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Learn more about ways you can promote a secure relationship with your children, help organize their feelings, support their exploration of the world, read and respond to their cues and much more!

Let’s discuss challenges and successes in navigating the emotional development of children. You will learn more about your child’s emotions as they move through the early years and gain insights into how to talk to children, how to teach children about emotions, and how to support children through their emotions.

This parenting program provides participants with a toolbox of parenting ideas, so they can choose which ones are the best for their family. Triple P can support families to: - raise happy, confident children - manage challenging behaviours - set rules and routines - encourage positive behaviours - increase parenting capacity and confidence. This eight session group provides an in-depth look at parenting strategies and opportunities to practice. Activities Include: - group lessons and discussions - opportunities to practice strategies - one-on-one coaching 4 classroom sessions: May 4 - May 25 3 telephone sessions: flexible dates/times 1 wrap up telephone session: June 22

Halloween costumes do not have to be expensive! Here are some do-it-yourself, low-cost costume ideas. Each idea can be as simple or complex as you choose. Raid your child's closet and the recycling bin, add glitter, a hat, face paint and take the costume to the next level! A Dollar Store or Value Village are also great spots for low-cost supplies. Piece of candy  – clear wrapping paper, string, and colorful shirt underneath. Grapes  – balloons (green or purple), green pipe cleaner, construction paper. (WARNING - balloons are a choking hazard, use with caution) Cloud  – t-shirt/cardboard, pillow/toy stuffing, string, construction paper, glitter (optional), glue (for the stuffing and glitter if desired). Rainbow – construction paper OR colorful clothing (add cloud slippers).   Cat  – all black clothing, make ears out of a headband and construction paper, eyeliner nose and whiskers. Ghost  – bedsheet, sunglasses/hat/scarf/etc. (optional). Thomas’ snowsuit  – snowsuit. Mummy  – white streamers. Flower  – flower headband using glue and construction paper (glitter optional. Cut out flower petals, use glue to attach to headband, wear a skirt/dress the same colour or all green clothing (like a flower stem and leaves) Emotions  – t-shirt/cardboard, sharpie/fabric paint/fabric pen. Superhero in disguise  – wear normal clothing and use a bedsheet as a cape, fake glasses/make a mask using construction paper, superhero shirt underneath another shirt/button up. Teddy bear  –brown/black clothing, headband and construction paper to make the ears, construction paper tummy. Robot  – save paper towel rolls and other cardboard, grey/silver paint, construction paper, buttons/dials/level indicators/etc. Crayon  – same colour shirt, pants, and construction paper, sharpie, glue/tape to make a hat. Chef  – apron, make chef's hat out of construction paper, wooden spoon. Construction Worker  – safety vest, boots, hard hat, toy tools. Scuba diver  – black pants and long sleeve shirt, swim goggles, breathing mask (jar or container lid), tubing (vinyl tubing from hardware store, thick string) and oxygen tank(s) (old 2L pop bottle, pasta sauce bottle), fabric/ribbon/rope to use as straps, glue. Glue one end of what you are using for your breathing tube to the item that will be your breathing mask and the other end to what will be your oxygen tank. Next you will take two pieces of string to make straps for the oxygen tank, make sure you cut them to be the same length, attach one side of each piece of string to the top of your tank (this would normally be the bottom of the bottle but it is flipped for this costume) one on each side, then repeat for the bottom, once you have completed this you will have straps so you can wear your tank like a backpack. Check out our Instagram for a short tutorial on this costume!!! Farmer  – jeans/overalls, plaid shirt, bandana, hat, stuffed animal. Waving tube man  – cat toy tunnel, t-shirt the same or similar colour as the tube, sharpie, scissors, clear plastic, glue. Stand or lay next to the cat tunnel and mark where you will need to cut hold for your arms and eyes (make sure you leave some extra space for your feet so you aren’t tripping over your costume all night), draw on eyes, use glue and the extra fabric to create the arms. Wind up Doll  – cut a key out of cardboard, add a ribbon or strings to wear the key like a backpack. Ninja  – black shoes, pants and long sleeve shirt, black ski mask, red scarf to tie around waist as a belt. Dragon  – plain baseball hat, bed sheet/large piece of fabric (main colour of the dragon), felt (white for eyes and teeth, and a second colour for the dragon), glue. Glue the sheet/fabric to the hat, cut the sheet so that it hangs down in the back – this is the back and tail of your dragon – you can cut the sheet so it can be worn like a backpack, or let it hang down from the hat as shown in the photo. Use the white felt to make the dragons eyes on the front of your hat and add teeth to the brim, then take your second colour of felt to create spikes and spots down the dragons back. Angel wings - https://www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/handmade/how-to-make-feathered-angel-or-fairy-wings Duck  - paint a baseball hat into a duck bill, wear clothes that are the colour of a duck. 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.

