News Item

The Reality of Early Childhood Trauma

When young children experience or witness a traumatic event that threatens their safety or the safety of their parents/caregivers, the impact can be long-lasting. Even for infants and children that may not understand what happened! Find out more about symptoms and behaviours, protective factors, and how to help!

READY-TO-USE PARENT WORKSHOP: Building Resilience in Young Children

Everyone has the capacity for resilience. Building resilience is something we work on throughout our lives, and parents play the biggest role to play in helping their children develop strengths that support resilience. The purpose of this ready-to-use parent workshop is to provide practical tips and simple messages for parents about how to build resilience from infancy to age 6.

How to select toys for short term or mobile children’s programs: Quick Tip Tutorial

You may not know the number of children, their ages and needs until they arrive. And staff may have to bring toys to different locations, so they need to be easy to transport and store! How can you plan for so many variables? This quick-tip tutorial will help you plan for uncertainties and select the toys you need for a mobile or short term program. In it, you'll find 7 key factors to consider, a printable list of toy suggestions, and ideas for developing your own mobile kits.

How to Improve Your Cultural Awareness and Understanding

The National Centre for Cultural Competence has a Curricula Enhancement Module Series on Cultural and Linguistic Competence. It is intended for health and mental health professionals, but has modules that will help early learning and care professionals improve their cultural awareness and understanding as well!

How to stay current as an Early Childhood Educator

Since the research around early childhood education is constantly evolving, it can seem difficult to stay on top of what’s new. Leading early childhood educators keep learning, discover new techniques, keep up with the latest trends and research in the field, and respond to these changes by incorporating them into their curriculum. Read more...

Looking for PD in Nova Scotia?

Did you know that Mount Saint Vincent University has professional development workshops for Early Childhood Educators? Find out more and register now!

Quick Tip Video – How to Make Transitions Fun

This 2-minute video will show you how you can use attention getting games to make transition times fun for the children in your program!


Childhood Interrupted: Lost Years for the Children of the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Earlier this year, a team travelled to Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey to assess the situation of refugee children in the region. Their report describes the children and families at risk, and documents the educational crisis. It also recommends consideration of family unity and the best interests of the child when developing services. Read more...

Nothing beats Grandma’s home cooking…

A restaurant in New York has been serving traditional foods prepared by grandmothers from different cultures for ten years. Read the Enoteca Maria story here!

4 quick recipes for sensory play that you’ve probably never tried before

Children can spend hours exploring with touch, language and imagination, but you don’t have to spend a lot of money and time creating exciting sensory materials.  Here are four sensory play ideas you can make with everyday ingredients you already have!