Celebrating International Women's Day in Childcare

Across the world, every year on March 8th, women, businesses and families come together to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD) and this year is no exception.

International Women's Day begun as National Women's Day (NWD), conceived on the streets of New York. NWD has been observed since the 1909 following on from the previous year when 15,000 women marched the streets demanding change. It wasn't until 1911 that the world caught on after a German woman named Clara Zetkin proposed the idea that there should be a day on the world's calendar that women were able to speak up and demand change. Fast forward 58 years to 1975 and IWD was officially recognised by the United Nations but it wasn't until 1996 that there were any official themes. 

From the original theme of "Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future" in 1996, together in 2023, we'll celebrate the IWD theme, #embraceequity.

So what is equity?

Being equitable means giving everyone the same opprtunity to acheive the same goal while taking into account each person's individual needs. For more information on this definition, we think Tamara Makoni, founder of Kazuri Consulting sums it up pretty well. 

Getting involved in International Women's Day

There are a number of ways you can celebrate IWD in your childcare service. Some things may take a little planning but the educational outcomes will be so very important. 

Have a 'Purple Day' and picnic

Wear purple, decorate with purple and celebrate with some purple food. Get everyone around the tables or picnic place in your serivice and have a chat about all the famous women who were once little kids that went on to make some serious changes. Some examples are:

• Emma Watson
• Angelina Jolie Pitt
• Lady Gaga
• Jennifer Lawrence
• Beyoncé
• Michelle Obama
• Tina Fey
• Julia Gillard

Craft a flower

'Every woman is ...'

This craft popped up on Princessliya.com and we thought it was pretty cool! It doesn't have to be the same shape, size or even colour, but having the children in your service craft a flower and describe a special woman in their lives on each petal as a gift for IWD would be pretty special.

For the younger group, educators could do the wrtiing while they were left to colour and for the older children, this activity will create a great opportunity to write describing words for their parent, carer or indeed educator! 

 

Embrace Equity

The theme itself provides the perfect opportunity to have a moment of embrace at your service. Take a few photos and create a board for the International theme of educators, children and even parents taking a moment to #embraceequity.

Get reading!

We all know and love fostering a love of reading. There's no better way to learn about IWD heroes than through literature. If you're looking for some inspo, Found By Flynn has some great examples in their collection - what a place to start! Some of their titles include: 

• Amelia Earhart
• If I were Prime Minister 
• Jane Austen
• Marie Curie

What are the IWD 2023 missions? 

Launching into the 2023 missions around IWD are:

• Celebrate the women forging change 
• ​Elevate visibility of women creatives 
• Build workplaces where women thrive
• Improve equality for women in tech
• Forge women's empowerment worldwide 
• Empower women's choices in health
• Applaud equality for women in sport

Of course, there are always opportunities to get involved. The IWD 2023 relationships are still open and expressions of interest are invited. 

If you are celebrating in your service, we'd love to hear about it. Send your images to marketing@careforkids.com.au for an opportunity to feature on our socials.