Parents and Families
Bilingual Children & Speech Delay: Navigating Milestones
This resource helps challenge common myths about bilingualism and speech delay, easing worries by explaining the difference between typical bilingual development - like mixing languages - and signs that may actually point to a true speech delay. It also offers guidance on what to watch for and when to seek support.
Small Steps, Healthy Wins: Training & Parent Resources
Small Steps, Healthy Wins is a clinician-designed training with practical, family-centred, evidence- and strengths-based resources that can also be shared with families to support small, meaningful steps toward healthy everyday routines.
Family Resilience Toolkit: Resources to Share with Parents
Empower the families in your program with research-based tools designed to nurture every child’s social and emotional well-being. This resource hub offers providers a wealth of shareable content—including engaging videos, practical handouts, and expert webinars - to help parents build lasting resilience in their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Family Day Across Canada
Family Day is celebrated differently across the country, but no matter where you live, it's a great opportunity to encourage families to get outside and have some fun with the kids! Here are two lists full of outdoor winter activity ideas to share with parents this month: 6 Budget-Friendly Winter Activities for Families & 10 Fun & Easy Outdoor Winter Activities for Kids
Belonging Begins with Us: Building Deeper Relationships in CNC Programs
Tammy Nucci explores how educators can create trusting, inclusive relationships with children, families, and peers—regardless of language or background. Drawing on trauma-informed care, culturally sustaining practices, and early childhood best practices, participants will learn strategies to design routines and environments that promote safety, respect, and belonging. This session offers practical tools and reflective discussion to help build relationships rooted in empathy and inclusion.
Handouts:
Workshop Outline
Learner Journal
Conversations with Families: Neurodiversity
When new to Canada, many parents are experiencing the expected overwhelm that can often accompany change; new physical spaces, languages, cultures, support networks, and routines. Additionally, parents are navigating new frameworks of childcare and support. They are learning through potentially a new lens, Canada’s model and approach to disability–through both the social and medical models. As a first point of contact, the importance of how we approach conversations regarding children with support needs, disability, or neurodiversity cannot be overstated. Monica Maddison guides participants through an understanding of neurodiversity, the social model of disability, and strategies to come alongside parents in conversation that feels both connected and collaborative.
Digital Well-Being for Families
Raising kids in today’s digital world isn’t easy. Caregivers all agree that young children’s digital use is spinning out of control, and nearly three-quarters of parents are concerned about the amount of screen time their children have. Technology isn’t inherently good or bad, though — it’s how we use it that matters. But it’s hard to know how to make informed tech choices for little ones. Sesame has developed some wonderful resources to help families navigate a digital world. From screen-time transitions to mindful media use, they’ve created simple, kid-friendly, research-tested strategies that help families build healthy digital habits. Check out these new videos, storybooks, and more here!
Head Injury in Preschool: Pamphlet for Parents
When a child suffers a head injury, it can be concerning. This pamphlet is intended to provide parents with some information that will help them better understand what has happened, and hopefully alleviate some worries!
WEBINAR: Creating Social Connections to Address Mental Health
In this Sesame Workshop webinar, participants will explore the benefits of social connections and discuss strategies to foster resilience and kindness to build relationships among young children and families to support their emotional well-being. You'll also find out how kindness can be used as an intervention for loneliness and isolation and get new hands-on tools and resources to support kindness, create connections, and build resilience in your program.
Activities for Anxious Kids: How to Help Children Cope with Anxiety Through Play
We all have a range of feelings. We feel happy, sad, silly, disappointed, excited, amazed, surprised, angry, or brave. But we all, including kids, sometimes feel anxious. Anxiety is the feeling of worry, nervousness, fear, or unease. Even if these feelings in kids seem small to adults, they can be very real and important for a child. But they’re also very normal. Parents and caregivers can help by recognizing what anxiety looks like and providing activities and opportunities for play for anxious kids.