July is a busy month with families out on the land—gathering, camping, celebrating, and harvesting. Moose take refuge in rivers and lakes from biting insects, and many berries are ready to harvest.
It’s also canoe journey time! Coastal communities are preparing for the annual Tribal Canoe Journey. Canoe families travel the waters, joined by others along the way, pulling together until they reach their destination. Since time immemorial, ocean-going canoes have been vital for sustenance, transport, ceremony, and social connection along the Northwest Pacific Coast.
The first journey was part of Expo 86, and the first Qatuwas (Heiltsuk for ‘people gathering together’) in 1993 which then became an annual canoe journey which involves over 100 ocean-going canoes. The resurgence of Indigenous canoe cultures is a powerful example of adaptation, resilience, and transformation over time.
Witnessing an ocean full of canoes waiting to be welcomed ashore to share food, lodging, drumming, and singing is unforgettable. Rich hosting protocols are observed, with songs, dances, and regalia.
Canoe journeys reconnect youth with land, sea, and ancient practices. Check out this beautiful resource on the seven fundamental truths that have guided coastal nations for thousands of years.
Disability Pride Month
Across the globe, July is celebrated as Disability Pride Month~ acknowledging the strength and resilience of people with disabilities. It’s an opportunity to challenge stigmas and share resources. AHSABC is proud to promote inclusive and equitable care for all children. The Disability Pride flag was designed by an author-artist Ann Magill, using the colours of the rainbow. The diagonal stripes symbolize cutting across barriers, and represent light and creativity cutting through darkness.
Red – physical disabilities
Gold – neurodiversity
White – invisible disabilities and disabilities that haven’t yet been diagnosed
Blue – emotional and psychiatric disabilities, including mental illness, anxiety, and depression
Green – for sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness, lack of smell, lack of taste, audio processing disorder, and all other sensory disabilities
See our parent and family involvement ideas below, for more resources to share.
Nunavut Day – July 5th
Nunavut Day celebrates the signing of the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement which paved the way for the territory’s creation. Across Nunavut, people gather to celebrate with community feasts, Indigenous games, and cultural events. Youth activities include scavenger hunts and competitions designed to share history and the Inuktitut language For help with Inuit resources from the NWT and Nunavut please contact Michelle Gravelle AHSABC advisor.
Program Planning
July programming can circle around community activities, land-based experiences, outdoor play, and cultural crafts. Bring celebrations outdoors, and plan physical activities with children, Elders, and families. Share photos of Tribal journeys, canoes, plan field trips for children to witness traditional canoe races, where possible.
Bring paddles and cedar hats to the children’s space, send cedar hat info sheets home with families with resources on where or how to make a cedar hat or provide cedar hat making workshops and have info sheets accompany.
To support Inuit cultural programming, share recipes and ingredients with families to take home, serve Inuit foods at the centre, and read books focused on life in the Arctic. Books from Nunavut to feature include:
Winter in Nunavut, What we see on the land, When I was young in Nunavut, Kits, Cubs, Calves, or Kaakuluk magazine for kids.
Art center
Add new materials to the art centre and bring art outdoors. Include rocks, twigs, flowers, driftwood, colored paper, and cellophane for children to create with.
Craft/ Sensory
Host craft and sensory time outdoors, even during rain with a covered area. Children can dehydrate flowers dehydrate flowers, create dyes from garden plants, and use them for outdoor projects.
Nature-Inspired Projects
Create bookmarks, placemats, or nameplates with children using dried flowers and clear adhesive or by ironing. Involve Elders and Knowledge Keepers to add words in traditional languages or syllabics. Learn about birch bark canoes with the children and families.
Invite Elders to gather birch with children, make birch bark canoes and go for a walk to a local stream to float their creations. If your area doesn’t have birch trees, there are also ready-to-make kits for canoes and teepees
Infant/ Toddler Cultural Calendar Ideas.
AHSABC Advisor Lora McDonough has experience providing cultural calendar ideas to infants and toddlers.
Lora says, “Knowing that instilling a positive sense of self and belonging happens in the early years, it’s exciting… and an honour to be a part of building the children up.”
She explains this can happen through cultural teachings and playing… “fostering their relationship and respect for the land, understanding that with this comes holistic growth and connection.” Children can learn how to ask the land for permission before harvesting, and the importance of not wasting what is harvested. “Watching children grow their love for the land is a true blessing.”
Lora explains gratitude can be taught at every mealtime, too. “We would hold the drum for each child while they drummed, and we sang… “a rum sum sum, a rum sum sum, say your name to the drum” or our “Huy’ch’qa” song.
One of Lora’s favourite daily activities with children is teaching them to warm the drum with their hands when it was cold, and that we “respect the drum while warming it with our hands and heart.”
