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Hygge in the Early Years At Pownall Hall School

In April 2019, I introduced the Hygge approach into my home and felt the benefits instantly. I was therefore keen to introduce it into our nursery setting.

Hygge is about sharing and enjoying small moments together, every day. It is about slowing down, being together and building relationships.

At Pownall Hall School Nursery we believe in all the benefits that a Hygge environment brings. We have used the Hygge approach to create a Nursery environment that captures the feeling of cosiness, warmth and togetherness for all who enter into it.

Our Nursery is a calm space filled with cosy nooks, soft lights, warm textures and interesting objects to encourage curiosity and discussion. We bring nature inside and connect with nature outside daily.

We believe that wellbeing is key to our provision and our children are comfortable to have fun, explore or just snuggle down when they want to. Children should experience happiness and other emotions...

This year at Kinderworld Day Nursery the staff team have embarked on a journey together studying for the Hygge in Early Years Accreditation. We started this because as the manager of the nursery I could see and feel how the covid pandemic has had such a detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of many families, staff and children. As a team, we wanted to feel calmer, less stressed and happier. Coming myself from a very Hygge home (as my mother is Danish) and having grown up with the concept of Hygge and basing our nursery around this when we first opened 25 years ago, along with other Danish philosophies and what we called always called ‘home from home’, I was overjoyed to find this course so I could better share our ethos with my staff and the families that attend. I am so happy that finally Hygge is recognised outside of Denmark, as it is a way of life and can really only be embraced if everyone understands it and is on board with it- creating a culture of Hygge....

Guest blog post by Sarah Rawson, Normanton All Saints C of E (A) Infant School

"During the pandemic, our setting, like many others, were keen to not only spend the majority of our day outdoors but also encourage our families to do the same. Making the most of the daily walk quickly became part of the new ‘norm’ for families and schools in the world of home learning.     Our love for the outdoors continued to grow and this is when we stumbled upon the Wanderlust nature study program. This amazing 52 week plan has totally transformed our outdoor provision and the way in which we use our outdoor space. The level of engagement has increased, behaviour has improved and we have been in awe of the knowledge that the children had gained about the world around them. Inspired by Kimberly and her Nature...

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...

There are many different ways that we can prepare for advent with young children and our loved ones. I like to make this time full of hope in my setting and learning environment and think about ways we can add a dose of cosy too! 

I have created a  FREE printable hygge in the early years advent calendar that can be used as a family to focus on collecting moments and making memories together over the festive season. Let's not forget the only Christmas present we wanted last year was to see family and friends. It's easy for the commercial side of Christmas to run away with us and make us forget what's important. 

I like to stick my daily hygge prompts into a little envelope or a postage tag and hang these up. We then take it in turns to open one each day over breakfast. 

 You might also decide to light an advent candle. In Denmark families enjoy foraging for natural treasures in the forests like bark, berries, twigs, moss and pine. They then enjoy...

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...

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...

I am a Forest School Practitioner and Teaching Assistant working across all primary year groups.  I was introduced by a work colleague to the Wanderlust Nature Study.   This has led me on a journey and helped me to bridge the gap between the classroom indoors and the classroom outdoors so that they become one.  I feel this is important, not only for the children, but the adults alike with small steps taken inside the classroom to bring nature inside thus helping to make those steps outside.  This is something I am passionate about as a Forest School Practitioner.  Through my Forest School Practitioner training I understand the importance of nature/the outdoors and child led learning.  This accreditation course has fitted perfectly within this.

I have worked closely with Year 1 and EYFS and the Hygge feeling has started to spread throughout the school.  There are still lots of areas to improve, this isn’t something I feel will just...

A guest post by Sophie-Ann Grant @smallworldsecrets on Instagram.

I chose to document the Hygge course through journal method, using a scrapbook to write down my journey. Journaling is one of my favourite hobbies and it really helps me have a more reflective mind.

I enjoyed adding pictures to prompt myself, especially when I found myself in moments where I was doubting my achievements.

I would spend the first half listening to the webinars and videos, jotting down my own notes and take-aways in a separate notebook. I liked referencing to the module booklet to prompt me to respond to the action tasks.

I then set the layout in my scrapbook, and took more time, to read over my notes and add my own reflections.

Documenting it this way will ensure that I look back, when there are times when I am struggling to stay inspired or in need to a boost my motivation and support my core values in my practice.

Discover more on changing the quality of your life with the Hygge in the Early...