Yeah Baby! is a specialist conference concerned with the education and care of our infants from birth to three years of age. This one-day conference runs from 9am-3pm on a Saturday and includes trade fair, and great seminar and workshops style presentations. The format for the day ensures delegates will return to their early childhood settings affirmed and inspired with up-to-date research as well as practical advice, guidance and solutions all relevant to work and play with children under 3. New information is shared each year and each programme varies according to region.

Programme:

9-10.30am: Toni Christie - Brain Body Balance

The evidence is overwhelming! Quality relationships and learning environments have a massive impact on brain development in the early years. For so many of our youngest citizens growing up in ECE, these relationships and environments will have long-term implications on self-regulation, wellbeing and overall mental health. In this session Toni will share insights and strategies for brain-body balance that will help us to regulate ourselves as Kaiako as we co-regulate with the infants and toddlers we love and learn alongside.

10.30-11am: morning tea

11-11.30am: Sue Castle - If you think the path to rituals is risky – you should try routines – it’s lethal!

Tired of feeling stressed? Feeling like you are constantly running against the clock? Are you overwhelmed with ticking boxes, and missing connection with your children and families? Do you dream of slower days where you can honour each child’s individual needs, and have the connections you desire?

This was the adventure Journey Riverhills set out on two years ago! We began with a team of tired, overwhelmed educators who felt like they were on a constant treadmill of ticking boxes. Along the trek to embedding rituals, during our small rest stops of reflection we discovered a new world where the clock doesn’t count, where beauty in the small details of our day is not just part of the bigger picture, rather a whole scenic view worthy of stopping for.

The journey from routines to rituals is not always easy, there may be struggles, and there may be fears, and you may fall off the path occasionally, but the journey is full of unbelievable possibilities. We are only just scratching the surface on what we can still achieve on this journey, but oh the trip has been more wonderful and fuller of magic than we ever imagined!

11.30am-12.30pm: Toni Christie - Kaiako create the environment for love and learning

In this session Toni will introduce participants to a range of theory and practical applications for setting up environments that will spark joy and encourage exploration for our youngest learners.

We will discover contemporary early childhood environmental theory such as Brain SET design and the Honeycomb Hypothesis. Ideas and examples will be shared through images and discussion around provocations, invitations, biophilia, continuity, kaupapa, and other environmental essentials that we can influence as Kaiako every day.

12.30-1.15pm: Lunch and a chance to check out the trade fair

1.15-2.45pm: Robin Christie - Power and Place: Recent Thoughts on Infant and Toddler Learning Spaces

Our infant and toddler environments reflect who we are as a learning community – curious, functional, and beautiful! This lively presentation will share recent work from the Childspace Workshop in Wellington and explore the rationale behind these designs. From designing outdoor sleep spaces to the importance of indoor/ outdoor transition zones, from the role of physical symbols in emerging literacy to outdoor nappy change units - join teacher and ECE environment designer Robin Christie to find out what’s been keeping him up at night!

General admission price: $240

Space mag subscriber's price: $220

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