Infant/Toddler summer activity ideas:
Berry picking with infant/toddler ages, (eating half, Lora laughs) bringing them back to the daycare to help wash and mash the berries–getting the full sensory experience, for educators to make into jam.
Bubble Wrap Starfish: Paint squares of bubbles wrapped with bright colors and press them onto construction paper to create a textured, starfish-like print
Sensory Squish Bags: Fill a heavy-duty, zip-top bag with clear hair gel, a bit of water, a little bit of sand, and plastic sequins or fish. Tape it securely to the floor or a table for a mess-free tactile experience.
Health Promotion
Invite an Elder, Knowledge Keeper, or Indigenous chef to demonstrate how to cut wild meat and fish for children. They can learn about different fish parts and where fish eggs are stored—an excellent outdoor activity. See this skills resource here.
Elders can also prepare fish eggs for tasting. Children can learn how to dehydrate fruits and vegetables such as berries and corn. Send home apple chips and benefits of dried fruits. Order Indigenous-produced apple chips from Okanagan here: https://bebiachofoods.ca/
Harvest dandelions with Elders in pesticide-free areas. Use them to make tea, cake, and jelly.
Recipes of the Month
Arctic Char In A Bannock Blanket, Akutaq recipes to incorporate Inuit culture.
Indigenous Food Resources:
Indigenous Foods early literacy book list, and our NEW collection of Indigenous Foods recipes from programs across BC.
Look for licensed Indigenous Foods suppliers to make summer inspired recipes, such as Arctic Char,Crowberry Jam, Elderberry syrup Balsam syrup, or Indigenous spice mixes!
Science Topics for July
Take science outdoors! Plan plant identification and traditional medicine walks. Each AHS site received the book Medicines to Help Us: Traditional Métis Plant Use. You can also use a Squamish resource card deck and this resource and educator’s guide
Most importantly, connect with local Elders for a medicine walk and teachings. Always follow your community’s traditional practices/ protocols. Continue learning about the life cycles of fish and the journey they take. When planning as a team, brainstorm community resources that explore environmental sciences for hands on learning activities.
Playful Additions
Block Area
Bring the blocks/construction materials outdoors on a picnic blanket, for children to add items from nature as they feel inspired to. Add summer activity photos to the block area indoors to inspire play!
Math Center
A math center should be available and changed consistently. This can be a tabletop activity or its own separate area. Children can gather, sort, count, compare, and create patterns with these materials. Add pattern cards or blank pattern strips so children can copy, extend, or make their own designs. Create necklaces with pony beads and pipe cleaners with colour patterns.
Create a Nature math Station!
AHSABC Advisor Jessica Jarvis explains, “Mathematics are all around us – it lives in the spiral of pinecones, the patterns of leaves, the rhythms of seasons and the cycles of the moon. When children sort rocks, compare sticks, count flowers, notice symmetry in the leaves, or estimate the number of shells in a basket, they are engaging in mathematical thinking through a relationship with the land.”
Create your nature math table with baskets of natural, loose parts such as rocks, sticks, pinecones, bark, shells. Changing, seasonal materials could include leaves, seeds, flowers.
Resources
Quallicum Resource Kits button blanket Book
Innovative Idea: Conayt AHS
Conayt AHS created a nature inspired sorting area for the 3-5 program to explore early math concepts.
Lofty Ideas
Decorate your loft as a canoe. Add nets, sea creatures, paddles, fishing gear, life jackets, and hats for imaginative play.
Dramatic Play Area
Dramatic Play Area
Add a real canoe or build one out of boxes -include paddles, nets, crab pots, shells, and other marine items. Let children pretend to cook food they ‘caught. Discuss what you would need to pack in a canoe if you were to go on a tribal journey. Have dolls, animals and other items for the children to help act out their play.
Innovative Idea: Sas Natsadle Preschool
Elder Shirley at Sas Natsadle created an outdoor fire using recycled materials. Children helped build the pretend fire, learned fire safety, and roasted marshmallows as a treat.
Outdoor Ideas
Invite an Elder or Knowledge Keeper to demonstrate how to stretch a hide being prepared throughout the summer. Take the children into community to experience a traditional smoke house or go down to a water source where community is fishing, cutting fish and preparing it in a traditional manner. Bring children to a large field to play intensive gross motor games incorporating Indigenous games and language. Have children dig holes for planting and engage in racing and other forms of gross motor play to investigate play in new environments, connecting children to nature this summer!
Art Outdoors
Hang paper, canvas, or fabric on fences or lay it on picnic tables and blankets. Use natural items, glue, spray bottles, large brushes, and sponges.
Host Indigenous artisans—carvers, basket makers—for children to observe. Provide materials like clay, canvas, soap, and sticks for them to mimic the techniques.
Reading Area
Bring the reading area outdoors! Create a quiet reading space with a teepee, tarp, or canvas tent filled with pillows and books. Have books inspired by Summer Harvesting practices, such as Sweetgrass by Theresa Meuse, or Smudging and the Four Sacred Medicines by Sandra Samatte. For more summer books, explore AHSABC’s Summer Early Literacy list.
