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The blossom is in full bloom here and so I wanted to share some of the best ways you can bring it into the children's play.

'The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It's a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short. '

Homaro Cantu

Don't be too busy to rush past the blossom trees but instead let them be a remind that life is short but beautiful and to look up and notice them. 

1. Look up

Look up at the blossom and see all of it's beauty. If possible go and lay under a blossom tree with the children and practice a moment of stillness. What do the children see, smell, hear and feel? Why not place a perspex mirror under the tree or some water play (always supervise) to reflect the blossom and provide an interesting perspective in the play. 

It's also a wonderful sensory experience to take your shoe...

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 school doors. ...

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 creat...

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 everything.

We have loved getting outside each day and doing a daily walk. Talking 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. We stop at 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. 

On our walk yesterday we took great enjoyment in collecting up some of the fallen leaves and twigs. We then brought these back and I popped them in some water in our tu...

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...

Here are 6 simple and engaging daisy-themed activities for children:

1. Daisy Chains

Collect fresh daisies with long stems. Make a small slit near the base of each stem using your fingernail then thread the next daisy’s stem through the slit and repeat to create a chain.

2. Daisy Painting

Pour a small amount of white, yellow and green paint. Show children how to dip their thumbs in white paint and press them onto paper to create daisy petals. Use a fingertip dipped in yellow paint to make the center of each daisy. Add stalks with green.

3. Daisy Planting

Plant some seeds and look after them until they grow. Ox Eye daisies are a lovely alternative as they are much bigger.

4. Daisy Mud Pies in the Mud Kitchen

Create mud pies and buns in the mud kitchen and decorate with daisies! You could make a daisy potion.

5. Daisy Counting Game

Simply count your daisies on a ten frame or in a line. How many can you count?

6. Daisy Playdough

Add Daisies to your playdough station.

 ...

Easter in Scandinavia is a big celebration involving get togethers and marking the start of Spring. Enjoying family time and feasts. With the warmer weather it's also a good time to take a sunrise hike up a mountain and enjoy the fantastic views. 

The egg is a symbol of Easter in Norway and the traditional decorated chicken eggs have now been replaced with those filled with sweet treats. A big Easter Sunday breakfast is usually followed by an egg hunt outside. 

I managed to pick up these beautiful Scandinavian metal painted eggs by Maileg. I love that these are re-fillable and also add a whimsical storytelling twist for the celebration. They can be filled with sweet treats for a fun easter egg hunt. 

We also like to set up Easter Egg hunts with less sugary treats inside too! I thought you might like to see my list of ideas for the Wanderlust Child;

19 non-sugar ideas for filling an Easter Egg:

• Rubber Stampers
• Stickers
• Magnifying Glass
• Finger Paints
• Shells
• Rocks
• Little no
...

'And so the rain invites a street of colourful umbrellas to blossom.' Angela Abraham

I love the quote above and it reminds me that it's so important to see the beauty in the rain. After a very dry April the rain we received here in Yorkshire yesterday was very welcome. 

I wanted to share a few rainy day ideas for you this Spring to support your nature based practice. 

1. Head outside and smell the rain

We're often in such a race to get out of the rain, perhaps running to get inside, that we forget to actually experience the rain. Get dressed up in suitable waterproof clothing and head outside to smell and feel the rain. How does it sound? What temperature is the rain as it hits your skin (does it feel warm or cold?) What shapes do we notice the raindrops make as they hit the ground? Can you take 5 big deep breaths in and feel the rain calm your senses? As you tune in and smell the rain this is called Petrichor and it is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. 

2....

Literacy outside should look very different to what opportunities you offer inside. Think about the richness the outdoors brings and try and create learning moments in nature. We don't want to just bring out alphabet posters outside and stick them on a fence. Instead think of how literacy can be applied in the outdoors in a meaningful way. 

To get you started i've shared a few of the ideas from my Literacy Wanderlust Planning Guides (available here)

1. Nature Study: Create a  Themed Nature Backpack

What do I need?

• Spotter sheets (see my butterfly digital download here)
• Clipboards
• Rucksack
• Bug viewers
• Magnifying glasses
• Notebooks and pencils
• Camera
• Books on butterflies, mini-beasts and trees

What do I do?

Create a themed nature back pack based on your children's curiosities. It could be on butterflies and include a spotter sheet, life cycle information, identification cards, anatomy of a butterfly, butterfly life cycle story stones, fiction and non fiction books on bu...

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.

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