Providing a Safe Space

Birth & up. The Peeka® developmental mirror features an array of colorful and engaging elements designed to help children explore, learn, and grow. Adjust the multi-position stand for tummy time or held by baby. Babies can grasp the multi-textured handles for tactile stimulation and sensory exploration. Move the multi-texture balls along the top and bottom handles for midline play improving gross and fine motor skills. Little ones can engage in early stages of communication through smiling,… More »

These guides offer families simple strategies to support young children's healthy social and emotional development. Filled with suggestions of everyday activities that families can enjoy together and promote three key protective factors: initiative, self-regulation, and attachment/relationships. Booklets (40 pages) are available in English or Spanish in sets of 20. Copyright 2013.

Birth & up. Children will relate to this lovable set of bears and matching blanket that encourages social emotional development. The four soft and colorful bears will help children identify and label the common emotions of happy, sad, angry, and scared. Have children match the bear to the corresponding color on the blanket, and discuss each emotion. Each bear is 11" tall. Machine washable.

18 months & up. Children can engage in a historic cultural journey while playing with the eight Around the World Dolls. These 5" figures represent four males and four females dressed in traditional clothing from seven various cultures distinctly represented in this set of dolls. These dolls are great for storytelling and will help children introduce diversity to pretend play by exploring a different culture. 8 pieces.

12 months & up. Excellent for creative role-play, career, and cultural awareness activities. These 8 puppets have appropriate outfits which illustrate different occupations. Set includes: doctor, chef, fireman, postal worker, construction worker, farmer, veterinarian, and policeman. 12"L.

Every day, 250 children are suspended from school. Many are children of color, deprived of opportunities to experience learning at the same rate and quality as white children. Many families don't feel heard or respected in their child's schools. Don't Look Away: Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms leads early childhood professionals to explore and address issues of bias, equity, low expectations, and family engagement to ensure culturally responsive experiences. Importantly, this book will challenge… More »

Birth & up. Young children will enjoy looking at images of themselves, friends, and family in this soft and durable photo mat. Photos often contain a variety of colors and shapes, which can help infants develop their visual discrimination skills. Viewing photos helps infants build their memory skills as they begin to recognize familiar faces, objects, and settings. Photos that capture different facial expressions and emotions can help infants begin to understand and recognize various emotional… More »

Whether you see a preschooler laughing or crying, hugging or tugging on a playmate, taking risks or seeking comfort from an adult, you know that they are developing their emotional skills and growing up in so many ways every day. And they need your help! This book shares common milestones and typical scenarios to help you recognize various ways that preschoolers express their feelings and interact with others. As you support preschoolers struggling to handle emotional challenges that occur during… More »

Preschoolers tend to be social beings. Whether they are playing with dolls side by side, building block castles together, or rolling down hills with friends, most young children enjoy the company of others. Playing together comes naturally, but you can help them negotiate turn taking, learning how to mend hurt feelings, and practice communicating positively while they play. This book highlights the milestones children tend to reach during the preschool years as they develop socially. As a guide… More »

12 months & up. This empowering book series celebrates toddlers and the world around them. Each story is a confidence-booster and encourages children to master various skills and celebrate the joy of learning new things. Set of 4 board books.

12 months & up. This bilingual board book series explains early manners and emotions with simple words and images, illustrating ways to cope with frustration, anger or sadness.

Birth & up. These plush ocean animals are ready to give lots of soft, snuggly hugs. Just spread their arms open wide, give the chest a little squeeze, and watch the arms instantly snap around to give you a hug. These ocean animals can hug around your wrist, backpack, and so much more. Surface washable. Size: 8". Animals may vary.

Seventy-nine interactive activities based on positive messages help children increase their attention spans, reduce hyperactivity, build self esteem, and facilitate language development. The interactions teach children how to be kind and caring using gentle touches. 208 pages.

A young child's brain is uniquely sensitive to the effects of stress and trauma, which can have detrimental, long-term developmental impact. "Helping Them Heal" provides answers, ideas, and specific classroom strategies to move trauma-affected children in positive directions. Educators will learn ways to help children build resilience, self-regulation, and self-competence using this sensitive, supportive, and practical guide. Paperback. 192 pages.

Sometimes misbehavior isn't what it seems. Many children come to care with early signs of mental- or behavioral-health issues. Early childhood professionals are often the first to notice that something is different. "How Can I Help?" is a practical guide that helps educators first identify issues and then create nurturing, safe, and successful learning environments to set up all children for success. Learn how to: promote mental health for all children in your care, identify signs of behavioral-health… More »

Resource books often provide tips and tricks for managing challenging behaviors, but what happens when those tactics don't work? Most teachers give up. This book brings a raw, real, and at times funny approach to handling challenging behaviors and understanding why most behavior-management strategies don't work. Author Angela Searcy shares real-world examples, proven solutions, and new approaches to overcoming classroom disruptions using her PUSH PAST IT approach. Paperback. 176 pages.

Birth & up. These zoo animals are ready to give lots of soft, snuggly hugs. Just spread their arms open wide, give the chest a little squeeze, and watch the arms instantly snap around to give you a hug. Animals can hug around your wrist, backpack, and so much more. Surface washable. Size: 8". Animals may vary.

Through the activities in this book, teachers and caregivers are shown how easy it is to foster children's sense of curiosity through group explorations that promote social connection and positive development. With step-by-step instructions, "Getting to the Heart of Learning' weaves social-emotional learning into activities that support math, science, literacy, and motor skills. Rather than adding in activities throughout the day, these explorations integrate social-emotional learning across… More »

With the increase in both parents working outside the home during the last two decades, infants and toddlers are spending more time together in infant/toddler programs and family child-care homes. From Biting to Hugging will give you effective strategies to help you take advantage of this peer time. Enhance the quality of peer experiences in infant/toddler group settings. Create responsive adult-child relationships and environments. Encourage positive social emotional development and learning. Teach… More »

Each chapter describes an issue that infants face every day, making this a perfect resource for all infant providers. There are scenarios that illustrate the challenges and suggest solutions to meet baby's needs while learning about the developmental stages. This hands-on resource is for infants 6 weeks to 18 months old and for your resource library.

An early childhood classroom should reinforce and enhance young children's sense of belonging and connection to their environment, each other, their families, and their community. This book invites educators and administrators to rethink the traditional classroom, with inspirational examples showing how to weave elements that reflect each center's community into the classroom design. Colorful photos show what teachers can do to encourage a sense of community unique to each classroom. Easy-to-implement… More »

When young children are engaged in imaginative play, they are not just having fun; they are developing skills and concepts that are foundational to their learning. Teachers can get the most out of this critical development time with thoughtful preparations that allow the children to freely explore their creativity and learn from each other. Using simple props and donated items, the book shows how centers can be transformed into rich and rewarding learning spaces for children. Play Today offers dozens… More »

When was the last time you got down on your hands and knees to see your classroom from a child's height? Research shows that effective early childhood classroom design begins from the ground up. Classroom design is a crucial component of an effective learning environment. This book brings a new approach to classroom design that begins and ends with the child's viewpoint. Each chapter details how the classroom environment influences children's learning, and the authors provide specific examples of… More »

'The Neglected Child' provides everything educators and caregivers need to know to identify and intervene in neglectful situations, while also creating a safe, nurturing, and protective environment for young children. From defining the different types and levels of severity of neglect to establishing suspicion and reporting neglectful situations, this book is filled with helpful information from expert psychologists and educators in the field today. Each chapter includes a brief quiz to assess chapter… More »