Joyce Stackhouse, 85, has problems remembering what she has done or the names of her friends and can easily become confused or anxious.

But the grandmother-of-seven has found a new lease of life through her two-hour visits to the nursery where she is known fondly as “Nanny Joyce”.

She joins in with drawing, singing and dancing with the class of two-to four-year-olds, even getting down on all fours to crawl inside the nursery’s ‘dark den’ tunnel.

Ms Stackhouse, from Backwell in Somerset, says she thinks of the little ones as her own children and that her visits to Highdale Day Nursery in Clevedon, Somerset are more fun than being at home. 

Her granddaughter, Claire Stackhouse, said: “She’s like a totally different person when she’s here - I feel like she’s got her spark back since she started coming.”

Ms Stackhouse, 24, who works at Highdale Nursery, added: “Before she started coming here, she needed help getting up from sitting on a chair.

“Now she’s been down on all fours crawling into the dark den - although she needed a bit of help getting back up.”

She said: “Most of the time she can’t even remember the name of her friend down the street who she sees almost every day.

“But we had a new child start recently and she said, ‘That’s a new one’ and recognised she hadn’t met them before.

“And she remembers the songs we sing with the children, she knows the words and she has her favourite songs.

“So we’ve been able to see that progression, and the positive impact it’s had on her.”

Her daughter was inspired to invite ‘Nanny Joyce’ to Highdale after watching Channel 4 documentary ‘Old People’s Home For Four-Year-Olds’ in August.

The programme, filmed in a care home in nearby Bristol, introduced a group of four-year-olds to the residents of the home - with ‘amazing’ improvements to the mental and physical health of the latter.

And Highdale Nursery manager Sarah Millard, 39, said that Nanny Joyce’s visits since September have had a “really, really positive impact” so far - on both Ms Stackhouse and the children.

“They get really excited to see her,” said Sarah.

“They look after her as well - it’s like they know she’s elderly and needs a bit of looking out for.

Ms Stackhouse said: “When I first came here I honestly didn’t know what I was letting myself in for - it was a bit overwhelming.

“But I wouldn’t have this kind of fun just sitting at home on my own. They’re all as good as gold.”

The nursery managers now hope they can inspire other nurseries to invite elderly people into their classrooms to continue the positive impact.