If your child is in nursery...

[GrrrlInterrupted]

How old were they when they 1st went?

And what activities do they do there?

You can make many friends through school, I accept that. However, real life socialisation, to me, cannot be provided in the bubble that is school. As I said, you are never again made to spend a significant proportion of your time with your peer group, so it's not "real life". Maybe "real life" isn't the correct phrase to describe what I mean, I don't know. The best kind of schools that I have seen are small rural ones, where you have maybe a dozen children of all different ages learning together.

I don't want to hijack this thread and turn it into a debate though

If you want your child to get a go at messy play, you could see if the Council offers sessions - mine does through libraries and children's centres, that you take kids along to and stick around.