I love making spaces beautiful

I find it the best feeling in the world to lovingly gather together and arrange items and objects to create spaces for children. So much personalised care can be communicated through the environment and I find children respond instantly when entering a space, with a deep understanding of the offering.

The environment is centralised across pioneering approaches. Froebel and Montessori advocated the 'prepared environment' Steiner, a holistic environment, and Loris Mallaguzi identified the environment as the 'third teacher'.

I recently wondered what Mallaguzi meant by the third teacher. I don't think he meant for the environment to teach for us (cue laminated words and numbers), but instead, for it to be valued as much as an additional practitioner, supporting and underpinning the first and second teachers, the child and adult, respectively.

I have spent many years challenging myself to work with little or no resources, just the body and senses and that is fun too, but the prepared environments offer a sense of security and home base, that we have everything we need in its place and from there, we can explore.

Pictured is our the small world, loose parts and puzzle cupboard.

Hannah