You can start the enrollment process today for our brand-new permanent care spots!

Visit our website and fill out our Interest Form to sign up for an Info Session and begin the enrollment process today.

For additional info or questions, please email Kate Hise at: khise@ywcaboulder.org.

Be sure to vote your entire ballot! Local contests and issues are critical.

Ballot Track is a free service for Boulder County voters that can send you notification by text message, phone call, or email when your ballot has been sent and received by our Elections Division.

In our Infant Development Center, the babies have been busy playing with babies! They have been practicing feeding babies, burping them and putting them down for a nap. The children have also been very interested in ABC books recently. They love talking about all the different objects pictured and what they do. To support your child at home, try talking about the ways you take care of them and labeling what you are doing. For example “I’m drying you off after your bath so you will be nice and cozy for bed” or “We are putting our jackets on so we will be warm when we go outside”. This will help your child develop language skills and an understanding of cause and effect relationships.

When you are looking at books with your child, point out interesting pictures and talk about what they are or what is happening. Sometimes this can be even more enjoyable for young children than reading the words in the book!

The children in our toddler program have been exploring the changing seasons by playing and making art with leaves, gluing them onto paper and adding paint, filling toy trucks with leaves, jumping into piles of leaves, and crunching them up with their hands. They have also recently enjoyed examining a pumpkin, and learning some new songs. Here are two of their favorites!

The Pumpkins are here,

The Pumpkins are there,

The pumpkins, the pumpkins, are everywhere!

The pumpkins are up,

The pumpkins are down,

The pumpkins, the pumpkins, are all around!

The pumpkins are in,

the pumpkins are out,

the pumpkins, the pumpkins, are all about!

onto _________(child’s name)___!

Our preschool classroom has also been exploring the changing seasons with art. They have made their own pumpkin pictures, explored natural materials in their art, and added to the fall colors on the playground by painting their large tree stump. Recently they have become really engaged with the poem 5 Little Pumpkins and have frequently asked their teachers to “say it again!” while they follow along. Try saying it with your child at home, and talk to them about what changes they notice in the fall. Understanding how things change with the seasons is a science skill for preschools. You could even help them make a list of the things they notice, by having them dictate their ideas to you, or draw their ideas themselves!

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The first one says “Oh my, it’s getting late!”

The second one says “There are witches in the air”

The third one says “But we don’t care!”

The fourth one says “Let’s run and run and run!”

The fifth one says “We’re ready for some fun!”

Then WHOOSH goes the wind,

And OUT go the lights (clap your hands)

And the 5 little pumpkins roll out of sight!

Mindfulness means focusing on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Mindful eating is a way to spark awareness in our diet habits and pay more attention to our feelings of hunger and satiety. The chart above can help us better understand where we are being mindful and what our areas are for improvement. As always it is important to be mindful about incorporating fruits and vegetables into your meals every day. This is the best way to get the vitamins and minerals your body needs…PLUS they keep us fuller longer!

[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/8-steps-to-mindful-eating

You can see what activities we provide, access our activity calendars, menus, current growth in the garden, fun cooking videos for recipes you can cook with your family, resources, and a list of our current partnerships!

We would love to include more photos/testimonials of families cooking, exploring the garden, or implementing fitness activities at home. If you wish to share photos or testimonials, please email our Wellness Program Coordinator, Tori Anderson, at: tori@ywcaboulder.org.

Farm to ECE has partnered with many local farms to bring fresh produce to numerous childcare centers in Boulder County. This season we receive food from Ollin Farms, who bring us weekly boxes of fresh and delicious local produce. We are thankful that we get to support our local farms and give the children opportunities to try new, fresh produce. It is very fun investigating new foods with them. Based on the amount left over each week, we also make “veggie goodie bags” to send home with some families.

Click here to learn more about Ollin Farms.

We have started receiving Boulder Food Rescue donations again! Every Monday at 8 a.m. we get food from local stores that would otherwise be thrown away. We make sure to sort through it due to the variety of age and edibility of the food given. Please take a look at what is available in the lobby when you stop by! 😊

Click here to learn more about Boulder Food Rescue.

Left: Taste testing some purple daikon radishes with the Toddler Room.

Right: Helping hands in the Toddler Garden.

Left: Reading "Lettuce Grows on the Ground" and learning about different leafy greens in the Preschool Room.

Right: Shucking corn with the Preschool Room.

We challenge each family to try something new with this produce. Introduce it to your children or incorporate it into a meal/snack. The more it is offered the more likely the kid will try it. Remember it can take a child trying something 10 times before they may like it. Don’t give up!

1. The word ‘pumpkin’ comes from the Greek word, pepon, which means a “large melon.”

2. The yellow-orange flowers that bloom on the pumpkin vine are edible.

3. Pumpkin seeds taste great roasted and contain medicinal properties.

4. The earliest pumpkin pie made in America was quite different than the pumpkin pie we enjoy today. Pilgrims and early settlers made pumpkin pie by hollowing out a pumpkin, filling the shell with milk, honey and spices and baking it.

Adapted from: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/little-known-pumpkin-facts-2186

1. These famously orange winter squashes are chock-full of vitamin A and deliver 3 grams of fiber per ½-cup serving of cooked sugar pumpkin, plus potassium.

2. Pumpkin seeds are a delicious and healthful snack and a source of several nutrients, including zinc, which is essential for many body processes including immune function.

Adapted from: https://www.eatright.org/food/planning-and-prep/cooking-tips-and-trends/4-fall-foods-for-your-family

You can find the recipe here: https://simpleseasonal.com/recipes/savory-mushroom-and-quinoa-stuffed-mini-pumpkins