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The covid-19 pandemic affected the lives of all people worldwide. The unprecedented situations faced by people of all ages affected their mental and physical health. In this context, children are an especially vulnerable group as their development is in full swing and they have not yet acquired the skills to cope with stressful situations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the views of 31 educators working in Attica (Greece) regarding the changes they observe in the development of children under the age of 3. In addition, the research addresses the type of activities that cannot be carried out in nurseries due to covid -19 health protocols, the alternative methods used by the educators and their suggestions for future interventions. The research instrument used was the semi-structured interview and the data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the study show that the educators observe changes in the social, emotional and language domains of children's development. Specifically, children seem to suffer from strong attachment, anxiety, hyperactivity, inability to regulate emotions, fear of social interactions, and slow vocabulary development-especially foreign students. The researchers anticipate that the results of the present study will contribute to the investigation of the developmental implications of the covid-19 pandemic in children under 3 years old and provide useful information to educators for future interventions in nurseries.

In recent years, Greece has received very high numbers of migrants and refugees from the Middle East, North Africa and Ukraine, including children of all ages. This new and evolving socio-cultural environment has an impact on education, since the application of multicultural principles in education is considered necessary for the development of multicultural respect. To achieve that level of mutual respect, the role of educators is particularly important. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the views of 196 educators working in Greek nurseries on the difficulties they face in implementing multicultural education in young children (children under the age of 3) and the perspectives of that method. Furthermore, the research investigates the goals set by educators, the practices they choose and how competent they consider themselves in implementing multicultural education. A questionnaire with closed-ended questions was used to collect the data. The results of the survey show that educators mainly choose fairy tales/books for managing and highlighting cultural diversity, while cooperation with parents is practiced to a very small extent. As for the difficulties that the educators face during that process, these are mainly attributed to the xenophobic attitudes of native parents. Finally, they feel that their knowledge on multicultural education is inadequate, and they express the need for appropriate training. In summary, the survey can provide useful information for educators on multicultural education in the nursery and can be used as a guide for their future training on that field.

Daily routines in nurseries are among the key elements of their program. Specifically, routines are essential to the function of nurseries, while providing children with stability and a safe environment for exploration and learning experiences. However, compliance with health protocols for covid-19 has brought about significant changes in the way they operate. The aim of this study is to explore the views of 31 educators working in nurseries in Attica (Greece) with children under the age of 3, on how the restrictions they must adhere to have affected the quality of their daily routines and, by extension, the children themselves. A semi-structured interview was chosen for data collection. The results of the survey showed that the quality of the children's morning welcome, morning circle, play corners, outdoor play, outdoor walks, lending library and lunch routine, have deteriorated. In addition, educators report that children feel disorganized and unsafe to explore the environment and have limited learning experiences. Finally, the results of this study may contribute to the scientific literature on the effects of covid-19 and provide useful information for educators.