Villages are places of warmth and nurturing; extensions of family. They are also places of celebrations and commemorations. Since ancient times, communities have joined together to express their deepest ideals and emotions through holidays – festivals marking the seasons, historical events, and core values. Celebrations remain central to the self-expression of children in early childhood education programs.
At Discovery Village, designed to offer a village environment of nurturing and creativity to children, celebrations are very frequent, typically occurring once a week. They are not just “add ons”, but are among the most central ways that we playfully embed in our program our three pillars – Relationships, Experiences, and Values. (REV – REV it Up with Discovery Village!) Celebrations are central to learning in exemplary early childhood education programs.
“Celebrations not only enrich our program, they are core to our understanding of ourselves as a village” explains Anna Hobbs, Assistant Director, who has both inspired and organized our robust calendar of events. “Festivals create opportunities for children to experience our ideals and values as a community in ways that are exciting, meaningful and so much fun.”
Some of the Discovery Village core values celebrated at our festivals include creativity, caring, community, and discovery.
Celebrations of Creativity
Some celebrations of creativity are whimsical like
National Play-Doh Day
and
Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Others are more substantive investigations into the arts such as
National Color Day
(which was actually an interdisciplinary celebration of art and science)
and
Pablo Picasso’s Birthday.
Celebrations of Caring
Celebrations of Caring (for others and for the world) have included
National Do Something Nice Day (caring for others)
and
National Recycling Day (caring for our earth)
Celebrations of Community
Deliberating building community we include days in which we celebrate Discovery Village as a home away from home. We had an especially good time on
Pajama Day
Community celebrations also include festivals connected to the seasons such as
Fall Festival and Harvest Parade.
We’re now gearing up for Friendsgiving.
Celebrations of Discovery
We also enjoy celebrations connected to learning and Discovery. A favorite was our recent
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Day
All of this, and we’ve only been open a little over four months.
There is so much more to come as we consider our core values and days to commemorate them.
What holidays and festivals would you like to see?
We are truly looking forward to celebrating with you!