Invite an Elder or Knowledge Keeper to demonstrate how to stretch a hide being prepared throughout the summer.
Educator Resources:
- https://eceworkshopbc.com/course/enhancing-childrens-learning-through-outdoor-play/
- https://outdoorlearning.com/event/indigenous-teachings/
- https://jointhewildlife.ca/
- https://www.ahsabc.com/resources/
- Early Childhood Educators – Child and Nature Alliance of Canada (childnature.ca) –EA_indigenous-games-for-children-en.pdf (csf.bc.ca)
Circle time
Hold circle time in different outdoor environments—playground, park, lake, or traditional sites. Use the environment to inspire activities and songs.
Innovative Idea: Aboriginal Mother Centre
Aboriginal Mother Centre brings outdoor cultural elements inside to create a display in the indoor circle area.
Literacy
Offer books on harvesting, hunting, fishing, seasonal celebrations, and Indigenous history and culture.
Innovative Idea: Ehaasat AHS Zeballos
Grade 6 students read to younger children to build connection and mentorship.
Family Involvement
Create a parent board with family photos of their favorite summer activity. Invite parents to lead an outdoor activity each week.
Disability Pride month is an opportunity to create an inclusive health board this month to bring awareness to these important resources:
Blind Beginnings– early intervention services
CELA: library service for people with print disabilities A print disability could be blindness, low vision, dyslexia, or other reasons. For example, someone with Down’s Syndrome who can’t read but loves to listen to books.
Adapting Books– to increase participation and engagement with early literacy. Children with visual needs and/or motor delays may have difficulty attending to books for a variety of reasons. By adapting books, we give children the opportunity to engage with literacy and develop pre-literate skills.
Bring in guest speakers—public health nurses, Coast Guard, or Elders—to teach water and sun safety. Share a sun safety package with families! Include a hat, hypoallergenic sunscreen, and sun facts. Support parents in accessing boating safety courses. Have information on safe places for children and families to swim and explore nature in your community.
Outreach / Activity kits
Build a lending library with sensory bins, playdough kits, outdoor toys, books, family games, and baking kits. Include supplies for pine needle basketry, bird feeders, beading, and other Indigenous craft projects for the whole family.
Send home produce from the garden with recipes and nutritional facts. Send home new toothbrushes or travel toothbrushes to encourage dental health during busy summer months.
Seasonal celebrations with families
- Host a special day to celebrate summer: beach, lake or river day.
- Outdoor family movie night or cultural performance
- Traditional skills demos: moose hide prep, canning, medicine drying, smoked salmon on cedar, setting nets with families and elders
- Outdoor fire gathering with stories and traditional foods
- Family games day: sack races, tug of war, Métis cart races, string/hand games, canoe races, teepee building contests.
- Visit a community garden or gardens of local elders.
- Berry picking or medicine gathering trip
- Historical site visit, place important for traditional summer teachings (follow community/ elder practices for these special places.
- Attend a pow wow, festival, or jamboree
- Set up a opportunity to go to the seashore to watch clam/ oyster/ kelp gathering, go whale watching, watch crab traps being taken out and traditional practices around crabbing.
- Opportunities with community resources such as forestry, fisheries, conservation.
Traditional Parenting
Innovative Idea from Kwasah Ryan George Jr. Treasure Our Young Ones AHS, Port Alberni.
Parent Activity/ Teaching
Cedar teachings, weaving techniques and traditional knowledge sharing between elders/ knowledge keepers/ parents to make cedar head bands.
The learning outcomes I hope for is to learn the skill of weaving headbands and patience.
Staff would serve local food as in elk, deer and salmon and elders would share stories during this activity.
Inuvaluit Elder Steven Cockney Sr sharing Inuit games at Inuvik AHS, NWT Elder XiQuelem, Eugene Harry (Cowichan Tribes) story time at Awahsuk AHS in Surrey.
Elder Involvement
Invite Elders and Knowledge Keepers to demonstrate skills such as summer harvesting, Indigenous Foods preservation, Dene games, Hand games, Inuit games, Métis cart racing, reading books by Indigenous authors, during the day or special evening events. Record and share videos or create books/CDs to send home.
Teach children how to braid sweetgrass and dry tobacco, sage, and cedar. Ensure community teachings and practices are considered and included.
Elder Sul’si’mus’tun Wayne Johnny (Snuneymuxw), Munu Learning Centre AHS, Nanaimo.
Summertime is a great time to include families and older siblings in program activities and events.
Health Links of the Month:
Aboriginal Head Start Programs are a place for Intergenerational Wellness. Educators offer resources and information to support the whole family, from dental to youth justice, Moon teachings and prayers, Men’s roles to Elders Wellness.