A joint project bringing together two Scottish early years settings to develop weaving as a valued Froebelian Occupation in their settings.
Hailesland Early Years Centre and Poppies Pre-school are working together to develop weaving as a valued Froebelian Occupation and encourage a shared sense of purpose and unity within their nursery school communities.
Froebel's Occupations are activities and experiences which enable children to develop their curiosity, creativity and problem-solving skills. Weaving is one of the Occupations.
The educators leading this project aim to give the children at their settings the opportunity:
- to explore the real life and open ended experience of weaving
- to learn a new skill and create 'forms of beauty'.
The children will be encouraged to use the resources readily available to them – indoors and outdoors and have the opportunity to use traditional hand looms and handmade personal looms.
The project will encourage a sense of belonging for children and families, facilitating a positive ownership of space. Nurturing relationships will be encouraged through the opportunity for the child, practitioner and caregiver to spend time together - learning together.
The project will involve all colleagues at both settings so that there is a shared understanding of weaving across all playrooms enabling all children to have the opportunity to engage in weaving at their own stage of development.
Practitioners will encourage the involvement of caregivers through gathering resources from their families, reflecting the rich diversity of the nursery and locality. A family weaving workshop will be led by practitioners over the course of the project.
The educators plan to report their project findings in Autumn 2025.
About Poppies Pre-School
Poppies Pre-school in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is a Froebelian nurery school which supports babies and young children up to the age of 5. The nursery school was shortlisted as 'Nursery of the Year' at the Nursery World Awards 2024.
About Hailesland Early Years Centre
Hailesland Early Years Centre is in the South West of Edinburgh, Scotland. The centre provides outreach to families as well as offering a variety of groups for the local community.
