The moon’s names vary nation to nation, reflecting what’s happening on their lands and waters. In Anishinaabemowin territories, it’s Manoominike-giizi, ricing moon, time for harvesting wild rice. Further to the east, the Mi’kmaq calendar names this moon Kisikewiku’s (gis-ig-ay-we-goos), (berry ripening moon)
In SENĆOŦEN, this month is known as centawen, when coho salmon return to earth, and a little to the north in the Salish Sea, in ʔayʔaǰuθəm (pronounced Ay-A-Ju-Thum) speaking territory, it’s known as T’agams ta Kliyam, the moon of the cockles.
August is a great time to explore the Creation stories of your host agency, the territory your program is located, and the nations of families involved in your program this year. It gives children, families, Elders and staff a great sense of pride when they can share and or learn about their nations and origin stories.
Cultural Calendar programming
Create a lunar calendar!
Using your nation(s) lunar calendar, discuss and think about what moon is represented in August for your program, and what teachings does this moon bring?
Please see Qualicum FN for more cultural kit resources that may assist.
AHS programs provide a safe culturally affirming space for children and families. They support the spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical growth of each aboriginal child.
Reflect on AHS principals and guidelines and ideas and thoughts on how to further implement these in your program.
AHS programs also honor each child’s individual ancestry and identity. What are new ways your program is supporting this value?
The Hon. Senator Murray Sinclair, Chair for the Truth and Reconciliation Committee made clear, “Education is the key to walking on this journey of reconciliation. Teachers in particular have a sacred responsibility to ensure that all their children, regardless of their heritage, are able to think about four key questions throughout their education, ‘Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here?’, and most importantly, ‘Who am I?’”
Resources to support these teachings: Learning the Land, Educator Guidebook, What do the Calls for Action mean for Early Childhood Education?
What resources do you have in community that can be used to reinforce these teachings?
Explore Creation stories.
Invite families and Elders to contribute to planning and program activities by inviting them to present their Nations’ Creation Story and legends. This could include visiting sites, or photos of special places that relate or represent Creation stories and teachings.
August is a warmer month and still full of Nature’s abundance. Continue to bring most of the month’s programming outdoors! Explore the last of Summer by experiencing sights, smells, and natural sensory experiences outdoors.
Art Experiences:
Innovative Ideas
Thi Lelum Smuneem created an art inspired birthday board.
Rubbings are a fun way to explore natural textures, with an area outside with seashells, rough bark and other items from nature to do layer paper thin enough to do rubbings with, but thick enough to last through the fun of rubbing! Métis dot painted designs can be explored in the art area, by experimenting with the ends of paintbrush handles, bingo markers, Q tips, circle stickers and easy mediums for young hands. Metis Dot Art Flower Template.
Art Center ideas
Add an ocean palette and theme to your art centre: seashells, bark, straw, dried grass, burlap, white glue dyed in summer colors, sand, rolls of paper to create murals with watercolors and other fun mediums.
Craft
August is a great time to continue exploring Indigenous Musical Instruments. Order unfinished musical wooden spoons and invite families to come into the center to help dot paint a pair of spoons for their child. Have a Knowledge Keeper, Elder or a Métis artist that does dot painting in to teach the technique and share teachings about dot painting and the spoons. After the craft is complete make sure you treat this item with a product that will ensure longevity.
Sensory
Hot summer days give plenty of opportunities for explore sensory play outside.
Describe and compare how/what we’re feeling as we experience: bare feet on wet grass, climbing a boulder, digging for worms and bugs, picking a flower or berries, rolling down a grassy slope, playing in the rain, laying in mud puddles.
Add:
- Playdough/ clay with seashells and other natural materials to make imprints.
- Fingerpainting with mud
- Sprinkler play or play with spray bottles.
Innovative Ideas
Sas Natsadle AHS in Fort St John shares this fun recipe for dandelion playdough!
For inside play bring the outdoors into the sensory table fill with nature items found in summer months.
Health Promotion
It’s still berry season! Salal and blueberries continue through the late summer. Soapberries are getting ready to be picked in Northern BC, In the BC interior the original, native blackberries (vs. Introduced) are now ready and ripe through August to October. Have fun thinking of all the berries children, families and staff can name! Wild blueberries, thimble berries, mountain huckleberries, choke cherries, red currants, wild raspberries, bear berries, bunch berries…
Add berries to fun and cool summer treats such as Jello, ice cream, pudding, yogurt parfaits, muffins, fluffs, sauces, fillings, cookies, loaves and tarts and Indigenous dishes such as soap berry ice cream, fish eggs and crow berries, pemmican, wojapi, wild rice and berries and refreshing low sugar drinks such as Mee-ni-shapiy.
