News
Truth and Reconciliation Week and Orange Shirt Day
National Truth and Reconciliation Week is an opportunity for the CNC community to stand with the Indigenous peoples in Canada and listen. It can be difficult to find our path towards reconciliation, but we encourage you to reflect, learn about residential schools, and begin a dialogue within your CNC programs. To acknowledge and honour the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, here is a collection of online events and resources to help: Truth and Reconciliation Week 2025, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Orange Shirt Day, The Path Here/The Path Ahead, Resources to Help Guide Your Journey.
International Day of Peace
This year the International Day of Peace focuses on engaging and mobilizing people throughout the world to show support for refugees and migrants. You can get involved, and learn more through the TOGETHER initiative. The TOGETHER website promotes respect, safety and dignity for refugees and migrants and has two new animated videos sharing the powerful stories of two young refugees.
WEBINAR: Encouraging Families to Embrace Child-led Play
As early childhood professionals, it is our role to educate families on the importance of child-led play and how it is vital for laying the groundwork for early literacy. Join this webinar to gain confidence in explaining how child-led play develops early literacy foundations and prepares children for school. Learn effective ways to engage parents and families in conversations about the importance of child-led play both at school and home. Explore talking points when addressing any concerns families may have, reassuring them that child-led play is more than sufficient for future reading and writing.
Let’s Get Kids Active Every Day!
Canadian kids aged four and under are spending too much time in front of screens. To encourage healthy growth and development, young children need parents and caregivers to encourage an active lifestyle with a healthy balance of rest and physical activity. Children should be participating in a variety of safe, fun, developmentally appropriate, play-based physical activities in different environments every day! Following these Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines through the early years is associated with better growth, health and well-being.
The Best Kids’ Books on Mental Health
Each year, it seems that there are new children’s books that address every emotional or learning challenge. But how appropriate and helpful is the messaging? Experts at the Child Mind Institute reviewed over 60 books to choose this top 20 list of kids' books on mental health.
WEBINAR: How To Talk with Infants and Toddlers
How do babies turn your words into meaning, connection, and learning? In this webinar, participants will learn 10 intentional communication strategies and script starters to strengthen relationships, promote emotional regulation, and spark early learning—all through meaningful, developmentally rich conversations.
NEW! Equity, Diversity and Inclusion CNC Learning Moments
At its core, CNC is responsive and inclusive, and should be delivered with the utmost respect and appreciation for culture and diversity. We worked with professor, early childhood, culture, and diversity expert, Barbara Kaiser to develop this new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) CNC Learning Moments series. These quick videos are designed to fit into your schedule, introduce core EDI concepts, and spark meaningful reflections for your CNC team. These six topics are now available!Active Supervision: Fostering Joy, Safety, and Connection in Early Childhood
As early childhood educators, we often find ourselves juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities throughout the day. In the midst of this busyness, it’s easy to fall into autopilot, going through the motions without truly engaging with the children in our care. One of the core aspects of our role, and one which is often on autopilot is supervision – but what if we could transform our approach to supervision from a mindless task to a mindful practice? What if supervision could become a tool for safety, joy, connection and personal growth?
Skinned Knees: The Benefits of Risky Play
Have you watched Skinned Knees: The Benefits of Risky Play yet? It was one of our top-rated sessions! Here’s what participants had to say: I truly appreciate the content... lots of helpful tips on how to approach parents... great tips that I can use in my work and my personal life.
What Surrounds Us Shapes Us
Children's development is significantly influenced by their surroundings, encompassing both positive and negative experiences within their living, growing, playing, and learning environments. This includes factors such as access to safe housing, clean water, and green spaces, which not only provide play areas but also support the mental health of children and caregivers.These environmental influences directly and indirectly shape a child's development from birth, impacting their caregivers, communities, and broader relationships. Centre on the Developing Child, Harvard University has developed this Expanded Story of Early Child Development. At the bottom of this brief, you can also find explanations of key concept and resource guides on topics like: Developmental Environments, Toxic Stress, Brain Architecture, and Serve and Return.