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Participants report it’s a struggle to pay for bills and groceries, including diapers At Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre, our daily engagement with families allows us to understand their overall experiences, and we endeavour to be responsive to emerging needs. In recent weeks families have reported that the ever-increasing cost of living leaves them having to make tough decisions with their money, and often they don’t have enough to buy diapers. “Children need clean diapers to be healthy and develop to their fullest potential.” -Laurie Fagan, executive director at Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre Hear more from Laurie about the Diaper Drive on CBC's Radio Active here. In response to the need identified by our participants, we are asking Edmontonians to donate diapers. Our diaper drive “clean where it counts” is launching May 13 and ending May 31. People can donate diapers of all sizes at: Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre- 9516 -114 Avenue NW, Edmonton Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm Monetary donations can be made in-person at Norwood Centre, via e-transfer to payment@norwoodcentre.com or through our website here. In their first three months of life, babies need their diapers changed every 2-3 hours; in one day a baby will need approximately 12 diapers. If buying Kirkland Signature Diapers from Costco, in boxes of 192, families would need around two boxes per month, costing around $70 before tax. Imagine having to choose between $70 worth of food or diapers. Donate today so families don’t have to make that decision! Help us keep children clean where it counts. We will also be accepting: baby wipes baby formula Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre has been a community hub for children and families since 1963. Norwood Centre responds to a wide variety of family circumstances and provides free, culturally diverse programming throughout Edmonton. We nurture trusting relationships, empower families to access resources and services, and support optimal child development. Norwood Centre is a safe gathering place that brings individuals together with a focus on prevention and early intervention to support healthy, well-functioning families.

From Alberta Health Services- Your baby may be ready to eat solid foods when your baby: Is about 6 months old Starts to get curious about foods Your baby may reach for what you're eating and drinking Can sit alone or with support Has good head and neck control Is able to hold small objects, such as toys or food Can move food to the back of their mouth to swallow Resources Alberta Health Services Infant Nutrition Classes This free online class is for parents and caregivers of children 0-12 months of age. Find more information or register at this link. Introducing Solid Foods to Your Baby (Alberta Health Services) Feeding Baby Solid Foods From 6 to 12 months of age (Alberta Health Services) Starting Solid Foods: 6- 12 Months (Healthy Parents Healthy Children) Feeding Your Baby in the First Year (My Health Alberta) Making Food for your Baby #youaskedweanswered At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Early Childhood Development Subject Matter Experts work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support early childhood development. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. We have a variety of Child Development Activities available on our website, find them at norwoodcentre.com/child-development-activities. For short-term one-on-one coaching, please call us at 780-471-3737.

May 6-12 is Mental Health Week! This year the Canadian Mental Health Association is encouraging us to explore how compassion connects us all. "We all have the capacity to be compassionate, and we know that doing so can make an enormous difference... In a world plagued by suffering, we emphasize that kindness is equally intrinsic to our humanity." -Canadian Mental Health Association What is Compassion? Researchers today define compassion as an emotional response to the struggles of others combined with a real, authentic desire to help lessen their suffering. Read more about compassion in this resource from the Canadian Mental Health Association. What are the mental health impacts of Compassion? Showing compassion to others is particularly powerful for our mental health and well-being. It can: ease depression provide a spike in happiness cause a "cascade of kindness" be a catalyst for optimism provide "selfless satisfaction" Read more about the mental health impacts of compassion in this resource from the Canadian Mental Health Association. What is "self-compassion"? Practicing self-compassion means approaching ourselves with the same kindness we extend to others such as our family and friends. The three key elements to self-compassion are: Self-kindness versus self-judgement Common humanity versus isolation Mindfulness versus over-identification Read more about self-compassion and how to practice it in this resource from the Canadian Mental Health Association. This blog post was created with resources shared by the Canadian Mental Health Association. Find out more about the organization on their website cmha.ca

