The Swedish preschool approach – how care, play and learning fit together

Updated 7 August 2026

Through more than a century of educational development, Sweden has built a preschool model where care, play and learning are not three separate things – they are one and the same, happening together. That holistic view, rooted in deep respect for children’s innate capabilities, is the foundation of how we work every day.

From kindergarten pioneers to modern preschool

The story of Swedish preschool begins in 1896, when Anna Eklund opened the country’s first kindergarten in Stockholm, after training at the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus in Berlin. Three years later, in 1899, sisters Ellen and Maria Moberg started a kindergarten in their home in Norrköping – and in 1904 they opened Fröbelstugan, Sweden’s first “folkbarnträdgård”, open to working-class families as well.

Their vision of playful learning in close contact with nature and friends grew alongside modern Sweden. The road ran through 1998, when preschool received its first curriculum, Lpfö 98. In 2011, preschool also became a school form of its own within the education system – its very first step. Today, preschool is a natural part of most children’s early years: in autumn 2025, just over 468,000 children were enrolled in Swedish preschool – 86 per cent of all 1–5-year-olds, according to the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket).

Democracy in practice – starting in the sandpit

What makes the Swedish model special is not any single method, but its view of the child. The preschool curriculum states that education should instil respect for human rights and fundamental democratic values – not through lessons about democracy, but by letting children experience it: having a say at circle time, shaping their play, resolving conflicts with the support of present adults.

Since 2020, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is Swedish law, and in preschool it becomes concrete every day. Children who are listened to learn to listen to others.

That view of the child is no loose tradition – it is written into the governing documents.

A curriculum that holds the whole together

The preschool curriculum, Lpfö 18, was revised in 2025 with clarifications that apply from 1 July 2025. The importance of play and physical movement is emphasised further, as is daily reading aloud. Learning tools in preschool should now primarily be analogue – books, blocks, creative materials – and the preschool teacher’s responsibility for methods resting on science and proven experience has been clarified.

For us, this is familiar ground: our pedagogy has always been built on play, screen-free everyday life and educators who are present in children’s exploration.

So far, Sweden. But what does the holistic approach look like when it meets the world?

A holistic approach with an international outlook

At Svenska Internationella Förskolan in Kista and Hässelby, we combine the Swedish holistic approach with a bilingual Swedish-English profile. Swedish is the base, English a natural part of everyday life – in songs, stories and conversation. We work in small groups where every child is seen, and we are outdoors every day, in all weathers.

Choosing a preschool is one of your family’s most important decisions. If you would like to see what the holistic approach looks like in practice, you are warmly welcome to book a visit.

More from the blog: Play as the foundation · Choosing the right preschool · Our preschool in Kista