Understanding the World - It's wonderful!

While it's still the season to be jolly, many early years settings are taking a step back and thinking what message they want to be portraying to children and families this Christmas. After a tough few years of lockdowns, being able to safely get together and celebrate as a community is being embraced, but nurseries are also continuing to be mindful of including families of all faiths, or none, and of the current challenging financial times, with nature being favoured over commercialisation.

‘For us, Christmas at Growing Places centres around our connections with children, families and with nature,’ says pedagogical lead Carlie Powell. ‘A natural Christmas that allows our children to explore using their senses – the smell of cinnamon and gingerbread, twinkly lights and reflections of winter shadows; the sound of bells. We focus on the joy of giving rather than receiving; each nursery spreading kindness in their local communities with handmade gifts and mince pies. We gather with local care home residents to make wreaths using the foliage collected by the children and invite families to gather to sing carols together. We focus on developing an understanding of, and reflecting upon, family traditions at home and also sharing Christmas celebrations from other cultures.’

Growing Places also has a Community Hub that supports families in need with Christmas food and gift hampers, winter fuel vouchers and a pantry.

Toad Hall Nursery Group encourages its settings to take part in the ‘Twelve Days of Giving’ at Christmas and donate to local groups, such as delivering mince pies to a care home or taking donations to the food bank. They are also being mindful of any families, or staff members, that may need additional support and looking at ways to offer food that will otherwise go to waste.

‘WUNDERKAMMER’ AND OTHER WONDERS

These themes are echoed at Watermead Nursery School in Loughborough, Leicestershire. Last year, Forest School children made reindeer from fallen branches and gave them to their neighbours. They were so well received that children are currently considering doing the same, though perhaps with a snowman theme. ‘The children are learning about respect, being kind and looking after people in the community, which links with caring for the environment,’ says nursery manager Kyla Fory.

This year they have set a challenge for the nursery rooms to create winter-themed Wunderkammer – wonder rooms – filled with natural curiosities gathered by children, staff and parents for everyone to explore. They have also asked them to create Christmas trees ‘rooted in nature’ – perhaps made from reconstructed pallets or twigs, rather than artificial trees laden with cotton wool.

Children at Toad Hall are invited to help decorate their nurseries. ‘Instead of coming in to a fully decorated tree, they get decorated over time with the children bringing in things they’ve made at home,’ says area manager Kate Bridgman.

Role play is used to introduce children at The Grove Nursery School in Peckham, London, to Christmas traditions. They ‘buy’ the tree and decorations from the role-play shop area before taking it to the home corner. Each year, the tree is offered to a family to take home at the end of term.

Outside, a shed is transformed into a Santa's Grotto with lots of magical ornaments and lights. ‘We keep the grotto for when the children return to nursery in January so they can re-live some of their experiences and what they’ve been doing at home,’ explains lead teacher Sarah Maskell.

NOT-IVITY

There appears to be a move away from early years children acting out nativity plays.

‘Our focus is the children and the opportunities they have at Christmas time,’ says Growing Places’ Carlie. ‘A nativity can sometimes become an event for parents and takes time away from play experiences for the children.’ Watermead's Kyla agrees that rehearsing a performance can be ‘stressful’ for young children.

Sarah at The Grove uses knitted characters and open-ended props to tell the Christmas story to children. ‘It's like a mini theatre experience for the children who gather around with awe and wonder because it's so charming,’ says teacher Claire Navaie. They enjoy listening to retellings of the story and returning to it, sometimes months later, along with other religious stories such as Rama and Sita connected with Diwali.

Parents and carers are being invited into the nursery for a Christmas sing-a-long, with songs taken from different countries and cultures. Being familiar with core songs, rhymes and stories across the academic year is central to The Grove's curriculum. Children will be signing in Makaton, doing actions and dancing, with parents encouraged to join in. ‘We want to come together as a community because it's really good for everybody's wellbeing,’ says Sarah.

Last year, Watermead Nursery School organised a gathering outside for parents because of the continuing pandemic, with children sitting on hay bales singing Christmas songs surrounded by twinkling lights. It has been decided to repeat that this year because it was so atmospheric and enjoyable. Parents will be served hot chocolate and non-alcoholic mulled wine as they listen to their children sing.

At Mottingham Hall for Children Day Nursery in London, they are also planning an outdoor Christmas event in their woodland with candles and carols. ‘We’re going all out this year with live reindeer, Father Christmas and a snow machine,’ says nursery manager Emma Savage.

‘We are inviting the children's families and have said they can bring relatives. We’re also inviting people in the local area so they can all be a part of it. So many people didn't have special experiences because of Covid so we want to give that joy and get everyone involved.’

CASE STUDY: Abercromby Nursery School in Liverpool

Care is taken at Abercromby Nursery School – where almost half of the families are Muslim and around 70 per cent of children have English as an additional language – to celebrate Christmas in a ‘culturally appropriate’ way. Head teacher Tamara Bennett says, ‘We do not want to go overboard so that our families from other cultures feel uncomfortable, but on the other hand, we are aware of cultural capital and the need for children to understand the culture of the country that they live in.’

Staff share the nativity story with children so that they understand why Christmas is celebrated. ‘We don't feel it is appropriate to perform a nativity when we have a lot of children who are in the early stages of learning English, but they do enjoy singing so I introduced Christmas song performances when I became head teacher,’ says Tamara. Last year this was done online, but staff are looking forward to welcoming families back into the classrooms this festive season to hear their children informally sing a range of Christmas and winter-themed songs. ‘We always finish with Jingle Bells because everyone can join in,’ she adds.

Along with Christmas, staff and children celebrate the festivals and religious days of the particular faiths represented in the nursery. ‘To celebrate a faith meaningfully for the children, I think they need to know someone, be able to talk directly about it and relate it back to their own experiences,’ Tamara explains. ‘They can talk about how they get presents, have special food, get dressed up and decorate the house. This helps children to start to learn that, although they are part of different religions and cultures, there are also lots of similarities.’

Before the pandemic, the nursery arranged Christmas outings, but Tamara says finding suitable places has become difficult. Instead, last year the nursery took part in a Christmas Tree Festival at nearby St Bride's Church and it plans to do the same again this year.