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The Scandinavian way

Blog
The YPO Team
29 Feb 2024

Many experts and researchers would put that down to something known as hygge, pronounced 'hue-guh' - a Danish way of life and an approach to living that focuses on embracing the moment. Hygge is often described as a feeling you cannot translate and is all about creating a space that promotes wellbeing, togetherness, and closeness.

More recently, hygge has been discussed in the context of early years and how adopting the hygge Scandinavian approach can significantly benefit children's wellbeing and development.

Scandinavian style settings embrace a minimalistic, clean, and simple look and feel to their learning spaces. The goal of having the environment laid out this way is to create a relaxed, organised and welcoming space to allow for clearer thoughts and increased focus.

There are many benefits to following hygge and having your settings designed in a Scandinavian style for teachers and children. Here are some of the key ones:

1. Creates a calming atmosphere

You may have heard the term "clear space, clear mind". Scandinavian style settings focus on reducing the amount of clutter present and keeping things tidy and organised to allow for a clearer headspace. This simple, neat style can help children and teachers feel more relaxed, reduce anxiety and stress levels and make children feel more cosy and at home. Many nurseries install calming resources such as fairy lights, lamps, soft cushions and blankets to help create this relaxing environment.

2. Reduces time needed to tidy up

With less clutter in the learning space, there's less to clean up! Scandinavian style settings get into the habit of keeping things organised and easy to maintain, making it much easier to tidy up at the end of the day. Keeping things decluttered and organised can also help to create more space in your setting, giving children a larger area to play and learn in.

3. Increases concentration levels

As we've mentioned, a disorganised, clutter filled environment can negatively affect mental health. But it also affects focus and concentration levels. An environment with too many products or furniture and insufficient space is more likely to distract children. With a clear learning space, children are more engaged. Scandinavian style settings also generally opt for neutral coloured furniture and resources so children are less likely to become overstimulated.

4. Embraces outdoor learning

Scandinavian style settings tend to share a love for the simple things in life and a passion for the outdoors and anything related to nature. The benefits of outdoor learning are endless and range from giving children more opportunities to work on developing early learning skills to positively affecting their mental health and wellbeing.

5. And finally, it looks nice!

Although visual appeal is subjective, the neutral, simple aesthetic adopted by Scandinavian style settings is widely seen as an attractive interior design choice. Over the years, we've witnessed minimalism increasing in popularity due to its sleek and modern look and feel. It's also become a popular design choice for content creators to use in their videos, so it is an excellent choice for teachers and practitioners actively posting content on social media.

Scandinavian nursery

These activities have been taken from Little Learners, a FREE magazine full of early years resources and activities. Click here to read our latest issue!

Author

The YPO Team

YPO supplies products and services to a wide range of customers including schools, local authorities, charities, emergency services, public sector and other businesses such as nurseries and care homes. YPO are 100% publicly owned, by 13 local authorities, which means the profits made are returned to public sector customers, delivering even better value for money.