Dear Angie,

NAEYC WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD 2024: a fun-filled week celebrating early learning, young children, teachers, families, and communities.

April 6-12 is Week of the Young Child. This is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation’s largest organization of early childhood professionals with more than 80,000 members and a network of 300 local, state, and regional affiliates.

The purpose of Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs/services that meet those needs.

NAEYC first established Week of the Young Child in 1971, recognizing that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children’s success in school and later life.

FAMILY REMINDERS

Picture day: Thursday, April 18.

Upcoming days EFC will be closed:

Friday, May 24 for Professional development day

Monday, May 27 in observance of Memorial Day

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by earthday.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. The official theme for 2024 is “Planet vs Plastics.”

CENTER HAPPENINGS

PARENT APPRECIATION

We would like to honor our parents and guardians this April with a special Grab-N-Go Breakfast. Thank you all for being such great role models and caregivers! Breakfast will be served Tuesday, April 9.

STAFF APPRECIATION

On Thursday, April 11, I would love the let the teachers here at Coon Rapids EFC know how much we appreciate them and thank them for the love and care they provide every day! A thank you when you drop off, a note or card, or any other creative ways you show your child’s teacher they are appreciated would be fantastic.

CHILD APPRECIATION

Super Jumper will be here all week!

Monday, April 8: Pajama day

Tuesday, April 9: Dress as your parent (parent appreciation)

Wednesday, April 10: Wacky day

Thursday, April 11: Dress as your teacher (staff appreciation)

Friday, April 12: Costume day (child appreciation)

ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS

I have a confession to make…I don’t always enjoy playing with my kids. I know that makes me sound like a terrible parent, so let me explain (and try to defend myself a little!). Play is important for kids – more than important, play is essential. Knowing that, I seek out as many opportunities as possible for my kids to play. But when they ask me to play with them, I sometimes bristle. Imaginative play, such as playing make believe, just doesn’t do it for me. I struggle getting into “character” and if I am honest, I find the whole thing just a little dull. Phew, it feels good to confess!

But just because I don’t like a certain type of play doesn’t mean that I write off the importance of play altogether. As much as we have all read the research on the important role play has in early childhood development, we may not be as aware of the fact that play is critical for us as adults too. Even for adults, play has some serious benefits: it encourages creativity, releases endorphins, and improves brain function. Play reduces stress and promotes joy. And we could all use a little less stress and a little more joy.

The good news (for me and hopefully for you) is that there are many different ways to play.

So if you, like me, don’t exactly love sitting down to a tea party, rest assured that there are many ways to engage in play with your children that are fun for you and for them. Brené Brown, professor and nationally recognized author, writes that play has three key elements:

It’s time spent without purpose
It’s something you don’t want to end
It leads to a loss of self-consciousness.[1]

By those metrics, there are a myriad of ways that we as adults can embrace play in our lives. Make believe is only one type of play, but (thankfully) there is the rough-and-tumble play of sports, the ritual play of games like chess, the body play of hiking or yoga, and the object play of building legos or making a fort.[2] In all of these types of play we can get lost in the moment with our children and embrace the joy of play as simply that – something done joyfully and without and end in mind. So get out there and find your favorite way to play.

[1] https://www.shortform.com/blog/brene-brown-creativity/

[2] https://wanderlust.com/journal/the-importance-of-play-in-adulthood/