Welcome to East End Children's Centre's EarlyON Programs!

children's indoor play space with a red climbing structure on mats in the centre of the room and red toddler slides to the right of the frame along with some rocking horses and a sensory bin

We Welcome You and Your Children to our EarlyON Centres!

Welcome! We're Glad You Found Us!
Our Two Locations
Read about our protocols and routines.
Our Schedule (click on the graphic for a PDF)

You're invited to our Annual General Meeting
Meet our Staff Team!
Links to Our Social Media and Virtual Programming!
Our Tried and True Play Dough Recipe!

WE'RE GLAD YOU FOUND US!

WELCOME to all the NEW families who recently registered for programs or signed up for our monthly email updates! We hope this newsletter helps you navigate our programs and understand how our organization is managing this stage of the pandemic. Please get in touch if we can answer any questions not addressed here.

Scroll down for a current list of procedures and protocols.Going forward, you'll hear from us once or twice a month with announcements or changes related to our programs, and links to information relevant to our community.

Heads up that our schedule will change in June, and we have an annual organization-wide closure from August 1 - 20 inclusive.

Our Two Locations

Kimbourne EarlyON

Monday through Saturday, 9 - 12 (schedule changes in June)
location: 200 Wolverleigh Blvd
Large room setting with lots of space
for children 0 - 5 years old
indoor space is wheelchair accessible
limited indoor stroller parking. Please bring a lock in case you need to leave your stroller outside.

a large indoor children's play space with a red climbing structure in the centre and some toddler slides and rocking horses to the right of the frame

a children's reading area with a book display and a royal blue sofa and a very large orange bean bag seat with a mat on the floor with circles numbered 1 through 9

Baby Time at Kimbourne

location: 200 Wolverleigh Blvd
Summer hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays (outdoors) and Thursdays, 1:30 - 3 pm
Large room setting with lots of space
for children 15 months and younger
More about Baby Time
indoor space is wheelchair accessible
limited indoor stroller parking. Please bring a lock in case you need to leave your stroller outside.

a colourful indoor play area for infants with an interlocking floor mat and a large green bowl with a inflatable nubby peanut ball resting in it

four parents wearing masks and sitting on blankets on the lawn under a tree with four babies

Terry Fox EarlyON

Monday and Friday mornings 8:45 - 12
Located at 2 Gledhill Ave inside Gledhill School
Small room setting with lower capacity of 20 people
for children 0 - 5 years old
Entry is at door 6. Ring the doorbell and wait for staff to come.
Strollers remain outside along the wall (bring a lock if you wish to secure it to a railing)
site is wheelchair accessible

children's reading area with books arranged on a low shelf and two small beige toddle chairs on either side

Senses, STEM and SOCIAL for three and four year olds!

two children wearing hats and sunglasses sit at a table outdoors with an activity in front of them

SSS is Friday mornings at Kimbourne, 9:30 - 11:30 am REGISTER

In this program, we encourage children to connect with the natural world using their senses, to connect with each other and make new friends. We use real tools, like magnifying glasses to observe details! Each program will begin at our Kimbourne site (indoors or outdoors) and finish with a walk to a local park (weather permitting). Younger sibs are welcome.

Protocols are Evolving But We're Still Masking

Protocols we have not yet lifted

Please wear a mask. For the safety of the babies in our program, we have not lifted this requirement.
Please self-screen. Our organization has always required self-screening for cold, flu, gastro-intestinal symptoms, conjunctivitis (pink eye) and any suspected or confirmed communicable illnesses. We ask for the same vigilance you've shown all through the pandemic. Our whole community will enjoy better health if you stay home when you or your children are not well.
Please sign in using our Sign in App. We are required to track and report attendance numbers, so participants will sign in, on paper or electronically, at every visit. You will need to use the camera on your phone for this. We can work around it if this is not possible.
We will continue sanitizing high-touch surfaces and baby toys daily.
Please place toys that have been in a child's mouth into the labelled container for toys that need immediate washing.
We have surgical, KN95 and some N95 masks for adults available for distribution. Ask a staff if you'd like some.
Please clean your hands and your children's hands on arrival at our programs, after blowing or wiping your/your child's nose, before and after playing in the sandbox, before and after snack and after using the washroom.

