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We've has such a long cold spell here in the U.K that it feels as though we've been living under a sheet of ice now for quite a few weeks. 

Instead of staying inside and being wary of the ice we've taken inspiration from Scandinavian pre-schools and headed out in the ice and cold. 

During the winter months in Scandinavia months on end are often icy, cold and snowy. It's a way of life here and the mentality is that we can't just stop life because of it. Instead ice on the ground is an important lesson for young children to learn. How do they move on the ice? What do they need to wear on a very cold day? What will melt the ice? What's the best way to warm up on a freezing day? - All important life lessons!

As a family we've been getting well wrapped up and heading out into our local area. Visiting the moors and exploring the puddles on our street that have turned into ice. It's opened up lots of facinating discussions and experiments. 

Here I share with you a list of...

Birds

Don’t fill January with too many plans. Take time to watch the birds either from a window or while you're outside. Think about the questions your children ask or the comments they make. Use this as a starting point for a bird provocation.

1. “A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. ‘Chinese proverb

Hum a tune, whistle a melody or sing your heart out.

Take some time this morning to listen to the bird song. Nature often reminds us how wonderful the world is even when things feel tough or out of our control.

Nature also reminds us that nothing is ever constant in this world and is forever changing. If time’s are hard for you right now know that this time will pass soon.

1. Survey the birds in your garden or your local area with a bird spotting sheet
2. Make pine cone bird feeders
3. Get up early and listen to the bird song with a mug of hot tea
4. Set up a story crate around...

I don't know about you but I just love the snow! Waking up and seeing the snow flakes falling brings so much excitement. I also love the softness that we experience when it snows and the way everywhere seems to quiet. Taking a walk and hearing the crunch underfoot, perhaps hearing the tweet of the birds in a nearby tree and noticing the snow sitting carefully on the branches. 

I have been very fortunate to go on some wonderful adventures to Northern Finland and Canada and even as an adult the snow has truly fascinated me. Like the way it sticks to the trees in the -10 temperatures! I loved how in Finland the streets were given a cosy glow in the middle of winter with candles dotted in the snow lighting the way.  So when it was snowing here in Bradford today I just couldn't wait to bring in some of that joy of snow into our day. 

In today's blog I wanted to share three ways you can embrace some open ended snow play this winter. 

Set up a snow kitchen

Here...

Transition Back Into Setting 

For all children Christmas has been a long build up of excitement and the younger the child the harder it is for them to understand that it’s now finished.

My 2 year old is still singing When Santa got Stuck up the Chimney (a song everyone praised him for singing and knowing all the words to last week!) Now he can’t understand why a song he sang only a few days ago doesn’t receive the same response or reaction!

We give Christmas such a long build up (often starting in November) where we sing songs and tell stories that children often don’t understand because they are yet to experience it first hand. Then we’re so quick and eager to clear it all away.

Yet young children need the first hand experience of something to then play and make sense of it all.

I’ve seen lots of posts recently asking people to share their invitations to play for January.

This is your reminder that you don’t need to fill every space...

Here at Little Nature Tots we aim to provide inviting invitations for babies to play, explore & investigate.

Within our play we use lots of natural materials which we forage & enhance using other sensory objects.

Our stations are planned and set up to ignite sensory development within the 5 senses: See, Hear, Taste, Smell & Touch.

1. Bauble water play

Fill a tray with water & add different coloured baubles. Then add some fir or pine tree to add colour and texture. Allow your baby to look at, touch, roll & explore the objects in the water.

2. Winter rice play

Fill a tray with rice and add festive objects & colours. Here I also added some sticks to make patterns. Your baby will love to feel the rice with their fingers and toes.

3. Mud kitchen sensory play

Collect crunchy leaves & evergreens from around the garden. Add some small pots and pans. Your baby will love to explore the smells and textures.

4. Winter sensory tray

Using a foil...

Finding and embracing nature is a big part of the Scandinavian Day. Friluftsliv (Free  air life ) is a Norweigan term all about just taking the time to wander into nature with no agenda but to just be. The  Norwegian philosophy around just bonding with nature.

Embracing nature and the benefits it brings not only improves the child’s well-being but also the adults that are outside and joining in too!

While writing this post I reflected back to this time last year when we had a tricky start to the day with some big toddler emotions. We got ready to go outside (which was a challenge in itself with a grumpy toddler and all the layers needed) We eventually headed outside into nature at 7:45am and it was worth all the trickiness of getting ready. We had no agenda, no where in particular to go but just explored where our interests took us.  The longer we were outside for the calmer and happier we became. We got lost in the wonders of the sparkly leaves, the crispness...

Guest Post by: Sam Goldsworthy 

Since undertaking the Hygge accreditation we have really embraced the feeling of togetherness and cosiness. The one thing that struck a positive chord with us when reading about life in Denmark was the way they come together on a Friday afternoon to enjoy cake and celebrate the end of the week. We thought ‘wow’ we could do easily achieve this in our setting. So we originally planned to bake each Friday morning and come together in the afternoon to enjoy our bakes with a hot chocolate or a warm milk and reflect on the adventures that we have had together during the week.

Our Hygge Friday developed to include ‘voting'. So we would choose two recipes and ensure we had ingredients for both. We placed a picture with each bake with the wording underneath for the children to be able to read or visualise the choices depending on their age and stage of development. They would often ponder then, would choose a bake and write their name...

Embracing the concept of Hygge in our Montessori preschool Wise Owls (follow on instagram  @wiseowlsmontessori)  has been both magical and gratifying. The concept of living in the now and embracing the simple and natural things in life has been wonderful to see first-hand amongst the children. We embrace the sense of togetherness as well as capturing the feeling of nature, warmth and cosiness.

Throughout the year, we love to incorporate materials from our outdoor environment, for example, going on nature walks to collect branches and leaves to make our season tree which is proudly painted and created by the children and displayed in the classroom throughout the year. The children love learning about the different seasons and incorporating nature and hygge into the classroom. Providing natural objects made from wood allow us and the children to feel closer to the simplicity of nature. We have also recently gathered natural materials to make our own Winter Wreaths for our...

Here at Sarah’s Little Stars, we love to bake.

The children love the independence that it brings to their morning or afternoon.

We bake so much that the children can often do most of the steps without asking for an adult’s help. 

Watching the children work as part of a team is one of my favourite parts of our week. Someone might say “me do eggs” and an older child might say “there’s 4 eggs xxxx, so we can we all have  a turn!” And the little one is then seen counting the eggs and shouting “Yes”- the excitement on their face is just priceless.

From time to time the children will  often give me or my assistant Claire a job todo, “can you clean this up Claire?”, “Sarah, is the oven on?”, “Claire can you help xxxx put the flour in whilst I’m stirring?”

They might not be the most exciting jobs in the kitchen that morning or afternoon but its just lovely that they want to involve...