The action is the latest in a string of protests

Thousands of parents and children will be hit by the action, which follows a campaign for a pay and status review.

A demonstration and rally will be held in Dundee to coincide with a meeting of council body Cosla.

Some councils have reached local pay deals, but public sector union Unison wants a national settlement.

Nursery nurses, who are paid about �13,000 a year, want an increase of �4,000 a year to reflect the extra duties they say they have had to undertake.

Cosla has repeatedly called on union officials to end the strike action and return to the negotiating table.

It has offered a new grading system which would enable fully qualified nurses to earn �18,000 a year.

However, Carol Ball, head of Unison's nursery nurses working party, said "Cosla's refusal to deal with this Scotland-wide issue on a Scottish basis has meant continuing disruption for parents and their children's education."

The march and rally will be led off by a group of parents supporting the nurses.

Anne Byrne, a Dundee parent who will speak at the rally, said it was time the local authorities started talking to Unison.

"Kids are losing out whilst councils play for time. We know what a valuable job nursery nurses do and we think they are undervalued.

"I can see no reason why a nursery nurse in Angus or Perth should be paid differently from one in Dundee, teachers aren't."