There are many things we can do to help reduce our family's grocery bills. Especially now as food prices are steadily increasing. Here are some tried and true methods that have helped me and that I hope will help you. 1.Don't shop hungry, you will make better choices. 2.Make a plan, it does not have to be fancy. Write a list of what dinner and lunch meals you would like to eat for a week. Breakfast is usually the simplest some examples could be: Lunches - Soup & sandwiches, pasta/ sauce with cheese or meat, Fresh veggies & sandwiches, Quesadillas you can use anything for these (chicken, beef, tofu, cheese, salsa, tomato, onion) breakfast for lunch, Wraps eggs chicken salad, Tuna melts. Dinners could be anything on the list above or try chicken & rice, fried rice with meat, nachos, tacos, baked potato topped with cheese sour cream bacon bits chicken or ground beef you can turn a potato into a meal by just changing up the toppings. 3. Meal Prep - bag and freeze meals in advance so on the days when you are too tired to cook you won't feel the need to order out. 4. Stay away from eating out or ordering in as much as possible, it is super expensive, generally high in salt and fat. 5.Offer healthy snacks! Children snack all day, they have small tummies, and most don't want to sit and eat a big meal, that is perfectly fine. Offer them healthy snacks throughout the day instead. I remember parents demanding children finish everything on their plate and making children sit for hours. This can cause children to develop food aversion issues and an unhealthy relationship with food. Childrens taste buds are also still developing its ok to let them try new foods or ask them to try a bite of something but if they won't, don't get upset try again in a few weeks or months. I know it can seem easier to buy things like chips, pop and candy or fast food but eating these kinds of foods regularly will end up making your life harder overall. Causing your children to have more temper tantrums from sugar highs and lows. Worse attention spans and listening skills. Major health issues like obesity, depression, constipation, sleep issues, impaired growth physically as well as mentally & insulin resistance (diabetes) are just a few of the issues that can come from an unhealthy unbalanced diet. 6. Protein does not need to always come from meat – beans, lentils, Dairy options like cheese, eggs nuts/seeds and tofu are all great high protein choices. Save money by buying less meat and purchasing a variety of other canned or dried sources of protein. 7. Try frozen fruit! Children love fruit but it ends up getting thrown out before it gets consumed or forgotten about or a child's tastes are always changing week by week. Don't get discouraged try frozen fruit a lot of children will eat frozen fruit straight out of the freezer just let it thaw a bit serve it frozen or warm it up. Top it with a little sugar if it's very tarte. That way you aren't throwing your hard-earned money out. 8. Buy all food on sale or clearance. Meat, cheese fruit and veg can all be frozen and used later. Blanching is a great technique for veggies. Cheese is fine frozen; it just doesn't slice as well after. It will crumble but is perfect in sauces or melted on sandwiches or buns. 9. Check out discount stores like No frills, H& W produce & Giant tiger they have some great deals at times. Use apps like Shoppers optimum and scene card apps. It is a pain to get used to using it but once you get used to it you can save a lot of money on groceries yearly. 10. Try the Flashfood app. It is great to use at No frill's superstores and wholesale club. This app allows you to see what items they are selling at these stores because they are almost at their expiry date. Then you can add them to your cart pay and go pick the food up that day or the next. Things go fast so check the app frequently. BONUS: Stretch one meal into two meals. For example, turn spaghetti sauce and pasta into a lasagna-just add noodles and some cheese. Make a chicken stew and turn leftovers into a pot pie-just pour any leftover of the stew into a pie shell top with another pie shell and bake it. Use leftover ground beef or turkey/chicken, frozen vegetables, or leftover vegetables make some sauce with a packet or two of gravy and top with mashed potatoes. At Norwood Centre our cook Karla and Program Support Team work to provide healthy meals and snacks for our participants as well as tools that caregivers can use to support their children and families wellbeing. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask! 780-471-3737

