March 2022
Kids Corner

Follow along to see what happened "The Day the Crayons Quit" in celebration of National Crayon Day, and watch Curious George search for a pot of gold.
2022-23 Voluntary PreKindergarten

Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program (VPK) is a free educational program that prepares 4-year-olds for success in kindergarten and beyond. Children must live in Florida and be 4 on or before September 1st of the school year they enroll. Parents whose children are born between February 2 and September 1 of the calendar year may postpone enrolling their 4-year-old until the following year when their child is 5.

Parents can choose from different educational settings and various program options. Private child care centers, public schools, and specialized instructional service providers offer VPK. VPK providers have the flexibility to structure daily hours per week to meet the required number of 540 instructional hours.
Ways to Contact your Coalition Family Support Specialist
If you have a question about child care financial assistance or voluntary pre-kindergarten, you can contact a Coalition Family Support Specialist by calling, emailing, or texting their cell phone number directly. See the contact information by clicking the button below.
Help Me Grow was designed to create an opportunity for parents to track their child's developmental growth and provide peace of mind. Your Family Is Eligible For:

  • Free developmental screenings - to identify possible social and emotional delays.
  • Follow-up care coordination - ensuring families receive the services they need.
  • Other community resources - promoting health and wellness for the whole family.

CALL 2-1-1 and ask for Help Me Grow, or use the ASQ online tool to complete your child's developmental screening TODAY!
National Nutritional Month

Eat a variety of nutritious foods
  • Include healthful foods from all food groups
  • Learn how to read nutrition fact labels
  • Incorporate your favorite cultural foods and traditions

Plan your meals and snacks
  • Choose healthful recipes to make during the week
  • Use a grocery list to shop for nutritious foods
  • Make healthful food and drink choices when away from home

Create tasty foods at home
  • Learn cooking and meal preparation skills
  • Try new flavors and foods from around the world
  • Enjoy your meals with family and friends when possible
March is Women's History Month

March is Women’s History Month in America. It’s a good time to reflect not only on women’s contributions to American and world history, but also just how important women have been (and are) in shaping early childhood education throughout history. It’s a trend that continues to this day: in 2018, women accounted for 94 percent of America’s child care workers, and 98 percent of PreK and kindergarten teachers.
We have a number of videos featuring some of our early learning experts who are here to offer us tips, tricks, and sometimes more complex explanations of early child development. Take a look and be sure to follow us on Facebook for more Parenting Pro Tips coming soon!
Check out this parenting resource from ZERO TO THREE, an organization that believes during the first three years of life, emotionally nourishing relationships lay the foundation for lifelong health and well-being.
A Year of Play

Browse fun seasonal activities by month to find play activities that promote your child's development.
March’s theme is Rain. Try these fun activities to explore weather, both inside and outside:

Talk Together
  • For your baby: Sing songs like Rain, Rain Go Away, and Itsy Bitsy Spider with your baby. Try using hand gestures while you sing Itsy Bitsy Spider—your baby loves to watch you entertain her! Watch your baby—after she sees you do the gestures several times, she may try to copy you!
  • For your toddler: Sing songs like Rain, Rain Go Away and Itsy Bitsy Spider together. Teach your child the gestures that go with Itsy Bitsy Spider. Talk about different rain words: puddles, rain boots and raincoats, umbrellas, pouring, sprinkling, misting, fog, wind, and clouds. Look outside: How many of these words do you see outside your window?
Read Together
  • Read some rainy day books together. For babies, try Rain Feet by Angela Johnson or Gossie and Gertie by Olivia Dunrea, featuring Gossie the duck who loves her red galoshes. For older toddlers, good choices include The Little Cloud by Eric Carle, Rain or Shine: All About Weather by Danielle Denega, and the ultimate rainy day fantasy, The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
Play Together
  • For your baby: Play with “rain” inside. In the bathtub, you can pour water out of a plastic pitcher to make rain. Does your baby prefer the water to come out slowly or quickly? Does she try to grab the stream of water? Try pouring water through a strainer and watch it sprinkle out. You can also pour water onto a plastic plate and let it splash every which way. Blow bubbles while your child is in the bathtub and sing Rain, Rain Go Away as the bubble “raindrops” float over her head.
  • For your toddler: Make a weather chart. Every morning look outside the window with your toddler: “What do you see? Is it rainy, cloudy, or sunny?” Draw a sun, clouds, or raindrops on a piece of paper with the appropriate word underneath. Let your toddler help by coloring and drawing with you. Post each day’s forecast and talk about the week’s weather on Friday. Can your child remember the words for each type of weather? A variation on this activity is to let your older toddler draw the weather him/herself. You could also trace symbols of each kind of weather—a sun, an umbrella, a cloud—onto paper and let your older toddler cut out the shape and then glue it to her weather chart.
  • For babies and toddlers: Go for a rain walk. Bundle up in a raincoat and rainboots; put a rain shield over the stroller. Open the umbrellas. Go out in the rain (but not when it’s thunder-and-lightning out). What do you see? Raindrops on leaves? Worms? Puddles? Don’t worry if your toddler gets wet while he’s exploring; have some dry clothes and a towel right inside the door so he can warm up and talk all about what you’ve just seen.

