A Joyful Rainy Day!

We have a rainy weekend ahead of us, and I wanted to highlight why children adore playing in the rain and how it promotes healthy development. Take a moment to think about your own childhood and a special memory you have playing in the rain. Did you enjoy it? Why or why not? We can often better understand our children’s interests and perspectives when we reflect on our own meaningful experiences when we were young. Pull out those dusty raincoats and galoshes and embrace the rainy day ahead!

Children have a natural curiosity for the rain, and for exploring the world around them. Moving, dancing, and jumping around in the rain provide opportunities to ignite imagination and spark creativity. Gross motor skills are developing with big arm and leg movements working to improve balance, coordination and strength. Children are eager to know what causes the rain and why it rains, introducing the opportunity for a science activity.

Young children delight in spending time with their parents and playing in the rain together will make lasting memories. Savor these moments with your children, all the other things you “have” to do this weekend can wait. Enjoy the link below for additional ways to delight in a rainy day with your child(ren).

Sing in the rain.  Songs with a rain theme are perfect for singing in the rain. Try Rain, Rain Go Away, I Can Sing a Rainbow or I’m Singing in the Rain!

Slip and slide. Get a tarp out and off you go. Slide from side to side. Don’t forget to add mud and grass too!

Jump, stomp and sit in muddy puddles. What child wouldn’t like to do this?

Take your bath toys outside. Play with bath toys out in the rain and in mud puddles. Who says they’re just for playing in the bath?!

Look at a flowing creek. Go for a walk down to a swollen creek. It’s interesting to look at when you’ve seen it at its usual size.

Make boats. Make nature boats and then float them in a creek or gutter.

Play games. Play games like relay races, stuck in the mud and red rover.

Ingredients in bowls. Take some bowls filled with different ingredients like flour, sugar, oats and salt out into the rain and see what happens to the material when they get droplets of water.

Play in a Puddle on a Rainy Day | NAEYC

14 Fun OUTDOOR Rainy Day Play Activities for Kids (Toddlers Too!!) – The Crazy Outdoor Mama

PARTNERSHIPS

A special thanks to all who attended our Back-to-School event last night. Let’s give another shout-out to our Fabulous Parents Association who provided beautiful flowers, refreshments, and delicious food. Thank you, Tamson Livanov, Sarah Lauzen, Vienna Perillo, and Charlotte Anderson.

The relationship between teachers and parents is essential for children's success at CCEP and throughout their education. When healthy partnerships are developed, together, we can advocate for the needs of our children. Partnerships are built over time through authentic communication sharing honestly the strengths, joys, and challenges of our children both at home and at school. When parents are concerned about their child’s development or teachers observe a concern, we aren’t serving our children well if we don’t work together to address the matter.

ENJOY THIS ARTICLE from NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) titled, The Parent-School Partnership: Optimizing Relationships and Building Understanding. The author, Olaf Jorgenson emphasizes how administrators must commit to building a partnership-focused school community and a program that both expects and supports parent-teacher teamwork.

“Just as school leaders can help teachers become more attuned to parents’ circumstances, viewpoints, and needs, they can help parents value teacher expertise and perspectives. In this way, teachers grow more comfortable collaborating with parents, and parents become more open to observations (along with concerns and suggestions) teachers share. When parents are primed to be receptive to teachers, they’re less inclined to see teacher feedback as criticism and more likely to accept teachers as partners in supporting their children’s well-being.”

Please reach out to us if you have any concerns or questions regarding your child’s school experiences or development. We promise to do the same.

With faith and gratitude,

Sheila

PS: Please share your ideas for relevant topics of interest for Abio's Avenue at sabio@christchurchde.org

Imagination

I love spending time in our learning spaces and listening to the children play when their imaginations are hard at work. Building a magnificent block tower, creating a grocery store shopping experience or reenacting familial roles by “playing house”, these experiences are crucial to healthy development. Children today have many opportunities to participate in sports and extracurricular activities which are an important part of their development. Equally important is unstructured time to play through imaginative experiences. What happens when children are immersed in imaginative play?

Social Development Children have a natural way of relating and connecting when they play. They learn to take turns, share, and work together. As children join in imaginary play, they begin to understand relationships better. They have opportunities to experiment with social boundaries. They improve their social skills and become more connected, confident, and self-reliant. As a result, they build better relationships with their peers.

Emotional Development

Imaginative play fosters emotional competence and empathy. During make-believe play, children practice caring for others and showing empathy. For example, when they participate in doctor pretend play, they learn how to be kind, gentle, and to help others. As children begin to understand their feelings and emotions, they learn how to interact appropriately.

Language Development Growing research confirms the importance of imaginative play in early childhood language development. Play is all about communication. Sit back and listen to your child while they play. They love to describe and narrate what’s happening. This conversation enhances their vocabulary and language skills. By providing a supportive, high-quality play environment, you can boost your child’s language skills.

Encourages Independence

Imaginative play allows your child to make their own rules, explore new ideas, and create stories. As a result, they begin connecting with the world and incorporating what they have learned into their dramatic play. This encourages freedom to take risks. Subsequently, those risks are essential to gaining their independence and becoming critical thinkers.

Increases Creativity Creativity can be a stress reducer and is instrumental to your child’s well-being. Engaging in fantasy play allows children to stimulate their imagination which will increase their creativity. With a good imagination, your child can pretend to be anything or anyone they want!

Develops Problem-solving Skills

Excellent problem-solving skills require creativity. Children need time and space to figure things out for themselves. They learn to develop these skills through imaginative play. For instance, they negotiate who gets to play what role. They might re-enact real-life situations and role-play activities which develop their problem-solving skills.

Children become more curious when caregivers and parents join their imaginative play, but make sure you give them space to solve their problems.

Thank you for reading this week’s Abio Avenue, and take some time to enjoy imaginative.

Exchange EveryDay

Welcome to Mrs. Abio’s Avenue, a  new addition to our weekly newsletter. I am excited to share my own thoughts and reflections regarding topics relevant to early childhood development and practice. Enjoy!

Exchange Every Day is a valued resource of mine. A piece was recently published by Miriam Beloglovsky, highlighting why children are naturally drawn to nature's beauty. We deeply value nature at CCEP and I wanted to highlight why our unique outdoor playgrounds are essential for optimal childhood development.  

“Whether it be the brilliant colors of a sunset, the intricate patterns of a snowflake, or how leaves change colors in the Fall.” The designs and experiences provided by the environments we offer our children contribute greatly to their healthy development.

When we play and explore outside in nature, children are surrounded by PATTERNS. Patterns represent the interconnectedness of all things and the delicate equilibrium that sustains life. Children thrive with routine and structure; RHYTHM organizes daily events into predictable and coherent patterns which increase neuroplasticity. We strive to create equitable and inclusive spaces that embrace DIVERSE relationships, rhythms and system patterns. Nature’s MYSTERIES spark a sense of wonder, curiosity and an eagerness to learn. UNITY brings us together with nature, and each other, and our shared responsibility to preserve balance and harmony.

Our students get to connect with nature every day! By doing so, they are creating a beautiful and sustainable world for generations to come.