(Part 2- read part one here) In our previous blog post we talked about what self-care is, why it is important for you and your family's wellbeing, and gave some tips on where to start with creating a plan and doing self-care. Here we will answer more questions. I don’t have the time or money for self-care what can I do? I have some great news for you, self-care does not need to take up hours of your day or cost you a pretty penny. Start small. Self-care only needs to take 5-10 minutes a day consistently for an individual to notice the effects. Like mentioned previously you won’t notice the effects of self-care overnight majority of the time so the sooner you start and longer you are able to consistently practice self-care the more you should notice the effects if the activities you’re engaging in are the right ones for you! Check out our “10 Minute Self-Care Activities” handout for more ideas! As for the cost of self-care there are tons of things, we can do to meet our needs in these 5 areas that don’t cost anything. Check out our “Parenting & Self-Care” handout for more information and talk to any member of the Norwood team next time you join us for a group or event if you have more questions! Boring Self-Care Boring self-care is exactly what it sounds like, its nothing new or exciting but rather small things we can do every day to take care of ourselves. Here are some great examples: Doing the dishes Cleaning something in the home Doing a load of laundry Going for a walk Journalling Taking medication as prescribed Setting boundaries Breathing exercises Brushing your hair Learning to identify self-sabotaging behaviours/patterns Staying in after a busy week Grocery shopping Spending time with animals Being kind to yourself Engaging in a hobby you enjoy Listening to music Watching the sunset Cooking a nutritious meal Meal prepping for the next day or week if you can and want to Completing a task on your to do list Couples Care The next thing that’s important to discuss when practicing self-care is couples care. Parents, more often than not, will put their own needs and the needs of their relationships on hold and spend that time with their children. Dedicating time to your relationship is extremely important when it comes to raising children. You are your partners main support and vis versa so it’s important to make sure you work together to keep your relationship strong. When couples don’t dedicate time towards their relationship the relationship starts to deteriorate which usually results in more disagreements, fighting and potentially the end of the relationship. Dedicating time to have uncomfortable conversations about what you need, how you're feeling and how you would like to address situations that arise can work to prevent issues before they arise and help you feel connected to your partner. That being said, you also want to spend time enjoying things with your partner, wither that’s going on a walk together, having dinner alone, or dancing in the kitchen after the children go to bed, it all works to build your connection with one another. Engaging in couple care will help prepare you navigate difficult situations together, work on your communication, and ensure that you are spending at least some time having fun together and connecting on a deeper level. Worksheets in this post: 10 Minute Self-Care Activities. Parenting & Self-Care Worksheet At Norwood Centre our team of qualified At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Family Support Workers work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support themselves and their families, as their children develop. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. Call 780-471-3737.

(Part 1) What is self-care? Self-care is intentionally spending time and energy focusing on your needs with the goal of improving your overall well-being. A common misconception about self-care is that it is or must be something we find fun, but this is not always the case. Self-care can look like limiting how much time you spend with people who have not respected your boundaries, cleaning the house, or seeking out various mental and physical health supports, among other things. "Self-care is meant to increase our well-being and sometimes that means doing things we don’t always want to do." Self-care looks different for everyone, what works for you will most likely not work for the next person. There will be a little bit of trial and error before you find the things that work for you and it is important to be patient and give things time to work before you try something else. The trial-and-error period will look different for everyone, if you’re struggling to implement your self-care activities or just don’t know what to do, we would love to support you in making a self-care plan that works best for you. We also have some resources linked at the bottom of this blog to help get you started, so be sure to check those out! Why is self-care important? Self-care increases our ability to handle the events of everyday life. When people engage in self-care regularly it: reduces stress increases our energy and ability to focus affects our ability to respond to challenges that arise rather than react to them Self-care has lots of benefits for your children too. When your children see you practicing self-care they are learning how to set and maintain boundaries with others, how to cope stress in a healthy way, and how to ask for help if, and when, they need it. Self-care also helps you continue to build healthy and secure attachments with your child! In addition to all of these wonderful things, practicing self-care regularly ensures that we are able to be there for others when they need some extra support in their lives. We cannot support others if we are not okay ourselves. This goes for our children too, it is significantly harder to respond calmly and logically to our children during the 2nd, 3rd, or even 10th temper tantrum of the day when we are feeling extra run down from outside stressors in our lives. Okay but how do I actually do self-care? Our “Parenting & Self-Care” handout has some information on these areas including some activities you can do that will support you within each of them. When creating a self-care plan, you want to identify activities you can do that will help fulfill your needs in each of these areas; one activity can fulfil needs in multiple areas. Please note, not all of your activities have to be done every day, some will take more time and planning. Once you know what activities support your well-being, you can engage with them as needed and work to create a self-care routine. A self-care routine will help you manage stress and fatigue on a regular basis so when more stressful situations do arise, you’re better equipped to manage and, depending on how far into your self-care journey you are, ideally you won’t feel the effects of those stressors as intensely. When reflecting on our lives and stressors, it's important to note little things. For example, when things aren’t going well you may realize that: you’re not sleeping very well/having difficulties falling asleep feeling rushed more than usual are quicker to anger and yell change in appetite you’re going out of the house less/more not spending as much time talking to friends and family The same can be said when things are going well, you may notice yourself having better feeling more rested after sleep, having more energy, spending more time with friends and family, spending less time worrying, engaging in more activities that bring you joy and help you feel rejuvenated. When it comes to making a self-care plan the easiest place to start is with the basics, also known as your physical self-care; are you maintaining good hygiene practices, getting enough sleep, eating enough nutritious food, drinking enough water and getting in enough physical activity day-to-day. Once you’ve addressed the basics you can start to dive more into your other needs. This starts by asking yourself what area you want or need to improve for your overall well-being. This will not happen overnight, and you don’t want to overwhelm yourself either, it is best to start with one area and work your way through them from there. If you don’t have a clear reason to choose any one area over another, choose one that you think you can manage taking on and that you believe will have the greatest impact on your life right now. Worksheets in this blog: Parenting & Self-Care Information Sheet At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Family Support Workers work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support themselves and their families, as their children develop. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. Call 780-471-3737.