Invite everyone out on the land to help pick berries~ children, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, families, following local protocols.
Blueberries, cherries and peaches are also available in some places for a hands-on field trip to a berry patch or farm to follow a berry picking expedition.
Keep an eye on tomatoes and beans in your harvesting garden!
Knowledge Keepers can be invited to share storage and preparation tips with children and families, with the harvests guiding menu and learning through the week. This could include making soap berry ice cream, fruit leather, berry sundaes, pemmican.
Innovative Ideas
Skeh Baiyoh Cultural support Kecia Alexis made soap berry ice cream outside with the children.
Take the children on trips to local lakes, rivers and the ocean if you close by.
Show pictures and discuss which items are sourced from local waters. Discuss ways in which we can respect the water to keep these foods healthy. Go on a trip to smokehouses, fish markets, fish boats or local canneries.
Recipe of the month: Seafood Fritters
Create a culturally informed food board/ display to engage families in learning about nutrition! Plan this at a staff meeting so all staff, involved Elders and parents can give input. Take photos of the board to engage families who might not notice in the classroom. Post in newsletter, on your social media page or on your communication tool. (e.g. Class Dojo)
Monthly Health Resource Link: Healthy Food Conversations
Innovative Ideas
Power of Friendship staff in Prince George made items such as bannock hotdogs and wild blueberry tarts for a special picnic/party outdoors with families.
Monthly Health Resource Link
Science
Explore the fun science behind colours with easy do it yourself activities. Tie in legends about rainbows from different nations to your fun science activities.
Bubbles
Check out these easy STEM bubble experiments easy for young kids. Take the children out in Nature to look for naturally occurring bubbles in ponds, lakes, oceans. Discuss what aquatic life makes bubbles and why. Have an Elder/ Knowledge Keeper show children the insides of the fish and the air bag to explain its purpose and connection to the fish.
Animals with shells
Expert feedback to curious kids’ questions on how seashells and animal shells are formed. Bring out rattles and other cultural items made with shells have a knowledge keeper do teachings. Go on a shell hunt with pictures and Indigenous names at a local beach. Add turtle facts to your science area.
Playful Additions
Building Block/ Construction Area
At the child’s eye level hang pictures with numbers and the word in program languages. Taking turns, count blocks in the language. Make documentation boards of the children building ask them to describe what they are building. Place these at the children’s level.
Math Centre
Print and display close-up images of mathematical patterns in nature, such as pinecone spirals, leaf veins, flower petals, sunflower seeds, tree rings, spider webs, honeycomb, frost, and feathers. Invite children to look closely, draw what they notice, recreate patterns with loose parts, and search outdoors for similar patterns. Thank you AHS Advisor Jessica Jarvis for sharing these ideas!
Dramatic Play Area
Set up your indoor play area as a camping site, using teepees and other tents. Setting up a pretend fire, camping dishes, supplies, with small back packs for children to have fun “setting up camp.” Invite the cook to suggest and make camping foods one day for lunch could tie into the children’s exploration and creativity with the camping theme.
Lofty Ideas
Decorate your loft to incorporate children’s favourite stories. You can also have laminated copies of pages and pictures from the book of choice so the children can connect the book to the environment. This provides a place and inspiration for dramatic play inspired by the stories they are hearing and reading. Examples of stories you could choose; Awasisak and the World-famous Bannock, I am rock, T’uc’up greets the animals, Berry Picking with grandma. Create props to go with these stories such as berries, ingredients to make bannock, animal cards with name in Indigenous language(s) of your program’s children.
Innovative Ideas
Waap Sagayt K’uulm Goot, Terrace – A program Elder crocheted local berries for the children to engage with in play.
Reading Area
On warm Summer Days take story telling outdoors into play areas, on the land outings and even field trips.
Books can be incorporated into areas beyond the reading area! Including books in all play areas that can invite further connections and expand creativity. For example, the Lego table can have books with pictures of log cabins, teepees that children can build or can have transportation or community helper themed books to encourage exploration of the child’s building in these areas.
Outdoor Ideas
Explore options in your community to participate in a story walk. If there are no opportunities in your community most Child Care Resource and Referral locations are willing to partner with AHS centers and provide this opportunity. Check out the Kitsilano story walk resource here.
Add seashells and other items you would find at the beach in your sand area outside. Build excitement with the children in the sand area by having a “treasure hunt or a fossil hunt.” This could lead to a bigger project of hosting a scavenger hunt in the language(s) shared in your program and inviting families to participate.
