Splashes filled the air as children laughed and jumped into puddles of mud. Giggles echoed as friends coated their slide with mud, creating a slippery surface for sliding into a mud pool. On June 28th, Children Today celebrated International Mud Day—a cherished occasion that has become a special holiday at our facility, uniting all the children for a day of sensory-filled fun.

​“We really were allowing that free play. Exploration is definitely a part of our philosophy, and this particular day is more of a fun day,” Vasquez said. “For Mud Day it is very open-ended what they do. The teachers in the background – watching and helping – but they don’t set rules for how to play in the mud.”

For those seeking a quieter experience, our activities included painting mud murals with mud-filled jars and excavating dinosaur toys from dirt bins—huge hits with our toddlers and infants who wanted to explore without getting too messy. 

International Mud Day also served as a rare occasion for our infant, toddler and preschool classrooms to come together. It was heartwarming to witness older children guiding and playing alongside their younger peers, fostering a sense of community.

At Children Today, International Mud Day isn't just about getting messy—it's about fostering joy, exploration, and togetherness through the simple pleasure of playing with mud.

Preschoolers didn’t just play house; they built it from scratch, swapping out bricks and mortar for glue and cardboard. Their skyscrapers soared with plastic windows and newspaper roofs. For Earth Day, the preschool class created a replica of a town using only recycled materials – naming their sustainable city “Recycle Town.”

​Building Recycle Town wasn’t a one-person job. It took a village—or, more accurately, a community of families who pitched in their recyclables. Preschool teacher Julia Ochoa sent a note out to families, asking them to bring in their recycled products. Families responded by bringing in bags of plastic, cardboard, paper and more, which allowed preschoolers to see how their once-trash turned into town-building materials.

And the lessons didn’t stop there. Through Recycle Town, these preschoolers learned that recycling isn’t just about cans and bottles—it’s about giving old items new life. Bashir explained that this project is just the beginning.

​“I think this project will open their minds to be able to impact the environment at home and they can take this project and share it with others,” Bashir said. “We talked about recyclables and recycling plastics, but we also talked about how to recycle clothing and donations. Knowing that there’s lots of ways to recycle and reuse old materials, they can take that into the future and be able to recycle in a lot of ways.”

By Elia Rocha

Limbs rigid, face pinched, wailing. Finn can’t sleep. 

He came to us last December at 9-months-old, prenatally exposed to drugs and in foster care.  At this point in his life and based on a whole host of factors we don’t know the full extent of (physical, developmental, psychological), he is unable to tune out external stimuli and regulate his body.  The calm he needs to rest exists largely outside himself. 

The learning curve was steep for the staff in the infant classroom as they figured out the right combination of actions that would allow him to sleep.  How to hold him and at what angle, how to sway or rock him, how much pressure to apply to his body to keep him from flailing, when and whether to make eye contact, when to move him away from other babies going down to nap.  And, most importantly, how to remain calm in the face of his agitation so that they could transmit their quiet to him.  Sometimes these strategies worked well and Finn could sleep after a few minutes.  Other times it was a longer struggle. 

Circumstances like these highlight two key aspects of our work: communication and perseverance.  Learning to read Finn's cues and responding to them consistently and appropriately was how the baby could effectively say, "this is what I need," and his caregivers could reply by meeting those needs.  If Finn’s primary caregiver was struggling, she knew she could ask for help from a fellow teacher, from our social worker, or from our center director and they would step in.  If Finn’s sleep was spotty on a given day, they’d try again the next, using what they’d learned thus far. 

Communication and perseverance.

A few weeks ago, Finn was reunited with a relative and moved away.  We know that his new school is struggling with these same sleep issues because his guardian has called and asked us for advice.  We know that the school’s decision to keep Finn in their program will be a critical factor in his guardian’s ability to keep him in her home because she needs to work. 
 
It’s all so tenuous. 
 
If Finn somehow ends up back in Long Beach in foster care, we’ll take him. We’ll struggle along with him.  We'll devise new strategies.  We'll communicate with him and each other.  We'll persevere just like he does. 

You can can make the Holiday Season so much brighter for dozens of children and families by donating to Children Today's Holiday Store.  Learn how you can get involved below or download the flyer here.  And, thanks!

Take an #UNselfie for Giving Tuesday and show us why you support Children Today.  We'd love to know!  You can use the Children Today UNselfie template linked here or make your own!  Here's more info on how to participate.  And, thanks!

This past Friday, September 22nd, Children Today hosted a reception to honor the generous donors of our capital campaign.  Their support made possible the purchase, design, and remodel of the Cherese Mari Laulhere EcoHouse.  It is a beautiful, happy, one-of-a-kind space, and one we are so grateful to call home.

Countless individuals contributed their time, energy, talents, and resources to see this project realized.  From all of us at Children Today - the children, families, staff, and board - thank you.

Through the Cherese Mari Laulhere Foundation they support causes that were near and dear to Cherese, who had a passion for helping those in need, especially children and animals.  We are so grateful to be among the many worthy organizations to be touched by Cherese and are proud to have her name on this building.  ​

This is, without a doubt, one of our favorite traditions.  Every year, to commemorate the birth of our co-founder, Jennifer Fitzgerald, friends and supporters Dennis & Leslie Smith treat all the kids in our program to a brand new pair of shoes. 

It's a wonderful and welcome gift for our little ones and a fitting way to honor Jennifer.  Thanks, Dennis & Leslie!