Summer holidays are right around the corner. Registration for many summer camps as well as applications for funding to attend for those in need, are opening now! Here are some ideas to keep children busy when they aren't in school this July and August: Pedalheads® Bike Camps Pedalheads Bike Camp gives children (ages 2-12) the opportunity to learn and develop biking skills. With small class sizes your child will not only learn how to ride their bikes but about bike safety. https://www.pedalheads.com/ YMCA Summer Camps YMCA offers a range of summer camp experiences and activities for 4-to-15-year-olds. https://ymcanab.ca/programs/camps My Gym Summer Camps My Gym offers a fast pace engaging fitness, gymnastic and music fill camp experiences for 3- to 10-year-olds. https://www.mygym.com/edmonton/camp Sumer Camps through the Centre of Autism Services Alberta A camp experience for Autistic children (3 to 17 years old) to make new friends and create some fun summer memories. https://centreforautismab.ca/summer-camp/ Hearts in Action Summer Camps Hearts in Action is a summer camp for children (3 to 14 years old) of diverse abilities ran by AdaptAbilities. https://adaptabilities.ca/our-services/summer-camps/  \ City of Edmonton Day camps The City of Edmonton have a variety of camps for a variety of interests and ages at a variety of location around the city. https://movelearnplay.edmonton.ca/COE/public/category/browse/PROGDAYCAMPS#gsc.tab=0 Other places to check out for summer camps: Community groups Edmonton Attractions such as the Telus World of Science or Muttart Some sport organizations also have specific camps. U of A also has summer camps each summer. Want to know more about how to choose a camp check out these articles: https://campscanada.com/how-to-choose/ https://www.camps.ca/choosing_a_camp.php Great resources for learn about other Summer Camps in Edmonton and area is https://www.familyfuncanada.com/edmonton/summer-camps/ https://www.albertamamas.com/edmonton-area-summer-camps/ Funding Jumpstart Jumpstart Supports families who need financial assistance to get their kids into a sport or physical activity. They are committed to help all families access a range of activities, from boxing to bowling and skating to skiing, and more. For Summer Camp funding, the program must last at least five consecutive days, a sport or physical activity for children 4 to 18 years old. https://jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/pages/individual-child-grants Kidsport A grant program for school sports, Club sport, community sport, group sport, or individual sport and sport camps. The camp needs to 4 days minimum (consecutive or not) for child 18 years or under. https://kidsportcanada.ca/alberta/edmonton/apply-for-a-grant/ City of Edmonton For City of Edmonton, if you have a Lesisure Access Pass you can get a 75% discount for each child for registered programs including days camps. (4 per year) * https://www.edmonton.ca/programs_services/leisure-access-program For other funding options, asked the camps if they have any subsidized camp spots or check out the camp’s website for funding options. For example, YMCA’s will sometimes provide financial assistance for families wanting to send their child to their day camps. At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Early Childhood Development Subject Matter Experts work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support early childhood development. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. We have a variety of Child Development Activities available on our website, find them at norwoodcentre.com/child-development-activities. For short-term one-on-one coaching, please call us at 780-471-3737.

