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).
A great Coastal First Nations Resource: 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.
What is this moon known for in your program’s territory? Edit your own moon graphic to reflect your moons!
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 [need to add link]
- 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 Williams
Cultural Calendar Programming:
The water theme of March creates 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 for parent and family involvement, nutrition, additions to the block area. Programs are encouraged to include water teachings from your local nations. These kits included Making the Water Sing resource from The Wabano Center in Ottawa.
Resources
1. Why the Spring equinox is so important to Indigenous Peoples | InFocus (youtube.com)
2. Social Emotional Learning Strategies through outdoor learning
3. Work, Live & Play in Healthy Lakes and Rivers
4. Dchitah Naidi Activity Book
6. Teach Me Water: A Tale of Seven Generations
7. Rising Water Levels – iskipêw
Traditional Parenting
Innovative Idea – Thi Lelum Smuneem AHS in Nanaimo weave traditional teachings into daily practice. From making plant medicine teas with Elders, to be shared in to-go cups with families at drop-off time; to how inclusion can mean accepting when someone prefers to not smudge.
Another innovative idea for bringing in the Traditional Parenting teachings comes from Aboriginal Mother Centre in Vancouver. Weaving cedar headbands for children’s graduation ceremony happens as a parent planning meeting workshop!
The plan:
Families gather in circle with Elders and Knowledge Keepers to begin in a good way, smudging with cedar, sharing songs, drumming, and introductions.
Parents, grandparents, caregivers, and educators learn about the sacred teachings of cedar: how to harvest respectfully, how to choose the right tree, and how to honour the land.
Together, pre-soak and weave cedar bark into headbands for children’s graduation, strengthening connections to traditional parenting values through hands-on practice.
Stories shared across generations, relationships deepened, and families left with cedar teachings, children’s books such as Stand Like a Cedar by Nicola I.Campbell (Nłeʔkepmx, syilx, Métis), and small cedar bundles to continue the learning and protection at home.
Art Centre
For variety this month when changing out your Art Centre supplies, help the children create large murals to feature their artwork this month. The water theme could inspire ocean, rivers, lakes, ponds, waterfalls, for interesting conversations and images in the art centre.
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.
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. It is also a great time to set up a beading area with larger beads.
Sensory:
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:
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.
- 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! Weaving in Indigenous culture, read stories about rainbows, the moon, the sun– before or after your science project!
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 Indigenous 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 West Coast: Shellfish, 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
AHS programs provide opportunities for children, families and communities to share and deepen knowledge of Indigenous cultures and languages.
Program staff can provide a culturally enhanced and affirming environment, for example dining areas are a good place to start!
Creating open, friendly spaces where children, staff, families and Elders can share good conversation, stories and healthy meals with Indigenous ingredients. Bringing in feast songs, prayers, greetings, land acknowledgements or blessings.
Other items that can go in the dining area are clan representation, food documentation boards, pictures and names of food in Indigenous languages, placemats with children’s name and nations!
Playful additions:
Building Block/Construction Area:
Add blocks that resemble the elements of water ie. ocean waves! Post photos on the children’s level of the ocean, ponds, rivers, lakes, streams. 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. Set up a sensory table with items that children can use the blocks to build in for a new experience!
Dramatic Play:
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.
Circle Time:
Create or a adapt a circle time calendar that features your local moon teachings and traditional languages. Plan circle time teachings that include culture and language teachings from your local cultural calendar.
Music and Movement
Innovative Ideas:
ECE Tammy Teegee (Takla Nation) at Little Cub has created fun and interactive games using dice for movement activities that involve Indigenous Language.
She ordered foam dice cubes from Ashley’s Pocket cubes, and they are also available on Amazon.ca under foam dice pocket, and downloaded “Fun Sensory Play” cube activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers. Tammy printed it on cardstock paper, and cut out dice pieces, and then found Carrier translations.
Tammy uses her dice games to play action games at circle time and to go on Scavenger hunts.
Outdoor Play
In March, the ground starts to thaw; snow melts and things are getting muddy! In some areas, it’s 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.
Reading Area
Have an assortment of books promoting water teachings and celebrating Spring Equinox. Have local spring or water legends. For variety, create wflannel board water stories, use puppets and props. Post photos of rainbows, rain drops, streams, lakes, ocean in the reading area.
Elder Involvement:
Invite Elders to 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. Invite Elders to share water stories or songs. This will usually be a female Elder/Knowledge Keeper as women are the keepers of the water, the ones who carry life and the next generation. What are your nations/communities’ beliefs on water and special practices?
Innovative Ideas– Xaxe STELITKEL in Victoria honours the Elders that regularly participate in their program by having their pictures posted in the front entry way!
Parent Involvement
Innovative Ideas– Tansi AHS in Chetwynd created a simple to read newsletter for each month.
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 recipes.
- Choose cookbooks with common ingredients that are easily accessible.
- Variety of Indigenous Traditional Parenting topics
- Topics such as Indigenous spirituality
- Handbooks to create ribbon skirts, moccasins, crafts from a variety of nations!
- Choose books that are easy to read and represent a variety of age groups and 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 in Merritt built on the suncatcher craft idea, inviting families to go outside to make an outdoor suncatcher. Staff put together supplies and instructions.
Outreach / Activity kits
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, or frisbee.
- Ingredients and directions for an Indigenous cooking activity: 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.
Send home Kelp flakes, hot air popcorn maker and popcorn kernels for a healthy snack activity for the whole family featuring an Indigenous ingredient from the coast, including the Indigenous Foods sheet provided by AHS.
Health Links and Resources
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:
Growing Up Healthy: Inunnguiniq teachings
