March is known by many moons, following cues from the lands and waters of different places. Namebin Giizis, Suckerfish moon (Anishinaabemowin) Naki-Geesis, Geese Moon (nēhiyawēwin).
AHS Advisor Sarah Russ (Nuu-chah- nulth, Haida) shares moon teachings from one of her favourite resources, The 13 Moons of the WSANEC, by Earl Claxton- Author, John Elliott- Illustrator/Author. For the WSANEC, mid-February to mid-March is WEXWS- Moon of the Frog.The Frog on the face of the Moon represents DOLUANW- the Keeper of the Sacred Season.
During this moon, the wonder of nature is an amazing process: Mother Earth warms, and the hibernating Frog wakes from its winter sleep, announcing the coming of Spring.
Hearing frog’s song is a sign to end Winter activities, and ceremonial dances– and move outdoors to prepare for the season when the Salmon People would return.
It is a time to gather food and medicine. People laid cedar boughs in the water, close to the shore, so the herring will lay roe on them. Frog acts as messenger and witness for the WSANEC people. This moon also marks the time to put canoes back into the water.
World Water Day– March 22:
Indigenous people know water is life– all life on this planet depends on it.
Water is used in many ceremonial healing practices and is a form of protection, spiritually, mentally and physically.
Books inspired by WORLD WATER DAY!
- Autumn Pelletier Water Warrior, Carole Lindstrom
- We are water protectors,Carole Lindstrom
- iʔ siwɬkw nkwancinəm k̕əl suliʔ / The Water Sings to Suli? Harron Hall
- Cloud Walker, Robert Lucky Budd and Roy Henry Vickers
- On the Arctic Shoreline, Illustrator: Lenny Lishchenko
- Nibi aawon nbiish, Nibi is water, Joanne Robertson, Isadore Toulouse, Shirley Willliams
Cultural Calendar Programming:
Following the water theme of March, creating learning opportunities about the importance of water, what is water? Using water as a calming tool and sensory experience, we can also share cultural water stories and songs.
Elders and Knowledge Keepers could be invited to share teachings. Towards the end of the month, hosting a Spring Equinox celebration is a welcome the start to the season, and an opportunity to send teachings home with families.
AHSABC provided Sacred Water Kits to each program that contain components for parent and family involvement, nutrition, additions to the block area and the encouragement to include Indigenous Water teachings from your local nation at your program.
Art Centre:
Help the children create large murals to feature their artwork this month! With water as a theme, this could inspire ocean, rivers, lakes, ponds, waterfalls.
Featuring water in different art activities invites explorations of the different properties water holds.
Ideas: ice cubes and tempera paint, oil and water painting, rainbow water eyedropper painting, tissue paper and water art, saltwater painting. Continue to take art outdoors: watercolor palettes and easels, food coloring water and spray bottles, large paintbrushes and warm water.
Bring your water is life to program walls with images of oceans, rivers, lakes, streams and the waters of your local nation(s) to inspire and create conversation in the art area!
Craft:
With the first day of Spring approaching and the sun making more of an appearance March is a great time to make different Sun Catcher crafts with the children.
Sensory Ideas:
Have sensory experiences featuring the colors blue and green!
Transform your water table into a river, ocean, lake or pond.
Use items such as moss, lily pads, boats, canoes, ocean or pond animals, river rocks, round sea glass, plastic or styrofoam fish.
Science Ideas:
Talk about the upcoming Spring Equinox, the phases of the moon and what changes will be happening to the land and why.
Science experiments with water creates learning moments of the compounds and properties of water.
Experiment ideas:
- Explore water volume
- Explore water density
- Explore water absorption
One of Munu Learning Centre’s favourite science experiments is making volcanos erupt and the Rainbow walking water experiment!
Health Promotion
Preparing their own food item once a week encourages children’s creative processing and independence. Individual ideas can be making your own bannock taco, sandwich, pizza, salad (Do they like to make chicken caesar, or taco or chef salad?)
Breakfast ideas could include yogurt and fruit parfaits, try using canned, dried or frozen berries harvested in the summer/ fall. Peanut butter, bananas and toast, oatmeal or cornmeal and fixings are all ways children can join in and help make their own for breakfast.
A group effort making seafood chowder could incorporate ingredients from their area, inviting Elders and families. Introduce Indigneous foods at circle time, and provide a list of these items with health facts and related Indigenous language phrases to send home to families.
Ideas from the North: smoked,dried, fresh or frozen fish.
Ideas from the Pacific West Coast: Shell fish, fish, kelp, octopus or squid.
Ideas from the Interior/ Southern: smoked, canned or fresh local fish.
Nutritional Link/ Recipe of the Month:
Celebrating Indigenous Ingredients and Recipes – Canadian Food Focus
Playful additions:
Building Block/ Construction Area:
Add blocks that resemble the elements of water ie. ocean waves
Add ocean or pond animals, twigs, bark, river rocks. Add cardboard covered in blue felt or blue cellophane that the children can use as a base for building.
Dramatic Play Area:
Hang pictures up of different types of dancers in their dancing attire! Have a wide assortment of outfits that the children can dance in,( jingle dresses, ribbon skirts, blankets, cedar hats or head bands, hula hoops, kokum scarves, rattles. Play Indigenous dancing music to inspire dancing and conversations between children during play. Check out YouTube’s pow wow playlists, like this one.