Reminders

Please be prepared to park your stroller on the lawn on days when the stroller room at Kimbourne fills up and bring a lock so you can lock it to the railing way up on the hill. Sadly, a stroller that was not locked was stolen from our lawn a few weeks ago.
Please... NEVER leave your stroller on our ramp at Kimbourne, as this disrupts accessibility and evacuation procedures.
EECC is known for our sense of community. Thank you in advance for being welcoming and supportive of everyone, including parents and caregivers whose choices differ from yours and children who may be neurodivergent and need accommodation.

Meet Our Wonderful Staff Team

Anna is a Program Co-ordinator. She works at Terry Fox and Kimbourne, including Baby Time!

Lisa is a Program Co-ordinator. She works at Kimbourne all week plus STEM for Kids and Saturdays!

A brown person with long dark hair and glasses wearing a red shirt smiles at the viewer sitting next to a leafy plant

Rashida is a Program Co-ordinator. She works at Terry Fox and Kimbourne, including Baby Time!

Cathy is our manager. She leads our team, writes our newsletters and works with our funders and other partners to continually strengthen our organization and programs.

a brown appearing person with dark straight hair past the shoulders smiles brightly while gazing at the viewer in a friendly way

Gecy is a Program Assistant. She works at Kimbourne, including Baby Time, the STEM for Kids program and Saturdays!

a brown appearing person wearing a light brown head scarf smiles with their head turned slightly to the side and gazing at the viewer in an outdoor setting with a leafy tree in the background

Roshnik just finished a second year placement with us via Ryerson's Early Childhood Studies program! She recently joined our team for a summer job!

Guinevere is a Program Assistant. She works on Saturdays at Kimbourne!

brown person with very long dark hair smiling in an outdoor setting wearing a light blue long sleeved top

Saliha is a second year Early Childhood Studies student at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is doing a placement with EECC for May and part of June.

white appearing person wearing a toque is outdoors smiling and holding a very large maple leaf that is orange-brown in colour

Rebecca is our newest hire and a Program Assistant. Look for her on Mondays at Kimbourne until the end of May!

Our Social Media and Virtual Programming!

Anna reads At the Firehouse by Anne Rockwell and more from our Let's Read playlist.

DIY with Lisa: Cardboard Construction Set!

Hair Love and more from our Social Justice playlist!

Our Tried & True Playdough Recipe!

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar (available in bulk food stores)
1 cup water
2 tbsp oil
food colouring

Directions

Blend flour, salt and cream of tartar.
Add oil and food colouring to water, and combine the dry & wet ingredients in a non-stick skillet, stirring well. Mixture will be very sticky.
Cook on medium heat, keeping the dough in motion so it does not burn. (It’s done when it’s no longer sticky and the surface becomes kind of shiny)
Knead while it cools.

Tips:

It’s under-cooked if it remains sticky or overly oily.
If you'd prefer to avoid artificial dyes, natural dyes can be made from foods such as beet juice, blueberries and raspberries.
We use cream of tartar, but it's kind of expensive and if you omit it, your play dough will still be good, but may not last as long.

How Did I Get on This Mailing List?

If you're receiving this weekly newsletter by email, it's because you either subscribed OR attended/registered for a program.. Two things we want you to know:

1) We ALWAYS keep your contact information private. We will never sell, trade or share your email address or any other information about you/your family, with anyone.

2) This newsletter is our primary way of communicating updates to you. We ask that families actively or occasionally attending our programs remain subscribed so we can keep you informed of our schedules and participation guidelines.