Verified by 
Year after year, we hear that Norway tops the charts in the World Happiness Reports. There is a cultural narrative about how the Norwegians got there. When I meet my friends form the United States, they tell me that it is because Norwegians have oil money. Or because Norwegians have the magical untranslatable word koselig. Since moving to Norway, I have learned that the secret to happy Norwegian life begins in kindergarten.
Here are some of the key differences that U.S. visitors notice when they visit the best Norwegian kindergartens. The first thing they notice is that children play a lot outside. In an average kindergarten (“barnehage”), children spend 75 percent of time outdoors in the summer and 30 percent in the winter. (In the U.S., children typically get a maximum of an hour of outdoor play).
It is often a shock to visitors that Norwegians leave babies sleeping outside, even in freezing conditions. Norwegian children are out no matter what the weather. Drying rooms for wet overalls, mud kitchens or secret places where children can play without adults’ interference—all are standard here. In contrast to the risk-averse U.S. style of education, Norwegian kindergartens score high if they have climbable trees and are close to small woods.
Outdoor play has benefits for both physical and mental well-being. U.S. parents who want their children to crack phonics and mathematics as early as possible might find it strange that Norwegian parents are still gripped by Henrik Ibsen’s open-air life ideal (“friluftsliv”). But “Norway is powered by nature” is not just a tourist slogan: Norwegians strongly believe that in nature, and their children build both physical and social skills. "In nature you are more likely to agree," Kine-Mide Kihlstrom from Jåttå kindergarten tells me, "And be kinder to each other."
An active outdoor life is balanced up with quiet indoors. The hallmarks of Nordic design—muted colors, lots of decluttered space, and natural light through ingeniously placed windows—are known for their calming effect. They are used for millionaires’ mansions, but also for schools and kindergartens.
The Norwegian inclination for unhurriedness might explain why Norway is home not only to world chess champion Magnus Carlsen but also to the “slow TV": A train ride from Bergen to Oslo (broadcasting all seven hours of the journey) gets prime TV time in Norway. Again, the philosophy starts early: There are no rapid images in Hakkebakke skogen and other popular children’s stories and television series. Running is for your legs outside, not your eyes on the screen, Norwegians believe.
In his book The Pursuit of Norwegian Happiness, Professor Ottar Hellevik explains that although financial security has increased considerably and steadily over the years in Norway, its levels of happiness have not. One explanation is that money increases the values which trickle down happiness—interest in materialism, comparison with others, feeling more selfish. In contrast, being sosialt raus (socially generous) and contributing to society through voluntary work make citizens happier.
A democratic approach to the welfare state requires respect for self and respect for others. In U.S. schools, there is a lot of respect toward teachers from the children, but in Norway, it flows with equal strength both ways. The respectful dialogue begins in kindergarten: Negotiation and discussion techniques are core components of the Scandinavian school system.
And respect implies openness. Norway was the first country to legalize same-sex activity in 1972. The nation’s conviction to tear down any concealment stands firm in early education. Norwegian children’s authors, like Gro Dahle, are known for tackling controversial topics, including watching porn or lesbian relationships. The national education program Newton, broadcast on public TV by NRK, teaches 8-12-year-olds what orgasm is and what it means to fall in love with a boy, a girl, or both.
Respect and openness go hand in hand with humor: Norwegians crack jokes all the time (look up “funny Norwegian commercials” on YouTube). Most popular Norwegian children’s books are written to make children laugh. No wonder that when Norwegian children re-tell stories to adults, their primary interest is to tell stories that entertain.
Children are the best barometers of happiness: You can’t force a three-year-old to smile. Children don’t care whether you are lesbian or straight. They don’t care how much their mamas and papas have in the bank. They love playing freely and outdoors, they respond to respect with respect, and they love jokes. Take these values to the societal level and you get closer to the Norwegian model of happy living.