Circle time area
AHSABC has provided the educators who attended The LOVIT Way Gathering with Spoons. We have been hearing that the children are enjoying playing the spoons. Incorporate the spoons into songs and activities, play fiddle music and role model how to spoon to the beat of the fiddle. Invite Elders in to join in or lead some fun activities with the Spoons. A great resource and site to order finished ready for playing (would not work for an art project) Wooden Spoons | Gabriel Dumont Institute (gdins.org) Same Photo
Elder Betty Gladue recommends these metal spoons.
Elder involvement
Invite Elders to PEP it helps them to understand the different processes that happen at programs! As well as the importance of Elder involvement to the daily program as well as to the operation of the program. Grandma Josie participated in PEP at the Kermode Daycare.
Kermode Childcare Center,Terrace– Grandparent Josie Casey Nisga’a Ksim Laxgibuu
“I didn’t realize all the work and care that goes into our AHS daycare. I knew we had our granddaughter on PEP days; I never knew what PEP meant. You ladies are doing a wonderful job!”
Invite Elders to join in on the land gathering and berry picking, preserving and storing activities is a beautiful community building activity.
Innovative Ideas
Little Pebbles AHS in Chilliwack took children, families and Elders blueberry picking, and afterwards everyone was treated to ice cream.
Parent Involvement Ideas
Traditional Parenting
Create a display board on a Traditional Parenting topic that parents have shown interest in. Skeh Baiyoh in Prince George shares their idea to make a board sharing about the cultural significance of braiding.
Activity Idea: Braiding practices and teachings.
Parent Boards
Create a parent board full of back-to-school resources ie. free backpack day, free haircuts, links and resources on back-to-school routines, easy slow cooker recipes, and more. Create a parent board with AHS We know statements.
Innovative Idea
Hohuduleh Bayoh created a colorful and cultural display using AHS We know posters.
Create a healthy living board and feature Indigenous and Community resources. Expanding that, programs could host a health fair to prepare parents for the busy back to school season. Invite local resources to have a table and create a circuit for families. This could include dental health, health nurse that does vision screening, Speech and language therapist, CCRR, BCAA or another organization that provides car seat safety, dietician (could be someone from a health food store,) canning safety using the FNHA handbooks other providers from your host agency this could include AIDP, ASCD, literacy supports, outreach supports, Jordan’s Principal Staff, literacy access services, and more.
Innovative Idea
Skeh Baiyoh- created a eye catching and culturally affirming parent display that include: Nehiyawewin and Dakelh languages.
Including Elders and Knowledge Keepers with medicine and foods knowledge, would hold Indigenous wellness in balance with western. They could also share medicine bag making, salve making, tea making and more. Reach out to FNHA they may be able to send a representative and they have several wellness campaigns that could be incorporated, such as active living, respecting tobacco, and nurturing spirit.
Innovative Idea
Little Pebbles AHS in Chilliwack made two family involvement kits. One is to get families involved in the kitchen together making bannock and to introduce Indigenous on the land teachings. The second one is to get families active together to play a game of soccer. Both kits came with a participation contest!
Outreach/ Family Involvement Activity kits:
Send home easy to read bedtime stories and information on ways to add literacy to busy home schedules, and information that reinforces the importance of bedtime routines! Book ideas:I was born precious and sacred Deborah Abood, Grandmother Ptarmigan Qaunaq Kikkigak
Create a kit full of fresh and healthy foods including dried and canned / jarred Indigenous foods. Fresh, canned and smoked fish resources are available online.
Print a poster of Indigenous Foods from the Four Directions, add the newest addition of Canada’s food guide and choices of healthy foods. FNHA shares Indigenous food fact sheets and recipes, too!
Add an outdoor safety sheet!
Innovative Ideas: Skeh Baiyoh sent home a colorful easy to read outdoor tips sheet to send home to parents.
Family outing: Set up a time that families can attend a healthy foods grocery store tour in your community.
Spring/ Summer Team Building
AHS programs offer an environment where staff and volunteers participate in ongoing professional, personal, and culture and language development. Importance is given to having quality time set aside for team building.
The team at Smameletawtxw Little Pebbles AHS went to the Vancouver Aquarium, Whale watching and made Cedar friendship bracelets.
Waap Sagayt K’uulm Goot AHS in Terrace B.C. had a fun, interactive paint night together!
Lower Fraser Valley Aboriginal Head Start treated the team to a meal together to celebrate Elder Janet’s Birthday!
Thi Lelum Smuneem Staff experienced a medicine walk with their Elder Sul’si’mus’tun!
To share your team building idea please send picture and caption to michelle.gravelle@ahsabc.com
Additional Resources on Creation stories
Creation Stories from the Arctic
https://www.strongnations.com/store/10947/arctic-song-creation-stories-from-the-arctic