Creating a Warm & Cozy Childhood at Home

I had a safe, comfortable, and warm childhood. I felt secure and happy. I didn’t have a worry in the world. I can still feel the days in my large backyard, listening to birdsong, collecting bits of flowers and rocks to make potions with my siblings. I vividly see and smell the grape hyacinths that lined the outskirts of the yard. I can feel the bark of the Japanese maple tree as I perched myself on a branch. The cozy blankets and pillows and stuffies on the couch. The warm cocoa and marshmallow fluff waiting for me after playing in the snow. The sick day soup and saltine crackers. It all sounds very hygge, doesn’t it? And if you’ve been here, you know how much I love some good hygge vibes.

When I became a mother, I wanted to give all of these warm cozy memories to my own kids and more. I want them to feel held and loved. I want them to experience the simplest joys of life – and while simple – they turn out to be the very biggest things they hold onto. I want them to know deep in their bones that their mother enjoyed every moment with them to the fullest and we truly lived together. Not just existed in this fast-paced world, but lived and loved and soaked up every bit of our time together.

So today, I want to share with you some of the things that I do in our home to foster these warm childhood memories. Maybe some things won’t stick out to them and maybe some will. I look forward to the day that they sit across from me as adults and reminisce about their childhood.

These are the small things I hope my children carry with them someday.

Create Comfort Through Simple Rituals

Enjoy hot cocoa and marshmallows after snow, always
Have tea time together, whether in the morning or afternoon
Have a few seasonal traditions that we turn to year after year. Here are a few of ours: visiting our local garden center to plant vegetables and flowers every Mother’s Day, going strawberry picking and making homemade strawberry shortcake in the summer, pumpkin and apple picking and pie baking in the autumn, glow stick dance parties with Christmas carols, baking cookies, and hot chocolate/neighborhood light drives in the winter.
Movie and popcorn nights together
Make homemade pizza dough & bake pies with Dad on Saturdays
Pile into Mom & Dad’s bed after baths and pajamas for bedtime stories
Whisper readings and affirmations before bed

🍂Make seasons feel special and sweeter:

Fill Your Home with Warmth

Practice hygge at home with lots of fairy lights strung around, plants to care for, warm beverages shared, cozy blankets/pillows/textiles
Play relaxing ASMR ambiance rooms and instrumental music to fill the background of your days
Have minimal toys and declutter often to avoid overwhelm for everyone
Watch slower TV shows from your childhood with them (like Little Bear and Franklin)
Have clean play spaces with open-ended toys for their imagination to run wild
Install a window bird feeder to enjoy and appreciate the visitors together

🧺For a cozy home with children, you may enjoy: 10 Tips for Slow Living with Kids

Let Childhood Feel Slow & Free

Freedom to build large comfy forts all over the house
Let them get messy and muddy when they are outside
Let them loose on a warm rainy day sans shoes to play in the backyard puddles
Keep a closet full of board games to pull out whenever (and family game nights!)
Allow them to bring nature inside to build their collections (from rocks to driftwood to leaves and petals)
Spend endless time in the backyard, playing, relaxing, basking, planting, growing
Plant flowers and bulbs together in the fall and eagerly awaiting for their arrival in the spring
Dance parties in the kitchen or living room when everyone needs a break or reset

If you are a stay-at-home-mom, you may appreciate these tips to romanticize your life as a SAHM.

Create & Imagine Together

Leave art materials within reach, letting them craft with messy bits
Let them go to town with Play-doh and air dry clay
Bake treats together (and try your best not to worry or stress about the mess)
Read aloud a wide variety of picture books, chapter books, fairy tales, fables
Tell stories from memory instead of reading
Make special meals on the weekend and listen to restaurant music while eating to add to the ambiance

🌿You may enjoy these tips: Simple Ways to Connect With Your Kids (Beyond Play)

Remember: children do not need the perfect or most expensive and lavish childhood. They need warmth, presence, rhythms, and traditions that will make a lasting impression – no matter how small. What may seem small to you could be something monumental to them. Cozy and warm childhood memories are the ones you make together. You are doing a beautiful job. 🤍

For more cozy and intentional living: