Men in Childcare

14/08/2026

♥️

12/06/2026

🎈🌍 Celebrate International Day of Play with NCN! 🌍🎈

Participating in the National Childhood Network’s “Stay and Play” session is a wonderful opportunity for Early Years, Childminders, and School Age Services to champion every child’s right to play 🧸✨

By opening your doors to families 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦, you help build strong partnerships between parents and educators while creating a warm sense of community 💛

🛝 This year’s theme is: 🌱 “Protect Play, Protect Childhood” 🌱

Play is not “just play” 💫 It supports:
🧠 Cognitive development
💪 Physical wellbeing
❤️ Social & emotional growth
🎨 Creativity & imagination
🤝 Confidence, belonging & connection

Hosting a Stay and Play session is a fantastic way to:
✨ Showcase your play-based practice
✨ Promote screen-free exploration
✨ Support lifelong learning foundations
✨ Align with Aistear, Síolta & EDI
✨ Celebrate the incredible work educators do every day 🌟

Please join NCN and celebrate the power of Play together!
📅 International Day of Play
🗓️ Thursday, 11 June 2026

💡 Each setting will receive a copy of our Non-Screen Play Tip Sheet information leaflet, featuring 31 practical play tips!🌈🧩🎨

To Register: https://ncn.ie/events/stay-play-campaign/

12/06/2026

Children are always watching… not just what we say, but how we live.

They notice the tone in your voice, the way you speak about yourself, how you repair after mistakes, and how you show up when things feel hard. These “little things” are actually the blueprint they use to build their own inner voice, relationships, and sense of self.

This is how emotional safety is taught.
This is how self-worth is learned.

Not through perfect parenting—but through consistent, human moments of awareness, repair, and connection. 💛

So the next time you feel like it’s the small things… you’re right.
They’re small—but they’re shaping everything.

12/06/2026

Building cubbies, make-believe, dressing up - while it might just look like fun and games, play is actually crucial for your child's development. The problem is, as Australian kids spend more time at school, on their screens and in structured activities, they're not playing enough. Maggie Dent talks...

12/06/2026

  I have been writing and speaking about the importance of play in childhood for a very long time, and yet it seems that today’s children are definitely showing the ...

02/06/2026

https://youtu.be/mwSq5ZspA1U?si=oeF7ycV0Q8JJmV63

We are breaking down local success and looking ahead to an incredib...

25/05/2026

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
WINDY CITY DADS is always looking for members who would be interested in organizing meetups in your neck of the woods and helping us keep this group an active community... be it a Dads Night Out or Playgroup activity with the kids and/or Family Outing to grab a pizza, see a movie, go to zoo, etc. If interested, please contact Brian D***s via meetup messenger or by email
[email protected]

16/05/2026

16/05/2026

The Brain Benefits of Risky Play 🌿

When children climb, balance, leap, build, and test their limits, something incredible happens their brains grow right along with their confidence.

Risky play isn’t about danger. It’s about developmentally appropriate, supervised challenges that help children build the skills they need for life. These early experiences support resilience, focus, emotional regulation, and problem-solving in ways that worksheets simply can’t replicate.

Here’s what risky play builds in the early years:
🧠 Early Brain Development: When children make decisions, solve problems, and assess risk, they’re strengthening the building blocks of executive functioning.
⚡ Executive Functioning Skills: Balancing on a log, building a fort, or climbing a tree encourages planning, impulse control, flexible thinking, and working memory.
💛 Amygdala – Emotional Regulation: Feeling both fear and excitement in safe, supervised situations helps children learn to manage big emotions and build courage.
🎯 Prefrontal Cortex – Focus & Strategy: Children practise planning and recall as they navigate challenges—like choosing the safest foothold or mapping out the next move.
🌱 Physical, Social & Emotional Growth: Risky play strengthens coordination, builds core strength, nurtures independence, and supports cooperation with peers.

When we allow children to explore manageable risks, we’re not just keeping them active—we’re giving them space to grow confident, capable, and brave. Let them climb. Let them test. Let them try again.✨
Because risky play builds strong bodies and strong minds.