Why We Left ‘Special Days' Behind
In the early years sector, themed calendar days are commonplace. Valentine’s crafts. Mother’s Day cards. Easter bonnets. World Book Day costumes.
We did not move away from these days because they are unimportant.
We moved away because our practice has evolved and because the evidence base guiding early childhood education invites us to think more critically about how young children learn.
As our pedagogical confidence has deepened through Let’s Nurture Futures™, we have asked:
Who is this for?
And more importantly,
Does this align with how young children develop understanding?
What follows is not the removal of celebration, but the strengthening of curriculum integrity.
Learning Is Developmental, Not Episodic
The EYFS (DfE, 2021) is clear that learning in early childhood must be rooted in a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activity, where practitioners respond to children’s interests and extend their thinking.
Developmental theory reinforces this.
Vygotsky (1978) demonstrated that cognitive development is socially constructed. Children build understanding through sustained shared thinking, dialogue and interaction within the Zone of Proximal Development. Depth comes from revisiting ideas rather than encountering them in isolation.
Bruner (1960) further emphasised the ‘spiral’ nature of learning. Concepts deepen through repeated engagement over time. Learning is layered and cumulative.
When experiences are organised primarily around dates on a calendar, they risk becoming episodic. A themed craft may produce a product, but without continuity and revisiting, it is unlikely to produce conceptual depth.
Young children learn best through:
Repetition and return
Meaningful contexts
Emotional connection
Sustained exploration
Calendar-driven activities can interrupt this continuity.
Our responsibility as educators is not to deliver events. It is to design environments and interactions that support developmental progression.
Projects Instead of Performances
The Reggio Emilia approach positions projects as evolving investigations that emerge from children’s questions. Malaguzzi described learning as a process of research in which children construct knowledge through exploration, dialogue and expression in multiple forms.
Projects:
Overlap
Pause
Re-emerge
Deepen unexpectedly
They are not constrained by commercial timelines.
By contrast, themed days often move the curriculum forward regardless of children’s interests. They can unintentionally centre adult agendas rather than children’s enquiries.
In moving away from pre-set special days, we have strengthened our commitment to:
Observation
Listening
Responsive planning
Co-construction of knowledge
This is not a reduction in richness. It is an increase in intentionality.
Inclusion Beyond the Tourist Curriculum
Research into anti-bias education further shaped our decision.
Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010) caution against what they describe as a ‘tourist curriculum’, which involves brief and surface-level acknowledgements of diversity that do little to foster genuine belonging.
Calendar-based celebrations can unintentionally:
Centre particular cultural narratives
Assume specific family structures
Reinforce commercial expectations
Marginalise children whose experiences differ
True inclusion is structural rather than episodic.
Although the EYFS requires practitioners to help children understand similarities and differences between religious and cultural communities, this does not necessitate themed days. It requires meaningful dialogue, representation and respect embedded in everyday life.
Inclusion lives in:
The books we choose
The language we use
The images displayed
The assumptions we challenge
The way we respond to children’s lived experiences
By removing imposed special days, we have created space for authentic, child-led sharing of traditions and family practices when and if children choose.
Belonging must be woven into daily practice.
Depth Over Display
Research into early mark-making and creativity demonstrates that adult-imposed templates can narrow children’s symbolic thinking. Matthews (1999) and Malchiodi (2012) highlight the importance of open-ended exploration in supporting neural integration, fine motor development and representational thinking.
When learning is organised around producing a visible outcome for a specific date, there can be subtle pressure to prioritise display over developmental process.
Our role is not to produce products.
It is to nurture cognition, communication and confidence.
If a child wishes to create something for someone they care about, we support that at any time of year because it holds meaning for them.
This distinction matters.
Seasonal Rhythms and Ecological Identity
Our shift has also been informed by research on nature connection in early childhood.
Connection to the natural world is associated with improved wellbeing, resilience and pro-environmental attitudes later in life (Chawla, 2015; Sobel, 2008).
By organising our year around seasonal rhythms rather than commercial cycles, we root learning in:
Sensory experience
Environmental awareness
Scientific enquiry
Emotional connection
Noticing frost, seeds sprouting or shadows lengthening is universally accessible. Nature provides a shared context for exploration.
This aligns with Let’s Nurture Nature and our commitment to sustainability as lived practice rather than themed activity.
Professional Confidence and Ethical Leadership
Shifting away from special days requires professional assurance.
It means:
Planning responsively rather than predictably
Trusting children’s interests
Explaining our rationale clearly to families
Resisting performative displays
But it aligns with evidence, theory and the EYFS principle of a curriculum that is ambitious, inclusive and developmentally appropriate.
Ethical leadership in early childhood involves questioning habitual practice and ensuring alignment between research, values and action.
We did not remove special days.
We reimagined celebration within a relationship-led, child-centred, research-informed framework.
Now, when something is celebrated, it is because:
It has emerged from children’s enquiry
It connects to their lived experience
It holds authentic meaning
It deepens learning rather than interrupting it
Through connection, continuity and curiosity, we are preparing children not just for school, but for life.
That is something worth honouring every day.
References
Bruner, J. (1960) The Process of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chawla, L. (2015) Benefits of nature contact for children. Journal of Planning Literature, 30(4), pp. 433–452.
Department for Education (DfE) (2021) Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. London: DfE.
Derman-Sparks, L. and Edwards, J.O. (2010) Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Malaguzzi, L. (1993) For an education based on relationships. Young Children, 49(1), pp. 9–12.
Malchiodi, C. (2012) Handbook of Art Therapy. 2nd edn. New York: Guilford Press.
Matthews, J. (1999) The Art of Childhood and Adolescence: The Construction of Meaning. London: Falmer Press.
Sobel, D. (2008) Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.