World Children’s Day is celebrated every year on the 20th of November. The theme this year is inclusion.

The UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child on the 20th of November 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the same date in 1989.

Children have the right for example to:

• Personal views. Children have the right to give their opinions freely on issues that affect them. Adults should listen and take children seriously.

• Own thoughts and share them freely. Children have the right to share freely with others what they learn, think and feel, by talking, drawing, writing, or in any other way unless it harms other people.

• Access to information. Children have the right to get information from the Internet, radio, television, newspapers, books, and other sources. Adults should make sure the information they are getting is not harmful.

• A full life with disabilities. Every child with a disability should enjoy the best possible life in society.

• Food, clothing, and a safe home. Children have the right to food, clothing, and a safe place to live so they can develop in the best possible way. The government should help families and children who cannot afford this.

• Proper education. Children’s education should help them fully develop their personalities, talents, and abilities. It should teach them to understand their own rights and to respect other people’s rights, cultures, and differences. It should help them to live peacefully and protect the environment.

• Rest, play, culture, arts. Every child has the right to rest, relax, play, and take part in cultural and creative activities.

See the full list of the Rights of the Child from here.

How to celebrate World Children's Day?

Experiencing bullying can have tremendous negative effects on a child's life even into adulthood.

It is important to learn about misunderstandings, conflicts, and problem-solving in childhood, but not through bullying. Bullying should not be tolerated at any point.

Bullying among small children has not been researched greatly, but some studies show that even two-year-old children are able to bully others.

So, as bullying happens in a group, group rules define how everyone should act in that specific group.

In some groups, bullying is socially rewarding and therefore it encourages some children to bully others. For example, not all overweight children are bullied, but in some groups, they might get bullied, unfortunately.

ABA: Bullying in Early Years

How to teach children NOT to bully?

Bullying among small children has not been researched greatly, but some studies show that even two-year-old children are able to bully others. Experiencing bullying can have tremendous negative effects on a child's life even into adulthood. It is important to learn about misunderstandings, conflicts, and problem-solving in childhood, but not through bullying. Bullying should not be tolerated at any point.

What is considered bullying in your center?

Bullying can be prevented together. All educators, children, and parents should clearly understand and be on the same page about what is considered bullying in your center. According to Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) a shared understanding of bullying will benefit the whole community including staff, children, and parents, and ensure that bullying is not misidentified and is spotted when it does happen.

Bullying is the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. It can happen face to face or online.

- Anti-Bullying Alliance

So, as bullying happens in a group, group rules define how everyone should act in that specific group. In some groups, bullying is socially rewarding and therefore it encourages some children to bully others. For example, not all overweight children are bullied, but in some groups, they might get bullied, unfortunately.

ABA: Bullying in Early Years

How to teach children NOT to bully?

Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to compulsory primary school age. It is a time of remarkable growth and important milestones in brain development. During this stage, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them. (Unesco 2020)

In early childhood, children are highly influenced by the environment and the people that surround them.

That being said, it is good to assess how the whole learning environment is set up to support children's playful learning such as:

• Educator's pedagogical skills and competencies when working with the children
• Curriculum and learning objectives for playful learning
• Action plans, syllabus, weekly and daily plans
• Lesson plans and activities
• Learning materials such as toys, building blocks, painting and writing materials, etc.
• Observations, documentation, and formative assessment of learning
• The activity areas

These should encourage and support the children to play, interact, and practice cognitive processes such as problem-solving and controlling feelings. Play motivates children, brings joy, and supports the children's well-being. It allows them to learn new skills whilst enjoying the learning.

In this blog post, we focus on the physical activity areas.

Physical activity areas

The learning environment should take the whole child into consideration - social, emotional, cultural, linguistic, physical, and cognitive side - and provide activities in all those aspects.

To do this, you can for example include activity areas that offer opportunities for both hands-on, play-based learning and developmentally appropriate instruction of academic skills. Activity areas should invite children to inquire, explore, test, discover, and engage in play and learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about the mental health of children around the world.

The State of the World’s Children report by UNICEF examines child mental health and calls for commitment, communication, and action in order to promote good mental health for every child.

Building a good base for mental health starts already when we are babies. There are multiple ways how educators too can support children's mental health. On the other hand, there are also some alarming signs that are good to be aware of.

How to lay the base for good mental health?

Adults play a super important key role in the lives of small children. When children are as little as 0-5 years old, the foundation for good and strong mental health, growth, learning, and happy and healthy life is built.

Little children look for love, affection, learning, and a feeling of safety. So what small children need the most is time together with safe, friendly, and familiar adults, their primary caregivers.

A lifetime of balanced mental health is constructed on top of a good and loving relationship. A relationship that makes children feel they are cared for, and secure and that they are special, important, and loved.

How to support children's mental health?

BABIES

• Spending time together with familiar adults
• Playing together
• Cuddling, caring, showing affection and love
• Communicating with and talking
• Noticing initiatives, responding to baby sounds and expressions
• Taking care of primary needs (food, sleep, hygiene)
• Having a routine and safe, familiar environment to spend time at
• Showing emotions

TODDLERS

• Supporting the child's interest in exploring the world
• Exploring the environment outside together
• Reading books together and naming objects around you
• Playing together and having fun
• Encouraging to learn new skills
• Spending time around other children and people in general
• Encouraging, supporting, and praising when practicing new skills
• Naming and learning about emotions as well as empathy

PRESCHOOLERS

• Interacting with people
• Playing with other children
• Solving simple age-appropriate problems
• Helping with simple age-appropriate chores (eg. Please place your boots on the shoe rack!)
• Sticking to clear rules, boundaries, and routines (right - wrong)
• Providing clear age-appropriate options when making decisions about what to wear, eat or play (eg. Would you like to wear a blue or red hat?)
• Having respect for a child's personal choices, likes, and dislikes

How to improve your preschool in a smart way?

What to look out for?

The smaller the child, the more often they have difficulties with expressing and managing emotions.