Sensory Bottle for Babies

If you’ve yet to try making sensory bottles for your little ones (babies & toddlers alike) don’t miss out on the fun. There’s plenty of inspiration out there. You can put just about anything in them. Here are a few ideas to get you started!

Baby Ball Drop



This Baby Ball Drop is a golden opportunity for some fine motor skills playtime! It will not just keep your little ones entertained, but it will also encourage and improve their developing hand and eye coordination.

Fun Noodle Sensory Activity for Toddlers

Sensory activities are a fun way to encourage your toddler to explore and learn about their senses. Dry pasta is a great for sensory play because it’s likely something your toddler has not explored before, it’s cheap, and you may even already have some on hand.

P is for Pumpkin: Sensory Squish Bag

This pumpkin sensory squish bag encourages sensory play and even letter recognition and formation. With just a few materials, you can easily create a pumpkin sensory squish bag that will have little hands squishing and discovering more about the insides of a pumpkin and the letter P!

Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils

When it comes to dinosaurs, a lot is left to the imagination. Most of what we know about dinosaurs are from the fossils of bones, eggs, and markings found mostly in sedimentary rock. However, fossils take a long time to form. We are speeding up the process today and creating our own fossils in under two hours using salt dough.

Pumpkin Volcano Activity for Toddlers

October is here, and it is time for all things pumpkin!! Of course, we look forward to Halloween when we can carve up the little beauties and create scary, silly, and even spectacular jack-o-lanterns. In case you brought home one too many pumpkins, here is a fun science experience to do with your kids.

Halloween Safety Tips for Young Children

Toddlers can have a lot of fun when Halloween rolls around. So many new experiences and fun things to try. From picking out a costume to trick or treating it is something most parents and children look forward to even in the early years. When your kids go trick-or-treating, you want them to have fun, but also to be safe. The following tips will focus on toddler Halloween safety tips, from knowing where to go, to making sure their costumes won’t become a safety hazard. Read more...

Challenge Your Negative Thoughts

The National Science Foundation reports that the average person has as many as 50,000 thoughts per day and the majority (80%) are negative.

These thoughts can be destructive to your mental and physical well-being. The cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) "thought record" technique could help challenge and reframe negative thoughts by objectively identifying and examining untrue or unhelpful thoughts.

Start your first thought record entry with these three simple steps:

Identify negative or unwanted thoughts.

Most negative thoughts are unconscious — they pop into your head, often at inopportune times. Stopping to identify thoughts isn’t an intentional activity, so it may take some practice. Once you notice an unwanted thought, write it down.

Negative thought: “No one cares what I have to say.”

Label the corresponding emotion.

 Next, identify how you were feeling at the time of this negative statement. An emotions wheel can help if you are struggling to name the emotion. Your thoughts and emotions are interconnected. Identifying one will help you untangle the other.

Emotion: I feel rejected, sad, or angry.

Challenge with facts.

Unwanted thoughts are not always based on fact and often involve extreme or all-or-nothing thinking (using words like “always” or “never”). Look for facts or experiences that refute your negative thought. List all the evidence that you identify. Ask friends or mentors for help if this step is particularly challenging.

Facts: My team supported my client event idea last month. My manager recognized my suggestion in last week’s staff meeting.

The way you think affects the way you feel and react to situations. By becoming more aware of negative or unhelpful thoughts and reframing them in light of facts, you can reduce stress and work toward a more positive outlook.

SIDS Awareness Month

October is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month. SIDS doesn’t have a known cause and, therefore, isn’t preventable. But SIDS does have many known risk factors. While some of the risks can’t be avoided, many can be avoided or reduced.

Celebrate the Bilingual Child Month

Giving your children the gift of bilingualism can enrich their life. From tot soccer to music-enrichment classes, most of us are constantly on the lookout for ways to spark learning (and perhaps inspire future passions) in our kids from an early age. Of those, exposure to a second language is one that is proven to bring with it major intellectual, cultural, and practical benefits.

Winn-Dixie Community Bag Fundraiser THIS MONTH

Have you heard the news? The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida has been selected again this year as the beneficiary of the Winn-Dixie Community Bag Program!

Each time the $2.99 reusable Community Bag is purchased at the Winn-Dixie at 4478 Market Street, Marianna, FL during the month of October, we will receive a $1 donation.

Please share this news with your friends and family!

By becoming a child care teacher, you can kickstart the future success of Northwest Florida’s children, as well as your own success in a gratifying and fulfilling career in early education.

If you have an interest in becoming a child care teacher in Northwest Florida, click the button below!

October Special Dates

Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th – October 15th)

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

SIDS Awareness Month

LGBTQ+ History Month

Blindness Awareness Month

Celebrate the Bilingual Child Month

Anti-Bullying Month

Emotional Wellness Month

Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Animal Welfare Week (October 3-9)

National Baking Week (October 14-20)

National Adoption Week (October 17-23)

Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida

Phone: 850.747.5400 | Fax: 850.747.5450

WWW.ELCNWF.ORG