Welcoming the Hygge. An indoor room design for Infants and Toddlers.

 I was sweeping the floor, changing the sheets in the nap room and doing the laundry the other day and happened to look up and take a closer look around our room.  I thought to myself, it's really beautiful in here.  Sometimes the sun shines in at just the right moment and we get a glow of light in our setting that is refreshing and lovely.  I didn't have much to do with this particular room arrangement, I just happen to work with some talented and committed young women who want to create a stimulating and interesting learning space for our infants and toddlers, and keep the environment calm and welcoming.  I think they nailed it here.

We have been almost exclusively outside all summer except for nap time and bath room routines.  That has one redeeming quality of this Covid chapter.  We are learning that is safer for everyone to be outside. Being outside is something we know is really the best environment for young children to play in anyway. The research is out.  So we have been creating and developing a great system to play and eat outside and that has been beneficial for everyone.  

Days are coming as the weather turns colder when we will have to come in a little more than we have been.  How nice it will be for the staff and children to enjoy a lovely Hygge setting such as this to play, learn and grow.

hyg·ge

/ˈh(y)o͞oɡə,ˈho͝oɡə/

Learn to pronounce

noun

1. a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).

A Year in Pictures

 Our special grand-son is two years old today.  We had a nice visit via Face Time this morning and we know that he is going to have a lovely day.  He can say, "Happy Day!" and so it is for him, as he celebrates two amazing years of life and tremendous growth.  As I was thinking about him, I went back in my pictures and decided to post some of my favorites.  I went back through time and the growth and maturity is so clear.  Any parent knows, some days are long and difficult and it's hard to see definitive growth but when you get a chance to step back, so to speak, it is so clear. 

We started a new tradition of a Waldorf birthday ring on his first birthday.

He has always loved wide, open spaces.

He loves sticks.

He loves books.  He loves being read to and he loves reading on his own!

Always up for an adventure!

Rare (sadly) cousin visits.  He loves his big cousin and hopefully that relationship will continue in the future.

He went through a stage where recycled materials were his favorite items.  In and out.

Sleep has not always come easily to this little one.  This family is fairly sleep deprived and are looking forward to more restful nights.

Growing up in a city where the winters are long and cold.  From red snow suit to grey, depicting a lot of physical growth.

The start of a cascade of communication including sounds, gestures, signs and words.  He is not only learning English but Russian as well.

 

How many of us have felt during Covid-19. 

The start of a strong interest in construction vehicles.

 Officially a toddler with the bruises to prove it.

Getting taller.

Loves his baby.

Happy 2nd Birthday Beautiful Boy!

Life is like a Garden.

I learn a lot of life lessons in my garden.  For vegetables and flower to flourish in my garden I have to do a lot of preparation. Feed the soil, plant the seeds, water and weed. To be honest, there are some days that I wonder if all the labor is worth it for the amount of produce I get.  And then I taste those sweet, baby peas and I say, "Oh yeah!"  Or when I pick that first tender zucchini, "Yum!"  This year I planted a little before May long week-end.  As a result, with the night temperatures being a bit on the cool side, some plants like the broccoli and cucumber got a bit stunted.  And then the Army Cutworms marched in munching all the tender stems of peppers, marigolds, cucumbers and more.  I had to get out there and dig them out by hand, as even though I tried different things, that was the most effective. Now I have something bothering my squash and tomatoes.  Sheesh!  I don't remember having bug problems like this in the past.

However, with all the things that are hard and destructive I have some beauty to counterbalance it all. This lovely begonia has been flowering since the moment I planted it.  Through all the rain storms and shifts in spring temperatures it has not faltered.

The same goes for my lilies and clematis.  They have endured all that spring has thrown at them and are blooming gloriously.

Not so much my sick squash.  I haven't figured out what pest is eating it but I'm hoping to soon so that I can save it.

What do plants have to do with life?  Some days we flourish and are able to share our strengths and beauty with the world.  Everything is going well and the troubles of the world don't faze us.  And then there are times when we get down mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually and we struggle to keep our head up.  

I feel like that has been me this spring.  Covid-19 came along and life as I knew it, changed.  For the most part I have been able to work through all the changes and the anxieties, but it came at a time when I was doing some deep emotional work in my mind and heart.  The timing was a bit challenging.  

So just like with my garden, I have had to tend to my needs.  Rooting out the bugs; the lies and old, bad habits, and nourishing myself. For me that is the Bible, prayer, edifying music, deep, cleansing, healing talks with my husband, and learning to balance how I spend my time and energy. As well as eating healthy food, exercising and getting sufficient rest. It's been hard work.  

Hopefully though, just like with my garden, the hard work will be worth it and my light will shine in my corner of the world once again.

Diggin' Dirt

Sometimes little ones develop really strong interests.  In a way, that makes things easier in terms of how to plan the day or plan the room or plan the outside space.  I think our job as Educators or parents is to be a co-facilitator of our children's play.  They are very capable of choosing what they are interested in doing and what they want to play with.  It is our job to be observant and provide things that might support their play.  A co-facilitator communicates, collaborates and helps keep things running smoothly.  When a child is able take a deep dive into their area of interest so much learning and brain development takes place.  Not all of it is visible to us as big people but it's amazing to watch different things mature and emerge.  Like language for example.  This little fellow, who happens to be my grandson, is almost 22 months old.  (Wait, what?! how did that happen?)  His most frequently used  words right now are "digging dirt."  

As his parents watch his strong interest in construction vehicles they are attempting to support his learning in many different ways to allow for rich play and opportunities for his interests to develop. Rule number one! Take digger everywhere you go. To the park, in the car, to the lake, inside and outside. One day on their daily walk they found a marvelous dirt pile.What a perfect place for a digger to dig!

