Blog

An early years environment for this age range is very different from what is offered for 3 and 4 year olds. 

We need to question ourselves... What do we want our open-ended learning environment to look like for our under 2's? 

Do our children need the latest messy play activity to compete with social media? 

OR 

Do we need to provide a calm, enabling, cosy, and homely provision for our littlest of people, filled with warm and welcoming practitioners, who have the time to meet their needs and be there for them and their families.

 Within our baby room provision, we demonstrate the introduction of recycled materials, authentic resources and how we step away from purchasing items from ‘catalogues’ and one-purpose Early Years age and stage equipment. 

We have set up cosy spaces with books, puppets, soft furnishings and fairy lights, for the children to explore within a safe and secure, calm environment.

We also allow children to use large scale items and smaller loose parts, ...

Finally, the right fit!

A Case Study from A Little Fascination, Australia

The pressure for perfection, within a one-size-fits-all model, left me constantly exhausted, stressed and feeling as though I wasn't good enough for the children.

Professional learning frameworks, community expectations, family expectations and government expectations all contributed to a sense of failure within me. To make a difference in the lives of the children, I wanted to enjoy my work again.

I believe in authentic resources and practice upcycling; I gradually shifted my approach towards more natural and unstructured approaches with resources. In addition to creating a sustainable learning environment, I wanted the environment to encourage child curiosity, engagement, and holistic growth.

A search for professional development opportunities led me to ‘loose parts’, which led me to discovering The Curiosity Approach and a concept called ‘Hugge’. I was intrigued, and I instinctively knew I must learn ...

By Louise Fleetwood Childminding

As a Childminder of eight years each Ofsted inspection brought new pressures to work harder, strive for better and produce even more paperwork to 'prove' how you were meeting every childs needs. I was spending my evenings and weekends writing up, documenting and preparing resources and had very little work life balance, or even enjoyment for the job anymore.

When Covid hit I knew I needed a new direction, focus and a renewed sense of worth. Through embarking on my Hygge journey I have brought the outdoors in, loose  parts and uninterrupted opportunity form the best parts of our play and outdoor picnics and adventures are a daily must. Over the past year I have noticed how physically capable my children have become, far more resilient and loads healthier than I have ever looked after. Each and every one of the children I care for now has a desire to get outside each and every day. Parents have thanked me for surrounding their children in nature and h...

For years at Small Steps, we had done everything precise, by the books, always forward thinking but chained by the frameworks and policies of a government falling slowly behind the times. Our nursery was beautiful but we had started to move towards more natural, open ended, authentic sourced resources after doing some research.

We embarked on the HYGEE journey to promote a sense of calm and a tranquil environment throughout the whole of the nursery as well as our outdoor area after completing our Curiosity Approach Accreditation. At the beginning of our journey, we set ourselves a vision. A vision of awe and wonder, peaceful, cosy and calm environment using real life and authentic resources where children can thrive in the learning environment. This is where HYGEE came in to place. We started by doing our research of the meaning of HYGEE and how we would embed it into our nursery setting. We did action plans on how and why we wanted to change the setting and implement HYGEE into it ...