Community Bag Program

For the month of March 2022, the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida will receive a $1 donation from each purchase of the $2.99 reusable Community Bag at the Winn-Dixie located at:

4478 Market Street
Marianna
Scribble Time

Scribbling is essential to kids developing pre-writing skills. Kids don’t need to start with letters or shapes right away. Let them pick up crayons, paintbrushes, or finger paints, and go for it!

  • Scribbling helps kids build eye-hand coordination needed for later writing skills. 
  • Scribbling also helps kids develop fine motor skills needed for writing, drawing, and other related skills. 

Color Mixing Shamrock

This mess-free, easy color mixing activity for St Patrick’s Day is easy to set up and can be used as sensory play for babies. It can also teach them about mixing primary colors to make secondary colors.
Fruit Loop Rainbows

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, these Fruit Loop Rainbows are a fun craft to do with your little ones. They are great for developing fine motor skills, the kids love them, and they are super easy to do. To make these, you will need Fruit Loops, banana or large marshmallows, and white pipe cleaners or chenille stems.
Counting Gold

This is an easy activity for your toddler to use those delicious gold coins. Use a muffin tin, paper liners, and gold coins. Write the numbers 1-12 on the bottom of the cup liner and have your toddler count out the gold coins to place in each cup with the corresponding number.
Doily Butterflies

Supplies:

Rainbow-Shamrock Windsock

This Paper Cup St Patrick’s Day Windsock Craft is so colorful and fun. We love the rainbow colors and the dangling shamrock leaves that blow about in the breeze. These rainbow windsocks are a great way to decorate the house, and if it’s not raining you could even hang them up outdoors.
Children's Nutrition: 10 Tips for Picky Eaters
Is your preschooler refusing to eat anything other than chicken nuggets? Or would your toddler rather play than eat anything at all?
If children's nutrition is a sore topic in your household, you're not alone. Many parents worry about what their children eat — and don't eat. However, most kids get plenty of variety and nutrition in their diets over the course of a week. Until your child's food preferences mature, consider these tips for preventing mealtime battles. Read more...
We need you! Join the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) for a platform to discuss the needs and wants of your unique family. Complete the application now, and information about how to join the next virtual meeting will be emailed to you. Don’t miss out!
March Special Dates
 
Irish-American Heritage Month
Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month
National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month
National Craft Month
National Nutrition Month
National Women’s History Month
Words Matter Week (March 6-12)
National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week (March 20-26)
March 1
National Pancake Day
Fat Tuesday

March 2
National Read Across America Day
Dr. Seuss Day
Ash Wednesday

March 3
National Anthem Day

March 4
National Grammar Day
National Sons Day
National Day of Unplugging
Employee Appreciation Day

March 7
National Be Heard Day
March 8
International Women’s Day

March 12
National Girl Scout Day
National Plant a Flower Day
National Working Moms Day 
March 13
National Good Samaritan Day
Daylight Saving Time

March 14
National Children’s Craft Day
National Learn About Butterflies Day
National Pi Day

March 17
St. Patrick’s Day
Absolutely Incredible Kid Day

March 19
National Let’s Laugh Day

March 20
Spring Begins
March 27
National Scribble Day

March 30
National Doctors Day
National Pencil Day

March 31
National Crayon Day

Florida KidCare offers quality, affordable health & dental insurance for ALL FL children from birth through the end of age 18! Children are eligible for head to toe coverage, even if one or both parents are working.

Click here and use code ELC5 to receive an expedited application process.
We exist to help grow healthy children, parents,
and the relationship between them.
If you have applied for child care assistance and are on the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida’s wait list, please call us at 850-747-5400 or toll free 866-277-9077 for other financial options.
Sponsored by the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida and the State of Florida, Division of Early Learning