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“Strive to make everyday the best day of your life, because there is no good reason not to.” Hal Elrod

Hygge Travelling with Babies and Toddlers

Jun 09, 2023

When travelling with a baby or toddler it can feel very far from hygge and calm. Since having Oliver we’ve done quite a few trips from taking a one hour flight to Denmark to a crazy 11 hour flight to Vancouver. These flights have mostly ran smoothly for us and we've avoided any screen time too. After each journey we've taken the time to reflect after each one to think about what we've learnt from each one when it comes to travelling with a little one. So after lots of requests I want to share with you how you can not just survive a flight with a baby or toddler but actually enjoy it and find some calmness too.  

Preparation before the holiday for toddlers

Try and book a flight time where possible that is around nap time. If you can choose your seat before the flight we like to go near the front if its a shorter budget flight. This is so we're first of the plane and onto the airport bus to the terminal (helping to get a seat on the bus otherwise it can...

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Baby and Toddler Nature Books

Jun 06, 2023

Let’s inspire our babies and toddlers to be nature lovers and explores. 

We are now known as the indoor generation with most families spending 98% of their days indoors.

It makes me so sad to think that so many babies and toddlers are experiencing less and less time in nature and miss out on the opportunities to move, explore and be free in the outdoors.

Time to day dream and dawdle (something toddlers love to do as they make sense of the world) are rushed through. Little chats together about the ladybird that was spotted on the walk to nursery are going. 

Busy schedules, long car journeys and screens have often replaced these moments we used to spend outdoors. 

If we’re not careful we will create a generation who have grown up being observers of nature without actually experiencing it first hand for themselves. Only ever seeing nature on a tv screen, a VR head set or tablet. 

As a parent I want my child to live life and not just view it through...

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I have always rushed with everything in life

Apr 16, 2023

I am a childminder based in north Lincolnshire. I started up in 2019 with a vision of colour and brightness, I loved Grimms and was obsessed with babipur I’ve always been a wooden type of mum for my own children. More substantial and eco friendly. I had toy kitchens , loads of kallax units, toy garages you name it we had it - all wooden mind. It just was very bland. I came across hygge on social media also the curiosity approach too so I was in too kinda which to do. I chose hygge as it was a life style aswell not just for my business but for my family life aswell and at the end of the day my business and family came together. 

 

Before setting. 

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I started with the wanderlust program which I absolutely loved. We spent more time outside foraging and making mobiles out of sticks and flowers we have found. We made nature crowns and I found the children were so much more content being outside more, collecting greenery and making their own creations...

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Professional Love

Feb 15, 2023

Guest Post by Abbie Moore

Happy Valentine's Day! We absolutely love celebrating valentine's day at Scallywags, as we get to celebrate and share LOVE!

At Scallywags, we love all of our families and staff very much! With that in mind, I thought we would ask for your thoughts and feedback to reflect on the feeling of love in Early Years.  

        Please feel free to answer our quesntionnaire through the link below, your feedback is very much appreciated

 

The term ‘professional love’ was coined by Dr Jools Page, who conducted a research project in 2012, talking to Early Years professionals across England, to research the impact of media coverage around scandals on the relationships with children and early years professionals.

The research aimed to understand how professionals felt about ‘loving’ children in a professional capacity.

I’ve seen many debates over the years about where the line...

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Responsive Planning

Nov 16, 2022

How do we slow down our planning and also plan our environment responsively?

This is something I share the exact steps to do in my slow planning guide availablehere

Below Abbie shares an example from her setting.

As the evenings have become darker, we have been sitting outside having our evening snack under the stars, our children have been fascinated by the moon! 

We created this provocation around the moon and space, our children came straight in to explore which we then extended on further.. Our children commented that it is dark in the night sky, so we added a thin blanket across this area to create a really cosy den with our fairy lights. Our indoor lighting is rarely used as our fairy lights and resources soften the atmosphere and really encourage awe and wonder for our children. 

I could really see this provocation enhancing children's learning and slowing down their play to become more present and really learn about their...

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Autumn Leaf Play

Oct 12, 2022

Autumn time has to be one of my favourite times of the year. Having Oliver now makes it even more exciting too as I take a moment to stand back and watch him experience the world for the very first time.

We have loved getting outside each day and doing the same daily walk. It's lovely to just walk with Oliver in the sling and talk about all the things we notice each day and notice any changes. Doing this is very much inspired by the practice of the Danes with the daily walk children in early education do. When Oliver is old enough we will pick our favourite tree as well to document its changes as we move through the year. 

I also think it's important that we as adults take the time to just pause and appreciate the slow moments of joy in the day. We can't teach hygge and living well if we don't model it ourselves. I've built this into our daily walk and we will often find a little spot to just sit and watch what's going on. I love chatting away yet I feel that...

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Hygge Case Study "Our planning across the school was based on pre-planned ‘topics’ which were the same every year"

Jul 12, 2022

"We are a local authority school with 215 children on roll. We are in the process of transitioning from an Infant to a Primary and Nursery School and currently have Nursery (3-4 year olds) to Year 4. There is a high social deprivation rate and a high proportion of our children are eligible for Pupil Premium funding.

 

Before

We were first drawn to the concept of ‘Hygge’ and how the course could benefit us during the first COVID lockdown in 2020. The school was open for a small number of pupils, vulnerable children and those with key worker parents. Our Early Years resources were old and tatty. Our classrooms cluttered and not respected or taken care of. Our children (and adults!) were in a mindset of a replaceable, throw away culture. Our planning across the school was based on pre-planned ’topics’ which were the same every year and followed themes such as ‘Superheroes’ or ‘Under the Sea’ – leaving no room for...

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Leaving Primary Teaching

Jun 30, 2022

Everyone says my Hygge journey but it really is a journey and mine started after similar circumstances to Kimberly. I was a primary school teacher working in the nursery department. I then left to become a childminder in my own home which enabled me to establish my own ethos and environment.

I had completed the Wonderlust course during the first Lockdown with my own children and wanted to build up my confidence again so that I could be the best for the children so I began the accreditation.

As a parent of a child with additional needs I wanted to be able to work with the children individually and follow their interests but also inspire them with new experiences so that they would learn at their own pace. For me the pandemic had some positives and one of these was that we often spent time outside appreciating the small things helping us to rebalance so that was where I started.

I am always evaluating, seeing what works and what doesn’t and so through the conferences and the...

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Maps

Jun 27, 2022

I love maps and have got quite a collection now at home! As a child my grandparents would also have their maps and travel guides out and I used to be fascinated in looking at them. I would love going on long car journeys and following our route on the AA road map (before the time of Sat navs) and they would always give me such a sense of excitement. These days I love using maps for planning road trips around new places or finding a new Wainwright to walk in the Lake District.

Maps are a great way of creating that sense of Wanderlust in young children and there are many ways we can support this in our homes and learning environment. Perhaps having a world map on the wall with places pinned off that have been visited by someone we know, when visiting a local park with children encourage them to use a map to discover where they would like to go, a collection of maps in a basket in a book corner along with some travel guides and postcards and lastly going on an adventure (no matter how...

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Getting Meaningful Literacy Outside!

Jun 22, 2022

I know that we don't do our job for Ofsted, but having themed outdoor adventure bags that provided meaningful literacy opportunities outside, contributed to our OUTSTANDING judgement!

It's not enough having some laminated letters or numbers on a fence, what we need outside is for Maths and Literacy to be so irresistible to the children that they don't realise they're learning. 

Thats why I created themed explorer rucksacks each with a different theme that allowed children to practice and use their skills in a wonderfully child led way. These explorer sacks may have been about going on a bug hunt and providing resources and equipment to support that interest: a map of the outdoor area, mini beast identification sheets, a sketch book, information book on bugs and a bug collector. 

Or how about a bird spotting back pack with bird identification cards, binoculars, books on birds and a tally chart to record sightings?

You can collect all your nature downloads here

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