Early Childhood Educators’ Day: A time to say ‘thank you’

Recognising the remarkable talent, creativity and dedication of early educators across the country, Australia is celebrating Early Childhood Educators’ Day, tomorrow, Wednesday 2 September.

COVID-19 has turned the world upside down and in its wake, early childhood centres have stepped-up to the challenge, adapted and delivered innovative solutions to support the wellbeing and education of young children, their families and their communities.

Educators and staff have earned widespread appreciation and tomorrow is an opportunity for operators, families and children to say thank you.

Amid the pandemic many families have become more physically disconnected from their early childhood centres due to precautionary health practices. Creating an opportunity to express gratitude for the work of educators is a great way to channel positive emotions as well as creating a fun and rich learning environment for children. 

To help child care centres and families celebrate the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) has created the Early Childhood Educators’ Day website which contains loads of fun ideas and handy online resources including posters, ‘cut out shapes’ for children to decorate and for an “appreciation wall” (or tree) plus Certificates of Appreciation to be presented to early childhood educators on the day.

You can also keep up-to-date on events and activity ideas with a steady stream of information on the latest initiatives and news by following the Facebook page and on Twitter  using #LoveMyECE or #EarlyChildhoodEducatorsDay.

And it doesn’t stop there. An exciting range of giveaways for service providers as well as their families and children is running through to September 4. It’s easy to get involved, just enter in the running for these prizes by commenting on relevant Facebook posts during the week. Prizes include Bunnings Gift Cards, Modern Teaching Aids vouchers and Fitness Incursions.

You can even create a collection of personal video messages from your families featuring their own ‘thank you’ to the early childhood educators in your service. Families and children can create their message from home at any time and it won’t be impacted by any COVID-19 lockdowns that may be in place.

There are several ways to create a video with various apps on offer that make it quick and fun. To make it super easy ACA are recommending the Tribute website. Tribute are offering a free video as a special community support gesture during the COVID-19 climate – just don’t forget to add the code ‘yougotthis25’ at the checkout. The process is simple and the website includes an introductory video and guides you through a step-by-step process to communicate, generate and finally create a beautiful message of thanks.

To get you started with your celebratory activities and events here’s a simple checklist to start your planning process:

Promote

Send an email to families to inform them about the event. Use all your communication channels – email, newsletter, child care app and social media. Splash the walls of your communal areas with colourful promotional posters  to generate awareness and let visitors know about the upcoming event.

Inspire

Let the families and children in your service loose with their own creativity, encourage them to express their appreciation and say ‘thank you’ through homemade artworks and cards. Provide guidance by suggesting some of the following homemade crafts: 

• Make a card using original artworks
• Make a simple home-made gift such as a dazzling painting, a colourful pet rock or a pasta necklace
• Pick a lovely bunch of flowers or sprigs of leaves from the garden
• Bake something delicious to be enjoyed at a morning tea with their educator
• Encourage the children to dress up in fun fancy dress for the day

Activities

Arrange your day with some fun activities to mark the day and celebrate. Try one or more of these following activities in your centre:

• Create an early childhood educator ‘Appreciation Wall’ or a ‘Thank You’ tree using the printable 'cut-out shape' templates. Children can cut out and decorate the shapes. 
• Create a giant 'Thank You' card for families to write in (if health and safety guidelines permit) and put it on display in the reception area of your centre
• Organise a morning or afternoon tea party and invite families (if health and safety guidelines permit) to bring home-baked goodies, presents and cards.
• Get dressed up! You and your team might like to wear fancy dress such as superhero costumes or adopt a magic theme with fairies and wizards
• Present your team of educators each with a Certificate of Appreciation using one of the printable templates

Share

This is a national celebration so get snapping and share your festive photos on social media using the hastags #LoveMyECE or #EarlyChildhoodEducatorsDay.

At CareforKids.com.au we’d like to add our ‘thank you’ to the many voices across Australia and congratulate and thank early childhood educators on the remarkable job they are doing. We applaud and appreciate you for your dedication, expertise and super-hero efforts!