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A little space on a shelf will be just perfect, a collection in a shoe box or even a display in the middle of your dining table. It's a wonderful way to bring the connection with the great outdoors into your home and to celebrate the season.

You could include some seasonal spotter sheets, natural number cards and ways you've recorded your sightings. 

It can be something very simple found on a walk like a pinecone, a rock, flowers from the garden or a feather.

We like to add our drawings and paintings of the natural find too or a question on some card we've been curious about.

If you have the space you can maybe add some beautiful decorations you find of nature or a postcard that lights you up.

Here is a list of where you can find all the resources used in our winter bird nature table

Winter Nature Cards

Bird Spotter Sheet

Child Voice Nature Cards

Wanderlust Child Nature Journal

Wooden small world birds

Rock card holders

Counting pebbles

Wooden bird tree slice

I have been a childminder for the last 6 years and over that time, my setting has had gradual enhancement. I have always had a calm and neutral decor and quite a laid-back approach in my setting and in my teaching. I had the mindset and personality for the Hygge way, I just lacked the knowledge as to where and how to progress with it and how to ingrain it into the fabric of my setting and teaching.

Before I started this course, I was guilty of setting up activities in search of a finished product. I wanted something physical to show parents what we had achieved that day. I felt if I didn’t have something to show parents, I would think they haven’t achieved anything. I recently had a light bulb moment when I received a photo and message from a parent whose child had been with me for around 4 months. The photo showed her child playing at a playgroup. The message read “Thank you for being the reason my son will now go off to play, rather than being clung to my leg!”

It was a moment ...

Little Bird’s Preschool is a charity run preschool which sits in the heart of the beautiful town of Swanage Dorset. It has always been a popular preschool over its history and has certainly moved with the times. As with many Preschools the Little bird’s environment was very colourful and busy with bright pictures, posters and backing paper covering every possible wall and space. Nearly all the toys and resources were plastic which limited the children’s imaginations.

Step forward to January 2018. The Preschool was taken over by Jodie Edmunds, and Jude French became her deputy. Together they had a vision to transform Little Birds into a more natural and simulating environment. The other preschool practitioners jumped aboard, and the process began. Being a charity run preschool it meant that we had to do a lot of fundraising to enable us to buy resources and start the transformation. Our preschool office was situated within the school’s staff room which made it very hard for us to have ...

When I started the Hygge in the Early Years Accreditation, I was at one of the lowest points in my career.  I work full time as a childminder and was waiting for hip replacement, the pain affected my sleep and I worried how I would manage and afford time off.  This I could cope with, but I also felt I had no time for myself, struggling to run voluntary groups I’d always managed and juggling family life.  The Hygge course helped me take a good look at my life and realised I was stuck in a rut, doing things out of routine, not necessarily what I wanted to do.  The children were happy but I noticed they too were playing with the same toys, doing same routines and places.

I decided I had to priorities my own wellbeing and I wanted to make changes in my work place too. 

As part of the course I set the following three Hygge action points:

• Improve own health/wellbeing
• Establish joint weekly Forest School sessions
• Reduce the use of non-natural and non-recyclable materials and resources
...

As winter approaches I wanted to share some thoughts and inspiration on the different ways you can create enchantment and magic in your play.

I do believe there should be an element of beautifulness in your play. If you don't want to go and play there and learn more than neither will the children. That's why when I set areas up I like to pay attention to the details I create. Adding in mirrors for a different perspective, considering the opportunity to add light, different textures to stimulate the senses and elements of nature. I like to include open ended resources and books that allow the learning to take the direction the child desires. I put the time into creating something that will have impact on the children's learning and development. That's why I don't do reams of forward planning and masses of paperwork and instead put this time into the environment (but that's a whole different blog post!).

Now I think that it's  important to note here that the child matters! For one minu...

Children are so highly creative and learn to express their world and what’s around them in their own unique way from an early age.

Yet often we as adults try to stifle this creative freedom.

Perhaps by showing children how we expect their painting of a pumpkin to look and only offering one paint colour.

Maybe setting up a craft station where all the children have to make a paper spider with pipe cleaner legs.

Or

How about giving children templates, outlines to colour in or pre-determined shapes to use in their craft activity.

These stop us from focussing on the process of the learning and instead give the child the message that the outcome is what’s important here.

Instead talk to the children, “Ok so you want to make a representation of the bumblebee you saw outside, what materials shall we use? What colours would work best here? What shape will you make the body? How would be the best way to create the stripes?’

Consider the creative freedom you offer ...

While visiting a school recently I over heard a Reception teacher panic that the children had brought mud inside the classroom and how the outdoor area needed astroturf laying instead.

That real connection with nature is so important; the mud, the puddles, the wind. This is how we learn about the world around us and is so important in our sensory development. We can’t deny young children of these experiences. In fact in my opinion I believe we need to encourage it more! This is when the real magic of early years learning happens!

To over come the problem of mud inside consider the footwear and clothing the children have to go outdoors in. Perhaps having a welly boot stand? A clothes airer for waterproofs, or a boot wash station? Why not put down a barrier mat in the entrance into the classroom that children can get changed on?

Making a few small changes means we can continue to have wonderful learning opportunities going on every day in nature.

Find out more about our Wand...

Do you find your children struggle to sit on the carpet for group time. Here are some things to consider;

• How long are your adult led sessions?
• Are you breaking children off in the middle of their play to come and sit with you for group time? This might b for things like assembly times.
• How many children are in your group? Could you break up into smaller groups (maybe even groups of 4-5 to start with and slowly increase it.
• Do you plan adult led sessions inside and out to show the importance of learning happening everywhere?
• Have you had a focus on how we can be a good listener? I like to have visual good sitting supports up, use verbal reminders and use makaton signs and actions.
• Are you making your sessions active and irresistible? The use of props, engaging stories, using different voices (e.g quiet whispers at times or showing excitement, action rhymes, creating intrigue and suspense (something discovered in a box)
• Have you planned around the children’s interests and what
...

Autumn is the most perfect time of the year to collect natural treasures in the great outdoors. 

Some of my favourites that I mention in the Wanderlust Child Nature Journal are;

• Crab apples
• Elderberries
• Rosehips
• Pears
• Acorns
• Ferns
• Pine cones
• Conkers

I like to give children little bags to collect these in and then offer sorting trays, jars and ten frames to explore with once back in setting. You might even give your children a numbered paper bag and ask them to collect the amount on the bag. There are many ways you can then extend this further with the language you use afterwards. How many would we have if we added one more conker to the bag? What happens if we added two bags together? What would happen if an acorn fell out of the bag? How could you sort the natural items you've collected?

How about asking your children and their families to make 100 jars of loose parts? Then ask your children to make their own labels and put these out to use in your loose parts ar...