Creative Childcare Consulting

Get ready, get set... we're having another behaviour series starting in 4 weeks! We have 6 sessions to choose from.
See you there! Visit creativechildcareconsulting.ca and click on the shop icon.

Tuesday, January 27th is Family Literacy Day. We have created a take home activity you can share with your families!

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When We Taught Children How to Rest — And Then Forgot Why It Mattered

In the 1950s, there was a moment in every kindergarten day so predictable you could set your watch by it.

After the singing.
After the crayons worn down to stubs.
After circle time and sticky fingers from graham crackers and small cardboard milk boxes—

The lights would dim.

A record would settle onto a turntable.
The needle would crackle, then find its groove.
Something soft would fill the room. Something slow. Something kind.

And twenty little bodies would stretch out on striped mats or faded rugs. Shoes tucked under cots. Blankets—frayed, thumb-worn, familiar—pulled up to chins. A room full of children learning, together, how to exhale.

Naptime.

For millions of children growing up in the 1950s, ’60s, and early ’70s, this ritual was as essential to kindergarten as finger paint and the alphabet. It wasn’t filler. It wasn’t babysitting.

It was the lesson.

Stillness Was Once Part of the Curriculum

Educators believed something we’ve slowly forgotten:
young children need quiet.

Not just sleep—but stillness.
A pause where feelings could settle.
A space where overstimulated minds could wander safely.
A reset before the afternoon rush of blocks, numbers, and playground dust.

The science agreed. Children’s brains and nervous systems were still under construction. Rest wasn’t a reward. It wasn’t optional.

It was developmental maintenance.

Teachers became guardians of calm. Soft voices. Slow footsteps between rows of breathing bodies. A whispered story read to no one and everyone. A hand smoothing a blanket. A steady presence in low light.

A lighthouse.

The Quiet That Shaped Us

Some children slept—deep, open-mouthed sleep—exhausted by morning play and the overwhelming newness of school.

Others didn’t.

They stared at the ceiling.
Counted tiles.
Watched dust motes dance in a thin blade of sunlight slipping through the curtains.

They drifted into that rare kind of daydreaming that only happens when you’re five—when time is wide and nobody is rushing you to become something yet.

Even the kids who hated naptime learned something important.

That sometimes you have to be still, even when you don’t want to be.
That rest is not the opposite of learning.
It’s part of the work.

For many children, it was the only stillness in an otherwise loud, busy day. A quiet bridge between lunchboxes and hopscotch. Between learning letters and learning how to share.

Then We Decided to Hurry

By the 1970s and ’80s, something shifted.

Kindergarten stopped being about socialization and curiosity and started being about readiness.
Pre-reading. Early math. Staying on track. Getting ahead.

Schedules tightened. Testing crept younger. Parents worried about falling behind before childhood had even properly begun.

Naptime began to feel inefficient.
Unproductive.
A luxury we could no longer afford.

So the mats were rolled up.
The record players disappeared.
Overhead projectors replaced them. Then computers. Then tablets.

By the 1990s, naptime was mostly gone from public kindergarten classrooms—surviving only in preschools and full-day programs for very young children.

A Day With No Pause

Today’s kindergarteners move from reading groups to math centers to screens to lunch to more instruction. Recess—if they get it—is brief. Quiet is rare.

There is no dimming of lights.
No permission to close your eyes.
No collective exhale.

And we act surprised when childhood anxiety soars.

What We Remember — And What We Lost

Those who lived it still remember:

The rows of striped mats.
The scratch of a needle finding vinyl.
The smell of that one blanket that probably only got washed twice a year.
The relief of being told it was okay—expected, even—to stop trying so hard.

Naptime wasn’t just about sleep.

It taught us that rest has value.
That quiet has purpose.
That you don’t need to be productive every minute to be worthy.

It was a lesson we didn’t realize we were learning—until we grew up in a world that never stops and makes us feel guilty for needing to pause.

Maybe That’s the Lesson Worth Remembering

To parents: your kids likely don’t have this anymore—and they’re expected to perform at full speed all day long.

To teachers fighting to protect play and rest: you’re not being soft. You’re honoring what science has always known.

To anyone who feels ashamed for needing rest: we used to teach five-year-olds that stopping was part of learning.

And to those who say childhood is “too easy” now—today’s kindergarteners have more structured academic time than third-graders did in the 1950s.

We didn’t make childhood harder because it was necessary.

We made it harder because we forgot how to slow down.

We once dimmed the lights, put on a record, and gave twenty small people permission to just… be.

Maybe it’s time we remembered how.

Thursday, January 15th is Strawberry Ice Cream Day.
Why not inject a little science into your class and make ice cream in a bag?

Come and join us for Behaviour Bootcamp, starting February 24th 6:30-8:30, for 5 weeks. Included are two, all new sessions.

Infant and Toddler Educators! We have virtual training coming up just for you. The PD Funding and Time Release grant have also been approved.
Visit our website to sign up today.

Our Behaviour Management Series begins this Wednesday, September 24th. The first workshop is Problem Solving with Young Children. There's still time to register and get in on some great learning!

Alberta Early Childhood Play Connection Network

Illuminate Play Conference 2025
November 14 & 15, 2025
Early Bird tickets are officially here!
Don’t miss your chance to join us for two days of inspiration, innovation, and PLAY.
✅ Approved for PD Funding
✅ Eligible for 12 hours of Time Release in Alberta
🌈 Register before September 30th and you’ll be automatically entered to win our Early Bird Prize Package valued at over $400!
🎁 Prize Package Includes:
~ 1 night stay at the Wyndham Hotel & Conference Centre
~ Both books by our keynote speakers
~ ECE wellness kit
~ Illuminate Play tumbler
~ Protector of Play t-shirt
…and more!
This is the conference you don’t want to miss. Secure your spot today!
https://whova.com/portal/registration/4tQjaSdYNzAvIUHrD2tO/
Want to learn more? Visit our event page: https://aecpcn.org/illuminate-play-conference/

Here we go again! Join us for our four-part series on behaviour management. Wednesday night's are made for learning, and this year features different sessions from last year. Grab your spot today at www.creativechildcareconsulting.ca

Team Building Tuesday

Classroom Swap Challenge
Description:
Have educators partner up and spend 30 minutes in each other’s classrooms. Their task is to observe, assist, and jot down something they admire or learned from the other’s approach. Afterward, pairs regroup to share insights and positive feedback. This activity builds respect, encourages professional growth, and fosters empathy by giving educators a firsthand view of each other’s teaching styles and challenges