Move the books from the reading area to the dramatic play area to resemble a library! Make library cards for the children, add a librarian’s “desk” with a bell, paper and crayons for making lists of books being borrowed and returned.
This promotes reading, community helpers and role play! Hang Indigenous literacy posters in the dramatic play area and make a poster with a book, the word for “book” or “story” in the Indigenous languages of the program and children.
Reading Area
Have an assortment of books promoting water teachings and celebrating Spring Equinox.
Outdoor Ideas:
March is the month when Spring arrives. The ground starts to thaw, snow melts and things are getting muddy! It’s almost time to put away the snowsuits and replace with muddy buddies. Walks become splashing in puddles/slush, painting with mud, looking for rainbows, making mud pies and other fun activities. Bring out the water table and bins or have spots where children can collect sticks, twigs and rocks and be encouraged to make their own rivers, ponds, lakes and construct dams.
Invite an Elder or Knowledge keeper and families out to a water source, and invite role modelling traditional practices. This can create an opportunity to share language, of wisdom or prayers. Sharing by sending home the language with teachings– with advance permission from the Knowledge Keepers who are sharing.
Lofty Ideas:
Conayt AHS turned their Infant / toddler loft into a “sweat lodge.” Other ideas could be a big house/long house, igloo, kekuli/ pit house, hogan etc.
Elder Involvement:
Have Elders lead activities and walks out on the land to explore local water sources and to tell hereditary stories about water from their nation and to teach the importance of taking care of the water. Have Elders come in to tell water stories as well as to sing the water song from a variety of Nations. For most Indigenous Nations this will be a female Elder/ knowledge keeper as many believe woman are the keepers of the water as they are the ones who carry life and the next generation. What is your nation/ communities’ beliefs on water and special practices?
Circle time area:
Create or a adapt a circle time calendar that features your local moon teachings and traditional languages.
Innovative Ideas Tammy at Little Cub has created fun and interactive games using dice for movement activities that involve Indigenous Language.
She has kindly sent us the instructions to share for other programs to make their own dice games.
Hi, my name is Tammy Teegee I am an ECE originally from the community of Takla Lake BC.
I made the dice game by first ordering dice cubes from Ashley’s Pocket cubes, and they are also available on Amazon.ca under foam dice pocket.
After I got my cube set, I went online at “Fun Sensory Play” and found the fun sensory cube activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers. I downloaded and printed it on cardstock paper, I cut out my dice pieces separately then found my Carrier language to match.
Tammy uses her dice games to play action games at circle time and to go on Scavenger hunts.
Parent Involvement Ideas:
Innovative Ideas : Tansi AHS Chetwynd
At Tansi the staff created a very easy simple to read newsletter for each month.
Another idea is to
Create a Resource literacy library for families.
When creating this important family resource please consider:
- Choose resource books on a variety of children’s/ family health topics.
- Choose resource books on parenting topics such as benefits of routines, nutrition, reinforcing positive behaviours etc.
- Choose cookbooks that are for parents and children to cook easy recipes together.
- Choose cookbooks that feature Indigenous Ingredients that may be found in homes or easily accessible.
- Variety of Indigenous Traditional Parenting topics
- Topics such as Indigenous Spirituality
- Handbooks on how to make Indigenous items such as ribbon skirts, moccasins etc. from a variety of Nations!
When choosing books look for books that are easy to read and represent a variety of age groups and variety of family dynamics.
Display your library in the parent room or in the front of the program where it is easily accessible and captures attention of parents.
Bookstore | BCCF Shop – Your Family.
Innovative Ideas:
Conayt AHS Merritt BC
To build on the sun catcher craft idea and to encourage families to go outside together the staff put together supplies and instructions on how to make an outdoor suncatcher.
Other Outreach / Activity kits Ideas:
Most programs will have a few closure days due to Spring Break. Create a spring break kit to send home that contains:
-Healthy snacks,
-Community activity/ outreach information
-A activity, game or story in Indigenous Language.
Spring teachings and water protocols from your local nation!
A fun interactive outdoor item such as a kite, fishing pole, frisbee, etc.…
Ingredients and directions for an Indigenous cooking activity: ie … saskatoon smoothies, bison or elk roast, fish or clam or corn chowder, rabbit soup or stew, poached or baked salmon /trout, ling cod and batter recipe for fish fry etc.
Send home Kelp flakes, hot air popcorn maker and popcorn kernels for a healthy snack activity for the whole family featuring a Indigenous Food Ingredient from the Coastal parts of Canada, include the write up provided by AHS.
Seaweed Kelp Recipes by BC Kelp
All programs received the Making the Water Sing Kits from The Wabano Centre in Ontario. Please see this resource for parent activities that you can do at the center or send home. Making the Water Sing Kit – Wabano Centre
Resources and related articles:
1. Why the Spring equinox is so important to Indigenous Peoples | InFocus (youtube.com)
2. Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom – Outdoor Learning School & Store
4. Nitotemak – Cree Language Program (nwtmetisnation.ca)
5 Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) Introductory Language Course – Outdoor Learning School & Store
6. Ktunaxa Introductory Language Course – Spring 2025 – Outdoor Learning School & Store
Health Links and Resources for Programs:
Educators and Elders/ Knowledge keepers promote healthy practices at AHS programs across the province! Here are some Health link/ parent resource recommendations to help support:
