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This year at Kinderworld Day Nursery the staff team have embarked on a journey together studying for the Hygge in Early Years Accreditation. We started this because as the manager of the nursery I could see and feel how the covid pandemic has had such a detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of many families, staff and children. As a team, we wanted to feel calmer, less stressed and happier. Coming myself from a very Hygge home (as my mother is Danish) and having grown up with the concept of Hygge and basing our nursery around this when we first opened 25 years ago, along with other Danish philosophies and what we called always called ‘home from home’, I was overjoyed to find this course so I could better share our ethos with my staff and the families that attend. I am so happy that finally Hygge is recognised outside of Denmark, as it is a way of life and can really only be embraced if everyone understands it and is on board with it- creating a culture of Hygge....

Guest blog post by Sarah Rawson, Normanton All Saints C of E (A) Infant School

"During the pandemic, our setting, like many others, were keen to not only spend the majority of our day outdoors but also encourage our families to do the same. Making the most of the daily walk quickly became part of the new ‘norm’ for families and schools in the world of home learning.     Our love for the outdoors continued to grow and this is when we stumbled upon the Wanderlust nature study program. This amazing 52 week plan has totally transformed our outdoor provision and the way in which we use our outdoor space. The level of engagement has increased, behaviour has improved and we have been in awe of the knowledge that the children had gained about the world around them. Inspired by Kimberly and her Nature...

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...

There are many different ways that we can prepare for advent with young children and our loved ones. I like to make this time full of hope in my setting and learning environment and think about ways we can add a dose of cosy too! 

I have created a  FREE printable hygge in the early years advent calendar that can be used as a family to focus on collecting moments and making memories together over the festive season. Let's not forget the only Christmas present we wanted last year was to see family and friends. It's easy for the commercial side of Christmas to run away with us and make us forget what's important. 

I like to stick my daily hygge prompts into a little envelope or a postage tag and hang these up. We then take it in turns to open one each day over breakfast. 

 You might also decide to light an advent candle. In Denmark families enjoy foraging for natural treasures in the forests like bark, berries, twigs, moss and pine. They then enjoy...

What is a tinker tray?

Tinker trays are filled with open ended loose part materials that will spark curiosity, problem solving, critical thinking and imaginative play. The objects in the tray can be used in any way the child chooses and there is no set way that they should be used.  It is commonly used in the Reggio Emilia Approach to learning and can be adapted for a range of different ages and stages of development. 

Materials for a tinker tray

Any tray with compartments can be used to display and store the loose parts to be used in play. I quite like using trays made out of natural materials like wood and seagrass as i always think we can display our materials in a beautiful way in these. Here are some ideas of what you could use or re-use:

• A cutlery tray insert
• A chocolate box or biscuit box insert
• Bun trays
• Tie box
• Jewellery tray insert
• Desk drawer dividers
• Tool boxes
• Crafting boxes
• Ice cube trays
• A tea bag caddy 

Items ideas for your tinker tray:

We can...

Hygge is all about embracing the simple moments in life with such warmth and comfort. Winter time offers us the perfect opportunity to make some seasonal changes to our home to create a calming and warm atmosphere. Getting that hygge feeling in our home is especially important when Christmas time can at times feel quite busy and chaotic with so much going on.

Here are my top tips for bringing some hygge into your home at this time of year.

Consider lighting

Turn off the overhead lights and instead be more creative with the way you light up your spaces inside. Go for lamps on tables, the warm flicker of a candle dancing , light the fire or adda string of fairy lights to jam jars to give  twinkle of magic. 

Some of the things that I loved seeing in Scandinavia were the lanterns filled with fairy lights on a porch creating a warm welcome to visitors. Or the paper stars hung in the windows to light the way on a dark night. It it snows you could even have a go...

I am a Forest School Practitioner and Teaching Assistant working across all primary year groups.  I was introduced by a work colleague to the Wanderlust Nature Study.   This has led me on a journey and helped me to bridge the gap between the classroom indoors and the classroom outdoors so that they become one.  I feel this is important, not only for the children, but the adults alike with small steps taken inside the classroom to bring nature inside thus helping to make those steps outside.  This is something I am passionate about as a Forest School Practitioner.  Through my Forest School Practitioner training I understand the importance of nature/the outdoors and child led learning.  This accreditation course has fitted perfectly within this.

I have worked closely with Year 1 and EYFS and the Hygge feeling has started to spread throughout the school.  There are still lots of areas to improve, this isn’t something I feel will just...

A guest post by Sophie-Ann Grant @smallworldsecrets on Instagram.

I chose to document the Hygge course through journal method, using a scrapbook to write down my journey. Journaling is one of my favourite hobbies and it really helps me have a more reflective mind.

I enjoyed adding pictures to prompt myself, especially when I found myself in moments where I was doubting my achievements.

I would spend the first half listening to the webinars and videos, jotting down my own notes and take-aways in a separate notebook. I liked referencing to the module booklet to prompt me to respond to the action tasks.

I then set the layout in my scrapbook, and took more time, to read over my notes and add my own reflections.

Documenting it this way will ensure that I look back, when there are times when I am struggling to stay inspired or in need to a boost my motivation and support my core values in my practice.

Discover more on changing the quality of your life with the Hygge in the Early...

The Icelandic people practice something called 'jolabokaflod,' which translates to 'Christmas book flood. ' Jolabokaflod involves giving books as presents on Christmas Eve, so that friends and family can spend the cozy night in curled up with a good story.

Here is my list of favourite winter books:

Share some kindness, bring some light by Apryl Stott 

One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth

Under the Stars by Rosie Adams

Someday by Stephanie Stansbie

Christmas Farm by Mary Lyn Ray

The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits by Ulf Stark 

The Message Of The Birds By Kate Westerlund

A Simple Christmas On The Farm By Phyllis Alsdurf

The Lights That Dance In The Night by Yuval Zommer

A Scandinavian Christmas 

A Thing Called Snow by Yuval Zommer

The Snow Dragon by Abi Elphinstone

Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht

 Christmas is coming: An advent book by Katie Hickey

The Christmas Pine by Julia Donaldson

Walking in a Winter...

My Name is Adele I am a registered childminder in Kent.

I have worked in childcare for 23 years doing may different positions as Nursery nurse, Nanny, TA and Respite Nursery Nurse for a children’s hospice.

After having my two beautiful girls currently aged 4 and 8 years old, I was finding it increasingly more difficult to find the correct position that fitted around our family life. After taking to close friends I decided to take up childminding.

I found it all quite daunting to start with as even though I have been in childcare for a long time I hadn’t had to do much paperwork as having dyslexia this can sometimes be very time consuming and difficult writing policies, planning and learning journals for the children was taking a lot of my family time up. Also had never run my own business before. I really enjoyed childminding but was overwhelmed and stressed that I wasn’t doing enough with the children.

A fabulous friend of my Samantha who I...