Nursery World - Enabling Environments: Well-being

Early years practitioners need to think about how children feel in the environment that we give them and how it affects their ability to learn and grow, says Maria Robinson.

Children can become very upset when in unfamiliar surroundings, and perhaps we should remember how we, too, can feel when away from home. Being in a strange and/or threatening environment can elicit the need for comfort and reassurance, and wanting to be home denotes the need for the safe place.

Who has not heard a child's cry of 'I want to go home', and how often are we ready to hear the need for reassurance? For us, the daycare setting, the childminder's home or the classroom may feel welcoming, but for some children on a first visit, the place will be strange - smells, sounds, decor and furnishings are all new and possibly unfamiliar.

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