Child Care Experience Programme also includes infant first aid training.

The 3-month-old baby simulators can be used as infant CPR training manikins, allowing students to physically practise CPR techniques in a realistic hands-on environment. 

Meanwhile, the 9-month-old infant simulators include choking objects so students can learn how to respond to infant airway obstruction scenarios safely and correctly.

This practical training helps students build confidence in emergency childcare situations while developing vital first-aid skills they may need in future nursery, childcare, or early years roles.

The Child Care Experience software includes built-in assessment tools that allow instructors to monitor student performance and track progress throughout the simulations.

The software can:

• Monitor care successes, attempts, and omissions 

• Record responses to random scenarios 

• Track student engagement and involvement 

• Generate detailed assessment reports 

• Customise simulations for different learning levels 

• Adapt experiences for individuals or group activities 

This makes it easier for tutors and lecturers to assess practical childcare skills while keeping lessons engaging and interactive. 

One of the major advantages of the Child Care Experience Programme is that it includes a ready-made curriculum, saving educators time when planning lessons.

Included lesson topics cover:

• Infant feeding and nutrition 

• Infant developmental domains (PIES) 

• Communication with parents 

• Lesson and schedule planning 

• Entrepreneurship and opening a childcare centre 

• Introduction to infant CPR 

• Infant airway obstruction 

• The Child Care Experience Programme overview  

The Child Care Experience Programme is available in two package options, a 4-baby package or an 8-baby package, depending on the size of your training needs. The 4-baby package includes two 3-month-old infant simulators and two 9-month-old infant simulators, and the 8-baby package includes four 3-month-old babies and four 9-month-old babies, allowing for larger group training. Just to note you can also purchase additional 3-month-old and 9-month-old babies separately to suit your class size.

Alongside the infant simulators, the programme includes a wide range of supporting equipment and resources designed to create a realistic childcare training environment. This includes portable cribs, outfits and nappies, feeding accessories, choking objects, CPR kits, a highchair, changing mat, and tummy time mat.

It also comes with classroom management scenario cards, storage bags and cases, a downloadable curriculum, and a smart device with app access to support teaching, assessment, and simulation delivery. 

As childcare and early years education become increasingly career-focused, colleges and training providers are looking for more immersive and hands-on ways to prepare students for employment.

Simulation-based learning helps students gain confidence, improve communication, develop empathy, and practise essential practical skills before entering real childcare environments.

We know how important it is to see hands-on training products in use before investing in them. That’s why we’ve created a full video walkthrough of the Child Care Experience Programme. Which you can watch below. 

We also have our Child Care Experience Brochure if you are looking for extra information, and if you have already heard about the RealCare Baby Programme, then we have created a RealCare Baby vs Child Care Experience comparison chart so you can decide which one is right for your course. 

If you are planning a new childcare, early years, health and social care, T Level, or V Level course, the Child Care Experience Programme could be the perfect solution for delivering engaging, practical, and career-focused learning.