Manuscript received: 15.02.2020. Manuscript accepted: 28.05.2020. ©2020 T. K. Aslanian, A. K. Andresen & T. Baasland. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 License. ISSN 1891-5949, https://noredstudies.org Citation: Aslanian, T. K., Andresen, A. K. & Baasland, T. (2020). Climbing, Hiding and Having Fun: Schoolchildren’s Memories of Holistic Learning in a Norwegian Kindergarten. Nordic Studies in Education, 40(3), 268–285. https:// doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2447 Article | Peer-reviewed | Vol. 40, No. 3, 2020, pp. 268–285 Climbing, Hiding and Having Fun: Schoolchildren’s Memories of Holistic Learning in a Norwegian Kindergarten Teresa K. Aslanian, Anne Kristin Andresen and Turid Baasland Department of Educational Science, University of South-Eastern Norway Contact corresponding author: teresa.k.aslanian@usn.no ABSTRACT Firmly planted in the Nordic tradition, policies that guide practice in Norwegian kindergartens emphasize a holistic approach that integrates care, play and learning and promotes well-being and development through relationships and experiences in the natural environment. While the holistic approach enjoys support both politically and within the profession, a political call for increased learning has resulted in a number of programs embracing school-based methods of learning infusing the feld. The aim to increase learning has increasingly relied on a concept of learning that is the result of intentional pedagogic practice and high quality engagement between educators and children. This understanding of learning does not embrace learning related to children as biological beings in a vital phase of growth; that occurs outside of situations crafted to be learning situations. In this article, we address learning as a biological and social phenomenon, and consider how schoolchildren’s recollections of life in kindergarten can shed light on how and what children learn in the unique learning environments of Norwegian kindergartens. Our approach ofers an opportunity to understand what holistic learning in ECEC can mean for children as biosocial beings. Keywords: holistic learning, ECEC, biosocial education, play, retrospective