Rain Boots and Mud Pies—Gearing Up for International Mud Day

As early childhood professionals we know that learning can be messy. Children often seem to be at their happiest when they are digging, painting, or creating. In fact, if each of us paused for a moment and thought about it, we could probably easily recall a time when the children in our care were consumed by swirling paint colors and painting over the same area on the page, piling sand into large mounds, or collecting an assortment of sticks and rocks. In each of these activities, children are honing many skills—fine motor, gross motor, cognitive awareness, and math and counting. Help children and families in your setting embrace messy play by getting outside and celebrating International Mud Day on June 29.

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Benefits of Using Themes

We receive a lot of questions about our themes and how we select the activity schedule each year. In this post we talk about how we create and update our themes. First, let’s talk about the benefits of using themes in early childhood education in general.

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Learning in the Outdoors

16 Activities to do Outside
by Patricia Dietz

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Cooking with Kids

Imagine having your teaching setting filled with delicious scents and seeing your children willingly dig into healthy foods. How can you make this happen? One of the best ways is to offer healthy cooking experiences. Whether you work in family care, a child care facility, or even a public school, there are many ways you can make cooking a part of your day.

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Storytime Spotlight: Over in the Meadow

Have you ever picked up a book and been captivated by the rhythm of the language? How about really unique illustrations? If not, you’re in for a treat with our June Fireflies Book of the Month, Over in the Meadow. Published by Barefoot Books, Over in the Meadow was a NAPPA Honors winner in 2011.

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