Programs and Activities
200+ activities you can do with kids at home
Children have been home a lot over the last few years. Here's an epic list of over 200 full of play ideas that you can share with parents: games to keep their minds and bodies moving!CMAS Tutorial: Invitations to Play
An invitation to play can be a simple way to spark children’s curiosity and imagination! They offer children opportunities to explore and direct their own play, follow their interests, learn more about the world around them, express themselves creatively and use their imagination.
In this tutorial, you’ll find 10 tips for creating your own Invitations to Play for the children in your CNC program.
Did you know that all our tutorials include a facilitator guide?
At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources and a facilitator guide that includes an extensive list of questions to spark group discussion and personal reflection. Many of the themes that you’ll find in the Invitations to Play tutorial and facilitator guide are really important for us to understand and keep in mind when working in CNC. We encourage all programs to keep the important conversations going – and try facilitating your own team training!
Team training based on the Invitations to Play tutorial, Facilitator Guide, and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion will create an opportunity for your team to:
- collaborate and learn together
- discuss issues that are specific to your site
- share ideas, expertise and challenges
- build supportive team relationships, and
- Improve your programming for newcomer children.
7 Strategies to Support Children’s Emotional Development
Did you know that every person has five emotional needs that must be met before they can be in a position to learn and grow? As an educator, it's important to set children up for success. In order to do this, you need to consider... what are things that trigger you or your children in the classroom? Children’s behavior gives us information that helps us understand how they are feeling - and there is a difference between reacting and responding! Here are 7 tips that can help!Have you tried the Active for Life Build Your Own Lesson Plan tool?
Do you want to build more physical activity into your CNC programming? You can use this Lesson Plan Builder to create custom lesson plans. Simply start by choosing your desired age range, and then click the skills you want to develop and the activities you want to use. When you are finished with your selections, you'll have a lesson plan that you can print out with a simple click of a button!CMAS Tutorial: Capturing Children’s Learning Through Documentation and Meaningful Documentation
Could your team use some new ideas and inspiration when it comes to documentation?
When documentation is done well, it tells a story about what the child did, the process and learning that they engaged in. And it helps parents and caregivers to see what the children are learning and how they’re progressing! In this two-part tutorial series, participants will have the chance to reflect on:
- what makes good documentation
- different kinds of documentation
- how good documentation leads to good programming
Part 1: Capturing Children’s Learning Through Documentation
Part 2: Meaningful Documentation
At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a Facilitator Guide and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.
New Activity Ideas have been added to LET’S PLAY!
A team of CNC staff put their heads together and came up with over 50 community helper activity ideas for CNC… and now you can find them here!
Gratitude activity for kids: Make a South African Ubuntu Collage!
Ubuntu is an important idea in South Africa. The word comes from the Zulu language and refers to the bond that connects all people. It is often translated as, “I am because we are.” The practice of Ubuntu means caring about the needs of others by being kind, helpful and generous, and it’s a lovely reminder of how connected we all are. An Ubuntu collage can be a wonderful gratitude activity for kids!
WEBINAR – Big Conversations with Young Children: Discussing Questions, Worries, and Fears
In our work with young children, we sometimes encounter unexpected—and hard-to-answer—questions. This edWebinar addresses the big adult questions children sometimes ask that may cause us to pause, silence the child, or deflect the concern. The webinar guides participants so that they can be prepared to answer difficult questions respectfully and in ways that are developmentally appropriate for even the youngest children.
Introduction to Positive Discipline – Available in 7 Languages
The Introduction to Positive Discipline tips sheets, video, and facilitation guide are part of the Family Life in Canada resource series. The goal of this series is to help newcomers adjust to life in Canada and encourage them to access information, programs, and services in their community. All you have to do is sign up to get access to the free resources that are available in 7 languages - making them easy to use with the newcomer families you work with!
CMAS Tutorial: Play Across Cultures
Children are masters of play. It’s how they learn about culture, social norms, and language - and it provides endless opportunities for children to try out different roles, express themselves, and explore the world around them. But you may have noticed that children from different cultures engage in play differently. This makes sense because there are differences in language, context, and social norms in different cultures - and these are all reflected in children’s play! In the this tutorial, participants will have the chance to reflect on how play is different across cultures, and how we can encourage and foster all kinds of play variations in our CNC programs. You’ll also find resources, references, a Facilitator Guide and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.