And how awesome for an active, strong little boy to be able to climb to the top.  I wonder how empowered he felt up there!

His Daddy had the ability to build him a little sand box in their garden.  Lots of scooping and digging, loading and driving.  Back and forth, dumping and filling.  

They happen to have lots of construction going on in their neighbor hood so they spend lots of time watching the machines at work.  It's great if parents and educators can learn the proper names and functions of the different machines to support the children's language development. 

Diggers in the dirt, diggers in the water, diggers in the rocks and stones.  All provide a different sensory experience.  

His mom often sets up a play invitation when she cleans up in the evening.  How nice for him to wake up and see an inviting shelf like this.  This is such an nice way of providing opportunities and probe his interests.  Does he like loading the dump truck or is he most interested in watching wheels turn?  Does he like to load the bucket on the skid steer or does he like to push dirt with the blade of his bulldozer?

It's so hard to live so far away from this little family and COVID 19 has put a lot of crimps in any travel plans but I can support any way I can.  This is a book I sent him in the mail that I thought he would like.  He turned to this page and said, "diggin' dirt, diggin' dirt."  Yeah! Road Builders was a hit!

A long time ago in another city, in another toddler room, I realized there was a strong interest in construction vehicles that was borne out of reading this book to the toddlers.  I wrote about some of the things we did as a staff to facilitate their interest.  You can read more here.

What are the children interested in, in your home or classroom?  How can you support their play?  Have fun coming up with ideas but try not to be disappointed if they reject some of the things you offer, it just means they don't need that yet.  They might another day though.  Keep observing and things will become clear. It can stay simple. Use what you have at hand and watch and wait. 

 Trust them to lead the way!

The Pixies Escape.

You would not believe what happened today!  I went into my craft room to finish working on my little pixies and they weren't there!  Seriously!  I had no idea where they went.  So I went looking.  Sure enough, I found them in their favorite place.  The forest.  I followed along behind them really quietly to see what they were up to.  I'm so glad I managed to snap a few pics of them.

They love stumps just as much as me!  In their magical way they managed to clamber up. 

Wait! What? I see they picked a lovely bouquet of tiny wild for-get-me nots.

They didn't seem to be bothered at all when they saw mama bear and her cub walk by.  I did notice they were super quiet for a minute though and so was I.  

Little pixie had so much fun counting the friendly lady bugs.  

They even found a couple cute bunnies to ramble through the moss with.

Their last stop was to sit in a patch of wild strawberries.  I just know they were imagining the sweet taste of lovely tiny strawberries.  It won't be long until they are ready!

Then I had to put a stop to all their fun and drag them back to the craft room for finishing details.

Silly little pixies.

Wet-Felting a Cave: Creating a Play Mat - Part 6

I recently had a really lovely email conversation with Julie, from the UK.  She found my website and was inquiring as to how I make my wet-felted caves that would be part of a play mat small world scene.  She was interested in creating a cave because she thought it made a play mat more interactive.  She is right! In my experience young children love putting small animals in and out of caves and it adds more scope for their imaginative play.

She said she was having trouble finding a source for how to create a cave on the internet so she inspired me to add to my series of how to create a play mat.  

Here is how I create a cave attached to a play mat.

To start the process of making a cave for your play mat you first need to create the base.  The base is your unfinished (as in, not wet felted yet) play mat!  Below is the first stages of a local park I am designing. Decide where on your play mat you want your cave and what size it is going to be.  A smaller cave will be more compact and less likely cave in!  Excuse the pun!

I'm going to place my cave in the corner of the grassy area of the park.  To make a cave you need a resist.  My resist is a piece of foam, completely wrapped in bubble wrap and taped together.  The resist gives the cave it's form and is easy to remove during the process as it is soft and pliable.

If you have followed the process of creating a play mat up to this point (#1-5), you will remember that when you are making a play mat you need 2-3 layers of batting to make it thick and durable.  You will need the same for your cave.  Cover your cave with 2-3 layers of batting and with your needle, secure the edges to your play mat.  Make sure the edges are smooth and flair out at the bottom onto the play mat.  You want a nice, neat edge there so that you can felt the cave securely to your play mat.  I would say at least an inch all the way around is good. If you do too much, you will be felting 6 layers of batting and that is a lot and can leave your mat bumpy in that area as well as it being hard to thoroughly felt that much wool. If you don't overlap it enough, however, you risk having a hole at the base of your cave.

When your cave is covered and secured to the play mat you can begin the wet-felting process.  This is the same as when you felt your play mat.  Hot water, soap and friction.  Use plastic over top of the wool until you can feel the felting process beginning and the wool is shrinking.  You will want to be gentle at first as it is easy to create wrinkles.  Continue to smooth the cave with your hands.

I like to use the side of my hand to define the edge of my cave and ensure that it is felting well at the base.

When the cave is firm and the wool is not fuzzy you can plan where you want the door of your cave.  You are going to cut a small hole.  You will want to cut a smaller hole then you think you want as the wool can stretch and the opening gets bigger.  Be careful not to cut into the base of the cave and into the actual play mat.  That happened to me once and is, of course, disappointing.

Your opening might look like this.

Then you can go ahead and gently pull out the resist. 

You can now continue with your wet felting process and felt the opening until it is smooth.  Check the inside of the cave to make sure it has been well felted.  If you feel it needs more, you can use your fingers to felt it inside.  The more it is felted the sturdier your cave will be.  

Who is going to live in your cave? As soon as someone moves in it makes all the difference!  

Have fun with this process.  Let me know if you have any questions.  I love to do workshops and when we get clear of this virus I will definitely be planning some.