There's No Such Thing As Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)

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InJanuary 2023myself and Beverley who I work with every day in the nursery got to travel to Bergen and then onto Floro (the most western town in Norway) where we werebasedto spend 5 days with all our partners visiting Eikefjord Kindergarten or as it is known in Norwegian, a Barnehage.

This isn’t an idiom, I know, but it is to do with the weather, and when the temperatures plummet it’s a good phrase to be familiar with. This statement is a weird flex you’ll find German-speaking people bringing to a conversation, even when you’re so cold you can’t feel your feet. Want to learn more?

Yet, despite the frigid temperature, there’s a steady footfall of walkers and joggers out and about during their lunch break. Castle runs winter training courses in the Scottish Highlands, which, he says, “is a different beast from the Lakes or Snowdonia, where you can have summer conditions in winter.” He recommends Garry Smith’s book North Wales Scrambles as a starting point – and for when restrictions are lifted again in Wales. Luke Hutchinson, an experienced surfer and beach lifeguard, recommends Saltburn, Whitby and Scarborough’s North and South Bays for beginners, Sandsend for the more advanced: “It is quite uneven and does have some rip currents.” Hitting the waves in winter is arguably the most extreme form of winter madness, but is incredibly rewarding. Andy Ainscough, managing director at Adventure Parcs Snowdonia, has found himself searching for locations now that the artificial wave at the “inland surf lagoon” has closed until next spring. “Winter is when we get our best waves in the UK and it’s never crowded. The obvious places to head are Cornwall and Pembrokeshire, but the north-east of England and Scottish coasts are also worth exploring. If you’re brave and like the big stuff, Ireland usually has the most consistent and biggest waves throughout the winter.”

So here I am 16 years after I finished my DASE in Early Education, embarking on a new course through the University of Edinburgh - A Froebel in Childhood Practice Certificate. This course can be done in person over 2 week in the summer but I am doing it online over 8 months. A few years ago, I got talking to a prominent researcher at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana about the Scandinavian attitude to outdoor play and nature connection. I told her about our commitment to dressing kids for the weather and getting them outside every day, as well as our obsession... British humour, I think I’m right in surmising, comprises of improvised word-play (invention of new but instantly recognisable expressions), brutalist observation and extremist opinion- or scenario-making (however fantastical – pretty much like the German model – which also lends itself to surrealism), and the somewhat fatalistic dry irony (which encompasses a lot but might easily include the blunt German model and the wry Norwegian weather observation) I say, ‘in this day and age’, but I’m reminded of an excellent article I read about German humour (to Brits a famous unicorn’s feather – but this article made it all crystal clear!), and how their tendency to put long words together and their grammar precludes improvised and instant plays on words the Brits have historically, so one of their only options in humour is to throw out THE single most obnoxious potential outcome of any situation which is so horrifically incongruous the only thing to do is laugh at it! I thought it was a good article anyway, and although it more than likely includes confirmation bias, anecdotally, I have found it to be true and agreed upon with three male German friends (two of whom also agreed with the analysis) but very different with one female.But Angeliqa Mejstedt insists that the success of her blog, and the more than 100 hikes she’s organised in 23 locations over the past year, are a sign that friluftsliv continues to inspire young Scandinavians and that the concept has found new ways to thrive in a more digital world. There's nothing better than a fight, especially when you're watching it from a safe place. You can yell encouragement! Hit him with the left, he's a big Jessie! EvenbeforeCovid we spent a huge part of the nursery day outdoors but since 2020 have been basedoutside for the majority of the nursery day and it was great to learn from Dr Jane Reed that this is exactly how Froebel ran hiskindergarten in Bad Blankenburg. What a misery. This one isn’t about weather, but this person could ruin the sunniest of days with their grumpiness. 8. Du siehst aus wie ein begossener Pudel – You look like a watered poodle To audience members who were arriving late) You haven't missed a thing, I was just killing time 'til you got here.