There are many areas that make up a child’s whole development. These areas of development can be easily remembered by the acronym S.P.L.I.C.E, which stands for: · Social Development Social development refers to how a child interacts with those around them and their ability to create and sustain relationships. · Physical Development Physical development refers to the development of your child’s gross (large) and fine (small) motor skills. · Language Development Language development refers to your child’s receptive (listening) and expressive (speaking) skills and their beginning understanding of words and print. · Intellectual Development Intellectual development refers to your child’s developing brain! This includes the development of understanding of cause and effect (If I do ___ then ___ happens), the organizing of thoughts, feelings and ideas and their understanding of the world around them. · Creative Development Creative development refers to your child’s ability to think creatively, use their imagination, create with various mediums of art and see the world not just for what it is, but for what it could be. This could be through art, drama, imaginative play-the sky is the limit! · Emotional Development Emotional development refers to your child’s ability to regulate their emotions, “bounce back” from challenging situations and understand and process their emotions and the emotions of others. We know that every child develops at their own rate and pace, but are you wondering how you can support your child in these areas of development? Check out our activity sheets created by our skilled team of Early Childhood Educators here . Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre has supported vulnerable children, youth and families in Edmonton for more than 60 years.  We provide free programming that supports optimal child development, strengthens healthy relationships and well-being, breaks cycles of adversity, empowers people to successfully navigate change and life challenges, and connects people to communities.  Norwood Centre is inclusive and respectful of diversity, recognizing that each family is unique. Our work is strength-based, trauma informed and responsive to the needs of our participants. Our team of qualified Early Childhood Development Subject Matter Experts works 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.

Positive communication is extremely important, especially with children, for many reasons: Supports language and communication skill development It sets the foundation for children to speak with their caregivers as they grow up Helps build and strengthen relationship by building trust and creating opportunities for bonding Encourages positive behaviours and promotes emotional regulation skill development Communication is often the best place to start when trying to address concerns caregivers have while caring for and raising children. The goal of communicating with another individual, child or not, is for the other person to understand what you are trying to tell them. Here are a few strategies we can use with children to support this: Get their attention: Make sure you are in the same space as your child - You need to be close to your child so they can hear you and so you can make sure you are keeping their attention while speaking with them. This is very important especially for younger children as they are easily distracted by things around them. You should not have to raise your voice and should avoid yelling from across a room to try and get your child’s attention. Use their name and, or, gently put your hand on their shoulder so they know someone is trying to get their attention. Be careful not to startle them if your child may not be aware you are near. Get down on their level and make sure you have eye contact before you start talking or giving them instructions. Use child friendly language: Use simple, clear, and age-appropriate language – this will help ensure your child is able to understand what you are telling them. The language you use with children will expand as they continue to develop their vocabulary. Be direct and specific -- tell your child exactly what you need/want from them. Tell your child what you want them to do rather than telling them what not to do. Children don’t know the other options they have in most situations because they are still learning them so when caregivers tell them to not do something Eg. “please get ready so we can leave for school” versus “please put on your coat and shoes so we can leave for school” Eg. “stop running in the house” versus “we use walking feet when we are inside” Eg. “stop hitting your sibling” versus “we use gentle hands when playing with others” Avoid giving too many or too few instructions at once -- the younger the child is, the less instruction they are able to follow at one time and the more information they need to be able to successfully complete out a task. Make sure you are giving your child enough information to be able to complete the task you are asking them to but not so many that they forget things or get confused. You can split tasks up into smaller chunks for younger children; to do this you will break down a task into its individual steps and give them to your child one at a time: Eg. Asking your child to “get ready for school” versus “put your dirty dishes in the sink and get dressed” For younger children tasks can be broken down even further: “get dressed” versus “put on a shirt” and offering assistance if needed before instructing them to put on the next article of clothing and repeating this process until they are fully dressed. This helps children learn Keep it short and sweet – long explanations can lead to loss of interest and confusion for little ones. Be direct and specific: Clearly state what you want from your child Tell your child what you want them to do rather than what you want them to stop doing Be patient and calm: Plan ahead of time for the activity/task you will be doing with your children Take a few deep breaths before you talk to children Practice self-care 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.