Look, a dog!

On February 14th, Valentine’s Day, the children at Boréal des tout-petits were surprised when the classroom door opened and four-legged friends walked in. Through a partnership with le Centre Louis Riel and Magical Paws Pet Therapy, the children made new friendships with therapy dogs!

Pet therapy (therapy with animals) is well known to have many benefits on our well-being.

Let’s take a closer look at how it benefits the toddlers’ development.

I learn by playing with animals!

Dogs are very kind and affectionate, but also sensitive to my emotions. If I am scared or sad, they will know and even try to comfort me! If I am happy, they will start wagging their tails and want to play with me. It’s like seeing a mirror of my emotions. Seeing him so happy all the time just makes me smile!

I learn a lot from my four-legged friend. He is constantly playing and by wanting to do what he does, I am moving, being creative and using my imagination! He also teaches me to be gentle and kind to my friends at school.

Dogs teach us a lot, and I’ve learned to be more caring towards others. I love playing and learning with dogs!

Pet therapy is for everyone, but it’s even more beneficial for my friends with autism, behavioral disorders, chronic illnesses, or who have suffered abuse of some kind. My friend who is autistic plays a lot with the therapy dogs and learns a lot about new ways of communication! Dogs don’t judge us, and they help us learn and grow, while gently pushing our limits.

A big thank you to our friends at the Centre Louis Riel and at Collège Boréal who allowed us to participate in this activity. We also thank all the volunteers at Magical Paws Pet Therapy Sudbury.

A look back at an education day with all our staff!

On March 3rd, the educators all gathered at Collège Boréal for an educational day around the theme of “Vivre sa francophonie!” (Live your Francophonie!)

The goal? To become better adventure creators!

The day began with a creative journal workshop given by Nicholas Dupuis. We sat down, a blank journal awaiting us. Several pens, markers, paint, and magazines were also at our disposition.  Let’s get to work!

Nicholas first asked us to close our eyes and draw ourselves. Soon enough, our hands and faces were covered in paint! As adults, we sometimes forget to play without constraints or judgments. That’s what this exercise is all about!

The result? We learn to think outside the box in order to play and use our creativity to support children in their development.

After lunch, it’s time to put on our coats, ski pants and boots. We’ll meet in the forest to participate in several activities that we can then incorporate into our outdoor programs.

On the agenda: a meditation and relaxation activity in the snow with Céline, a tresor hunt with Joëlle and a vocabulary game with Kathryn to learn to name the species of our region. We now have a variety of tools to enrich the children’s outdoor experiences!

Outdoor Research at Scène des tout-petits

Our teaching team regularly visits the second centre involved in outdoor research: the Scène des tout-petits Early Childhood Centre at École publique Hélène-Gravel in the south of the city.

The action research process – the rigorous documentation of the benefits of outdoor education in children and educators – will begin in May.

In the meantime, the team is working on a variety of tasks, such as managing and taking healthy and measured risks, exploring the community and surrounding trails, adapting to the weather, etc.

We are thinking about all the options that can be explored in order to facilitate outings to take place regularly, and to ensure their sustainability.

Some team members will then begin the Forest School Practitioner Course with the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada. This one-year training will be paid for by the Carrefour francophone.

Today, I went on a sleigh ride!

The day of March 9 begins as usual at Boréal des tout-petits. However, the pedagogical advisors and educators have a surprise for the group of preschoolers. Today they will be going on a sleigh ride, drawn by real horses!

We head to the changing room to put on our coats, ski pants, boots, hat and mittens. There is a beautiful sun outside, but we bundle up to keep warm! We then head towards the Indigenous outdoor area of Collège Boréal.

And then, big surprise!

Two big and beautiful horses stand in front of us, harnessed to a carriage, ready to take us for a ride.

The horses are so big! The educators help us get into the carriage, it’s too high for us. We can’t wait to see where the ride will take us!

And here we go! Clip clop, clip clop, clip clop; we hear the sound of the horses’ hooves on the cement. It is fascinating to see the world from this point of view! On one side of the carriage, we see the forest where we like to play, on the other, the Collège Boréal building where our early childhood centre is located. It’s so much fun that we don’t see the time pass! The ride is already over. We hope to see our horse friends again very soon!

Many thanks to our friends at Centre Louis-Riel at Collège Boréal and Wagon Wheel Ranch for allowing us to have such a great sleigh ride!