My Christmas gift to you…

I could give you a present, or an advent calendar full of daily treats…but ‘things won’t give you moments of joy this Christmas. I’ve thought long and hard about this one and I want to give you 2 gifts this year; love and time.

So here is my letter to you doing just that

Dear Educator,

I know you care greatly about your job and work long hours doing everything you can possible do to give the children in your care the very best start in life.

I get that as I do too!

In the process of doing the ‘best we can’ we risk neglecting our loving family and friends that are around us.

But in our job…the saddest thing is that if we leave tomorrow, we will be replaced in a flash.

Yet then it’s too late…you’ve already missed so many precious moments you won’t ever get back. Think of all the giggles at bath time, seeing an elderly relative face light up when you spend time spend time together or the delight in your cat chasing some Christmas ribbon.

Joyful moment...

This week we are joined by Hygge in the Early Years Member Amanda Fisher who is sharing with you her journey on approaching Hygge in a Children's Centre. 

I have worked in Children Centres for 9 years, prior to that working within a preschool setting whilst my own children were little, I am currently privileged to manage a Children’s Centre in a deprived area with a wonderful community spirit.

I always strived to create a warm, welcoming and homely environment; indeed it is the one thing the centre is congratulated on frequently by visitors.  I wanted to extend this feeling throughout the centre which is what lead me to explore The Hygge Accreditation, the ethos is one which I feel most relates to what I want to create and offer to families, a sense of warmth, joy and belonging. 

The centre is a hive of activity throughout the week and one of the highlights is the Stay and Play session we offer weekly. We welcome families with children from birth and are privileged to be able to w...

I remember Christmas as a trainee teacher working in a reception class. I thought to myself where is the fun, the enjoyment.. the magic?!

We were just in a conveyor belt of Christmas making activities! I wasn’t even sure that the children understood what they were making and why?!

We missed opportunities to discuss with the children the wonderful experiences they had at home of putting their tree up, family celebrations and going to visit Father Christmas in his grotto.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum states that every member of staff must have appropriate supervision meetings with a member of the leadership or management team. Nursery managers must also have these with perhaps their nursery owner or the management committee or local authority.

 The purpose of the meetings is to support staff and their needs, identify the progress and development of the children, discuss any safeguarding concerns and celebrate success. The meetings also offer a good opportunity to deepen connections and relationships and be a time for self reflection.

 How can we embrace more Hygge in them?

Equality

Being equal is a key part of the Danish culture and so when organising a place for the meeting to take place makes sure it’s somewhere neutral. For example not in a managers office as this way it eases some of the stress staff might have with going into a leaders space.

We also want to make sure that there is shared responsibility for the meetings and ther...

I had a discussion with a Year 1 teacher the other day and she was sharing with me how sad she felt for her children.

Her senior leadership team were putting pressure on her to 'drill phonics' into her less ready year one children every day with extra daily intervention group time as there was a slight dip in Phonics Screening results last year...

Light play provides some excellent opportunities in your setting for children show some natural curiosity around science, engineering and wonder. Here are some resources you might like to audit your lighting play for…

• Light box
• Over head projector
• Torches (range of coloured lights)
• Shadow Puppets

Variety of loose parts to add to your light box;

• Shiny and reflective resources
• Coloured glass gems
• Twigs of varying lengths
• Mirrors
• Foliage
• Small world characters and buildings
• Plastic ice cubes
• Coloured counters
• Sweet wrappers/ cellophane
• Coloured cocktail stirrers
• Coloured plastic shot glasses
• Variety of buttons
• Paper doilies
• Numicon

Creative opportunities on the light box;

• Water beads
• Paint
• Black sand
• Eco glitter
• Clay
• Shaving foam

Don't miss out on the amazing opportunity to learn more about nature play here 

How do you create and celebrate the moments of joy that come throughout the year?

I like to create a nature shelf in the entrance to our setting that can be used as a way of creating a wonderful sense of arrival for young children and their families. It encourages discussion and a love for what is seen and experienced in the world around us. With a hope of making children and their families more present and strengthening the connections between home and setting. By encouraging children to add their natural treasures to this working display or observations.

Here is a winter themed Nature shelf that I set up at the beginning of December last year. It simply had an artificial tree, Pussy Willow in a tall vase, pine cones and Holly collected by the children, twinkly lights to bring the enchantment and then the wonderful book Pick and Pine Tree by Patricia Toht. This book is a delightful read about a family choosing and decorating their own Christmas tree- offering many discussion point...

My Wanderlust: A Nature Study Programme is an online programme that challenges the way we live our lives and encourages us to get outside more! Encouraging our next generation of scientists, explorers and adventurers.

Click Here! 

I know that November can be a less appealing time of the year to get outside with the gloomy damp weather but actually it’s a great time to learn and have fun!

First of all you just have to have the right clothing to prevent anyone getting miserable and cold (that includes you and your team!). I provide my children with a set of waterproof overalls that they need to wear if they are learning outdoors. I prefer the seperate waterproof over trousers with braces so these can still be worn in the warmer months with a t-shirt underneath or layered up over the winter. We also invest a part of our budget each year in supplying water proof gloves, wooly hats and waterproof boots and liners. This includes having a bank of clothing for our staff to borrow too. A c...

FREE 5 Day Challenge

It's easy when there's a special day or time of year to dress all your provision around that particular theme. In my first year of teaching when it was bonfire night I would dress all my areas of provision around this particular theme for the week. Enhancing each area with things like;

-Firework themed play dough mats

-Adding red and yellow cellophane and kitchen roll tubes to the junk modelling table

-Putting black sugar paper up on the art easel and luminous paint colours.

Taking this approach to learning each week meant that there was always something in each area of the provision that the adult had decided the children should make often with the adults own example. Or maybe it would have been a tick sheet activity that everyone would have been called to take part in. Getting everything ready the week before was exhausting and I would often feel disheartened when I had set an activity up and the children used it in a different way.

This type of approach can leave very little...