On April 8, 2024 at 11:54 am, the moon will start passing in front of the sun, causing a solar eclipse. In Edmonton, we will only be able to see a partial eclipse, at mid-eclipse approximately 23% of the area of the sun will be covered by the moon, according to the Telus World of Science’s website. Though you and your children may want to watch the partial eclipse, it is never safe to look at the sun without proper eye protection. The Canada Space Agency says that looking directly at the sun can lead to serious problems such as partial or complete loss of eyesight. To prevent children looking at the eclipse without protection, it is safest to stay indoors on Monday, April 8 from 11:45 am to 2:00 pm. Sunglasses DO NOT provide enough protection. How to safely watch a solar eclipse: Wear special glasses with eclipse filters (ISO 12312-2 international standard), also known as “safe solar viewers” Create and use a pinhole projector (see instructions below) Attend an event offering safe eclipse viewing (see more information below) Edmonton eclipse viewing events: Telus World of Science Edmonton Free April 8, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm The Galaxy Gift Shop at the Telus World of Science will also be selling safe solar viewers, ask a cashier to assist you! How to create a pinhole projector: These instructions are from the Canada Space Agency’s website. Find them here. Supplies: An empty cardboard box (the longer it is, the larger the image of the Sun) White paper Scissors Aluminum foil A pin Tape How to build your projector: Open the box and, using tape, cover one of the inner sides with white paper. On the opposite side of the white paper, cut two holes side by side and at least 10 cm apart (one for the Sun, the other to look in). Cover the Sun hole with aluminum foil and tape it in place. Grab your pin and poke a tiny hole in the aluminum foil. Seal the box tightly. Decorate the outside of your new projector to make it your own! (optional) How to use your projector: Turn your back to the Sun. Look through the eye hole and try to position yourself so that you see a projection of the Sun on the white paper. When the Moon starts going over the Sun, you will see its shadow slowly covering the Sun. For more information on solar eclipses visit the Canada Space Agency’s website.

An important part of play for your child is their environment. The environment where play and learning happen for a child plays an important role in their development. Environment - as defined as time, space, materials, and participation - impacts your child learning and involvement in the community around them. Environment is a child’s third teacher with you being the first and most important teacher in your child’s life. The environment as a child’s third teacher considers elements of time (how much a child spends exploring/playing in it), space (how conducive it is for play/learning), materials (the variety of safe materials available to explore with), and the involvement or participation of caregivers in the space. Setting up an interesting and engaging environment for your child helps to spark their curiosity and invokes participation. “The environment is not a substitute for you; rather, the environment is a reflection of who you are in relationship with the children—as mighty learners and citizens—and their families,” says Mary Ann Biermeier, in her article “Inspired by Reggio Emilia: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments”. What is your child excited about and how can you incorporate it into their play? Do they like to climb or play with water or does your child like dinosaurs? It can be going for a dinosaur hunt at the park to look for fossils or pretending to walk or fly like different dinosaurs. What can you do to enhance your child’s play space base on their interest? It can look like moving items and furniture around, so the space encourages the child in their interest and play. For example, using cushions or chairs to make a fort for children to play in. Creating inviting play spaces doesn’t mean buying more toys but looking around and seeing what you have or can adapt in the space to encourage your child’s interest. Is your child’s environment meeting their different needs? Are they given enough time to explore it? If your child struggles with regulation, do you have a calm space to support them in regulating their emotions. If they like building, does the space give them enough room to build? Read more about objects you can use to inspire creative thinking here. References BIERMEIER, M. A. (2015, November). Resources: Publications: Young Children:. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergent-curriculum#:~:text=The%20third%20teacher%20is%20the,and%20environment%20that%20ignites%20learning. Makovichuk, L., Hewes, J., Lirette, P., & Thomas, N. (2014). Flight: Alberta’s early learning and care framework. Retrieved from flightframework.ca. At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Early Childhood Development Subject Matter Experts work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support early childhood development. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. We have a variety of Child Development Activities available on our website, find them at norwoodcentre.com/child-development-activities. For short-term one-on-one coaching, please call us at 780-471-3737.

