Nursery World - For a better world

Professor Cathy Nutbrown imagines what a better world it could be for young children

When I asked some young children what could make their early years settings better, they offered a number of suggestions: 'A truck that goes right up to the sky'; 'Power Rangers costumes with real powers'; and 'a real pond with magic baby hippos in it'.

Now, even in the best stories, not all wishes are granted, but we can learn much from young children about just how powerful and important imagination can be.Robert Fulghum's famous essay, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten, urges us to: 'Think what a better world it would be if all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.'

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