“Strive to make everyday the best day of your life, because there is no good reason not to.” Hal Elrod
Hygge in summertime is not that different to hygge in Autumn or wintertime. I was inspired to continue our Hygge journey over the summer holidays even though our setting is term time only.
Here are my top 10 ideas for creating inspiring Hygge activities for your little ones...
A super quick and easy water play activity requiring very little set up.
All you need is a large pot full of water (i like to colour my water), bowls, spoons, sunflowers (I tend to use ones that are almost past their best) and any other added extras you like! (Pipets are always fun and good for fine motor development)
Sticking with the water theme and with the British summer being a bit unpredictable you have to grab these hot days when you can! And what better way to cool off than with an ice play activity?
All you need is a couple of things...
Ice (make sure to freeze the day before if doing a large volume), cutlery, pots and pans! You can add in coloured water, flow...
As the leaves become crunchy underfoot here are a few simple ways to enjoy Autumn.
For more seasonal ideas see my Re-Wilding your Wanderlust Child Nature Study Programme
Create your own rock pool in your setting to explore. This is one of the ideas shared in my Rewilding Wanderlust Nature Study Programme.
You will need;
sensory tray (any tray will do)
sand
pebbles
shells
sea creatures - paint rocks if you don't have any
You can lay out the items required for the children to create it themselves or do it as a collaborative task.
1. Simply add sand to your tray creating a circular space in the middle to pour your water
2. Add pebbles
3. Add water to the centre where there is no sand. The water will soak into the sand surrounding but this is totally natural.
4. Add shells
5. Add some sea creatures or perhaps children could make some rock painted crabs or fish to add?
We added blue food colouring to the water to give it a more blue ocean colour but you don't have to.
Tag me on socials if you give this a go.
Find out more about my courses on my website.
Try these Hygge Nature Crafts for Children. Some wonderful nature-based craft ideas to inspire you.
Add a pine cone bird - pine cone with feather for a tail and wings
Use homemade playdough or air dry clay to create creatures and faces on the bark of trees.
Create bark rubbings or leaf rubbings then use them in your other craft activities - perhaps on your nature bracelet or wand?
Flower pressing has long been a wonderful nature craft activity. If you don't have a press just use heavy book lined with paper to press your flowers. These can then be used in crafts later in the year - perhaps on a Cosy Hygge Jar with fairy lights inside?
Or, create an air dry clay trinket bowl with your pressed flowers stuck on with a layer of pva on top to protect them.
Or, add them to candles to decorate them.
A cute nature craft using nature.
Welcome is a key word for our Early Years environments, as we welcome new parents and children to our settings and establish routines. Our practitioners continue to reflect upon how welcoming their entrances are to parents and children. Here are a few examples from last year.
Our welcoming environments were inspired by a Hygge approach.
Building a sense of togetherness between home and school reflects a Hygge approach. It is so important to us.
Positive relationships and the happiness of our parents and children are strongly linked.
Campfire Education Trust schools have worked hard to ensure that all our new starters feel a sense ofbelonging as soon as they e...
Lavender is a versatile herb with numerous properties beneficial to health, wellness, and everyday life. Its calming aroma, therapeutic benefits, culinary uses, and role in personal care and household products make it a valuable and widely appreciated plant.
Lavender can be grown from seed and is a great sensory ingredient to explore. It attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies, making it a beneficial plant for your garden. Add it to playdough, potions, make lavender perfume or dry it and add sachets to your room indoors to create a beautiful calming scent. Lavender oil has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, making it useful for treating minor burns, insect bites, and skin irritations. You can also use it in cooking and natural cleaning products. Lavender has a calming effect, relaxing you, aiding sleep and reducing stress and anxiety.
We shouldn't be saving up hygge just for the winter, the Danes celebrate and embrace hygge all year long. They swap cosy knits and fluffy socks for getting into nature and creating simple moments for free!
Here are a few ways you might embrace hygge this weekend...
Wake up slowly and have a breakfast with the family. Take your time over breakfast, chatting about your day ahead and even light a candle(why not invest in some pastel coloured candles). This is a time to be enjoyed and not rushed! There is a big belief here on how you start your day sets you up for the rest of it. So sip your coffee slowly, open the windows and let a breeze in and enjoy this time.
Go for a morning walk into nature and try and visit a place of water. Often Danes will enjoy a morning swim outdoors (all year round!) but perhaps you could dip your toes in!
In 2016 in Copenhagen, bikes out numbered cars! Why not get on your bike this weekend and go for a family ride.
Take a trip to the seaside and hunt for shells a
We’ve just got back from a wonderful few days in Sweden. We stayed at a couple of different places; a treehouse on a farm called @traktforesthotel and a water chalet on a lake at a Swedish vineyard.
We flew Manchester to Gothenburg and then hired a Volvo.
We took a two hourish drive into the countryside to stay at Trakt Forest Hotel. Along the way we passed so many roadside wildflowers. In particular the foxgloves lining the roads along with the Cow Parsley was very pretty!
When we arrived at the Trakt Forest Hotel we checked into one of five tree houses built on the farm. These were so peaceful up in the forest and felt very private and not overlooked. There were a number of different experiences you could tag onto your stay. We added the outdoor sauna to ours. You could kayak at a local lake or take a forest bath. They all sounded wonderful but unfortunately time didn’t allow us to do all.
Our treehouse was beautifully designed and made. With all the interiors created b...
Encouraging children to get outdoors in nature with a fun activity that will keep them engaged.
Create a nature Journal with your children to help them have a better understanding of nature and to encourage them to ask questions about the nature that surrounds them.
Go on a walk to the park, forest, pond, stream, woodland, beach. Use your journal to make notes and draw what you find most interesting. Write down what you see and hear, stick special leaves and flowers that you find in. Draw around leaves and create leaf and bark rubbings on the pages.
Take some watercolours and crayons to use - what colours can you see? Take this journal with you over the summer holidays to make a record of the adventures you have been on and the nature that you have found. Take it to the beach and draw shells, fish and seabirds. Take it to the pond and sketch the tadpoles, frogs and ducks. Stick any feathers that you find into your journal. Stick in a photo of you collecting natural treasures or j...
Midsummer in Sweden
Midsummer comes on the 21st June and this is a time when it feels as though the sun never sets. In fact in northern parts of Scandinavia it doesn't!
In the 1500's this time of year was seen as a magical time where fertility levels were high. This was celebrated by the Swedes decorating the outside of their homes and farms with green foliage.
As we moved into the industrial period mill workers would come together at Midsummer for a wonderful feast of pickled herring.
More recent traditions have seen the making of floral crowns from the wildflowers and maypole dancing in the local area.
On Midsummer Day in Sweden many of these traditions remain. It's also very much a time of coming together with family and friends over delicious meals. Pickled herring is still a feature on the midsummer menu along with a grilled dish of salmon or spare ribs.
The evenings are spent gathered around a bonfire, enchanted by the ...