Loose parts, which are objects or materials that can be used in a number of ways, are a great way to inspire creative thinking in your child. These objects can be natural, such as rocks, sticks or leaves, or items found around the home, such as paper towel tubes, spare pieces of fabric or old buttons. When your child is given these types of materials to create with, it inspires creative thinking (“What can I use this for? Or “How can I connect these two materials together”) and provides your child an outlet to express their thoughts, feelings and ideas. The children in the Head Start program were provided an opportunity to explore some loose parts on a mirror with a mitten drawn on. In these photos you can see: · Their fine motor skills developing as they pick up, move and manipulate the pieces on the mirror · Early numeracy skills as they group, sort and count by color, shape or size and as they pattern · Language skills as they talk about their creations Wow! All those areas of development are enhancing with just marker lids and buttons! Read more about the importance of play to a child's development here. At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Early Childhood Development Subject Matter Experts work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support early childhood development. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. We have a variety of Child Development Activities available on our website, find them at norwoodcentre.com/child-development-activities. For short-term one-on-one coaching, please call us at 780-471-3737.

If you walk into one of our child community spaces in Norwood Centre you might see a child smoothing squares of colored felt onto the floors of a dollhouse or looking at pinecones and dried leaves with a tiny magnifying glass, or making something with blocks, or using measuring spoons and cups to play with sand. This is what we call a “play based learning environment.” Children learn skills such as creative innovation, collaboration, critical thinking, language development, and math outcomes through play. They also learn a positive attitude towards education, empowering them to thrive in school and life beyond the four walls of their classroom. Play is a deep need in every brain,and is a tool that the brain uses to learn what it is developmentally ready to learn. Children learn through play, they learn to communicate, be friends with others, think for themselves, make decisions and change their minds. Play is instinctive and comes naturally to children and should always be the fundamental part of learning. Play helps children engage in activities, build an attention span, and learn persistence. Play encourages children to work through problems and raises curiosity in them. What special activities should I do? Or materials should I buy for my child to learn while playing? Anything! It can be random objects from around the home: dishes from the kitchen for the child to explore dramatic and musical skills a basket and balls for the child to play a tossing game, and learn counting and eye hand coordination skills plastic cups for stacking and exploring mathematical as well as motor skills Let your child play at the sink while you are cooking. This sensory activity not only builds attention and focus among children, but they learn concepts of science while they pour, collect, splash, and feel the water. Taking your child for a walk or outdoor play promotes gross motor development and encourages children to engage in imaginative play, and build strategic thinking. The goal is to support your child’s right to learn and develop through the power of play. Let’s do it: Integrate play into daily routines. Create a play friendly environment. Foster outdoor exploration Embrace messy play. Save the recycling and use it for your child’s play. Activate your inner child and be playful What is my role? Offer guidance through open ended questions such as: I wonder what you are building? I see you are collecting the blocks, let’s count how many blocks you have collected! How you feel when you are touching the pinecones? By engaging with your child in this way, you are not only encouraging critical thinking, but you are encouraging your child to express themselves, use their memory, use their imagination, and build sentences. This is exactly what learning through play is. Read more about the importance of play to a child's development here. At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Early Childhood Development Subject Matter Experts work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support early childhood development. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. We have a variety of Child Development Activities available on our website, find them at norwoodcentre.com/child-development-activities. For short-term one-on-one coaching, please call us at 780-471-3737.

As children develop, it is important to give them the opportunity to explore materials in an open-ended way. What does that mean? It means giving your child(ren) time and space to explore materials in a way that interests and engages them. Here at Norwood, we believe that it is important to focus on the process of the play and experience and not the product (or end result). Like in this photo of some of our Head Start children: Through this activity, children were developing SO many different skills. These include: · Social development as the children worked together to complete the task of rolling the ball through the paint. · Physical development as they gripped the box at the side with their fine motor (small muscle) skills and as they moved their arms up and down (gross motor). · Language development as the children communicated back and forth as they created. · Intellectual development as they explore cause and effect (If I tilt the box this way, this is what happens). · Creative development as they explored a new way to use paint, balls and boxes. · Emotional development as they took pride in their work. Look at that! Through this simple activity children were developing in all their developmental domains (or S.P.L.I.C.E) because of the focus of the process of the experience itself and not the product or that the painting look or turn out a certain way. At Norwood Centre our team of qualified Early Childhood Development Subject Matter Experts work to provide tools that caregivers can use to support early childhood development. We hear you! If you have a question or concern, please ask us. We have a variety of Child Development Activities available on our website, including the topics of Social Development, Physical Development, Language Development, Intellectual Development, Creative Development and Emotional Development. Find them at norwoodcentre.com/child-development-activities. For short-term one-on-one coaching, please call us at 780-471-3737.