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The beautiful white, frothy elderflowers tend to bloom in late May, turning to elderberries in late August. Prime picking time is in the morning, on a sunny day (before insects have taken the pollen). Once regarded as one of the most magically powerful of trees, elder is a forager's favourite and its flowers are the scent of summer. The flowers and berries are the only edible part of the Elder Tree. They are mildly toxic and have an unpleasant taste when raw. Cooking destroys the toxic chemicals.

Here are a few activities to explore:

1. Make delicious elderflower cordial or gin!
2. Add them to cakes or biscuits 
3. Try them deep-fried to make tasty elderflower fritters 
4. Make elderflower jam
5. Add them to homemade Playdough 
6. Add them to your mud kitchen and potions
7. Paint Elderflowers using a cotton bud to create a spray of white flowers - or splatter the paint to see what effect you get.

Find out more about Hygge in the Early Years here.

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 at making some snow lant...

20 Simple Winter Hygge Activities for Children from Daisy Ducklings Childminding.

We have always spent our days in nature, appreciating the natural world around us, but since we became Hygge Accredited in 2022, we have slowed down even more. We spend our days being calm and mindful, practicing yoga, being in nature or exploring the provocations or invitations to play in our indoor environment.

Winter is such a magical season. We love nothing more than wrapping up warm and exploring, feeling the crisp cold air on our cheeks. Then coming back to our cosy home from home setting for a snuggle under a blanket and a warming hot drink.

Here we share some of our favourite Winter Hygge Activities to inspire you:

1. Winter Crate Shelfie

Wooden crates are very verstaile - use them to set up a little nook with a book, some fairy lights and nature and watch the children get stuck in.

 2. Shadow Play

Re-enact favourite stories in the dark with blankets, handmade stick puppets and a torch.

Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of year. 

Here we share 50 play activities for you to get inspiration from. Some wonderful ideas for your left over pumpkins too - not just for Halloween!

You can also find weekly nature planning ideas and invitations to play in my Rewilding Nature Study Programme

1. Make conker tea - provide charity shop tea pots and utensils for children to make their own nature afternoon tea!

2. Try Apple Bobbing! A classic.

3. Decorate pine cones.

4. Pumpkin Wash station.

5. Play Pumpkin or apple skittles!

6. Spider Web sensory tray using masking tape to create a web. Add conkers and tweezers.

7. Pumpkin hammering.

8. Autumn painting.

9. Apple printing 

10. Pumpkin ring toss.

11. Weighing pumpkins.

12. Spider printing.

13. Skeleton bone dig.

14. Pumpkin Tea! Open the tops and let the children scoop out the seeds and flesh for their pumpkin tea or pumpkin soup creations.

15. Web painting.

16. Make your own nature paint brushes.

17. M...

Little Nature Tots is a nature-inspired play group for toddlers, preschoolers & babies, set in a beautiful woodland in Moorgreen, Nottingham. We aim to promote child-led play, in a natural environment that enables children to develop early foundations for learning and ignite a love for the outdoors. 🌳

Here are some of our favourite nature-inspired activities to inspire you this Autumn - with a Halloween twist...

For more support on your nature based planning please also check out our Rewilding Wanderlust Nature Study Programme

Pumpkin Hammer

A fun way to encourage children to develop their fine motor skills. Golf Tees are perfect for little hands and using miniature real hammers they will feel very independent. Why not extend this activity by removing the golf tees and then letting the children poke sticks into the holes.

Pumpkin Patch

We love to visit or set up a pumpkin patch with straw and bales of hay - placing the pumpkins in amongst for the children to find. Add wooden cr...

Embracing Hygge at The Flower Cottage this Autumn season 🍁

Hygge in the Early Years member Caitlin, from The Flower Cottage Childminding has recently given her setting a wonderful autumn makeover. Giving us all the Autumn feels! We couldn't help but fall in love as it is so inspiring.

We asked Caitlin if she would share with us some of the hygge activities in her setting:

Noticing changes as we transition from Summer to Autumn, observing the colours transitioning, watching the leaves fall and finding hidden treasures outdoors that can be brought into our indoor play 🍂

Melting pumpkin spice wax melts in our burner on a morning and simply enjoying a lovely storybook as a group, cuddled in blankets and cosy jumpers.

Enjoying slow learning in our play spaces filled with twinkle lights, flickering candles and nooks of light from lamps, following the child’s lead but always being there on hand in time of need.

Enabling and encouraging children to reach their next hurdle and pr...

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...

 1. Sunflower Soup

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)

2. Ice play  

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...

 Batch cook some delicious meals

 Take a woodland walk

 Create some natural displays in your home and setting with pumpkins, squash, twigs, pine cones and acorns.

 Make a blackberry crumble

 Hang an autumn wreath on your door at home and setting

 Fill jars with autumn leaves and fairy lights

 Make a gratitude list and be thankful for the moments and things you have

 Set up a seasonal small world scene of your local area

 Add seasonal items and books to your nature shelf

 For more seasonal ideas see my Re-Wilding your Wanderlust Child Nature Study Programme 

Some books to inspire you: