10 Days of Hygge: Day 6

Hygge feels different for everyone and I wanted to share with you what it feels and looks like for me by telling you about our very Hygge Sunday. 

We began our morning by having a slow breakfast together as a family where we lit the candles and talked about what we all wanted to do on such a cold foggy day. Despite the weather we decided to get wrapped up and embrace the great outdoors. We headed out for an autumn walk through the woods and to a nearby dam. 

Danes enjoy spending time connected to nature and away from electronic devices. Being outside allows you to live in the moment and notice what’s around you which is really important for your mental health. It’s also a wonderfully sensory experience too. 

As we walked along we took in the smell of the trees, the oozing of the mud on our boots and the sound of the birds in the trees. We also loved collecting up many natural treasures like; pine cones, leaves and stones. We used our rustic nesting bowls which were perfect for this and gave us lots of opportunities to bring in some maths too. Especially when we combined these with our natural sorting trays. There were so many ways for learning here ‘Who’s pot held the most? How can you sort your natural treasures? How could these be arranged in the tray? How many do we have altogether’ We used our number cards alongside our nature trays as well to get a better understanding of what it means to be each digit which is such an important foundation for early maths. 

Once we got back from our chilly walk we decided to get warm and cosy by building a hygge den in the family room. We filled our den with warm blankets, twinkly lights and some of our favourite books. As we read the story of the Gingerbread Men and sipped our hot chocolate we could hear the gentle sound of raindrops hitting the velux roof. We loved the repetitive story of the Gingerbread Man and the beautiful illustrations in the book. We used the story telling cards to help us re-tell the story in our play. It then inspired us to bake our very own delicious gingerbread as well. The house was filled with the sweet aroma of our baking.  

At the end of our afternoon we returned back to the children’s interests from the woodland walk and used a batch of natural playdough to explore leaves. We added in the textured leaf tiles, our lovely natural treasures as well as a book about trees. This was a very calming way to end such a hyggelig day.