Children celebrate ducky days
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ST. IGNATIUS – The yellow rubber racers went more in a circle than a straight line and some went flying out of the buckets.
“The 13th of January is Rubber Ducky Day,” said Lake County Health Department Director Emily Colomeda of the national holiday.
In honor of Rubber Ducky Day, the Parents as Teachers Community Connection group, which is connected with the Lake County Health Department, held two days of fun for children up to age 5. On Monday, Dec. 11, the event was held at The Nest in St. Ignatius, and the second day it was in Polson at the health department.
The Parents as Teachers program helps educate parents on the developmental milestones of children from before birth to age 5. The idea is to help get kids ready for kindergarten with home visits and group socializing activities that incorporate play into learning, which is what the kids were doing with the rubber duckies during the group’s monthly meeting that is open to the public.
The children were each given a bucket full of water and rubber duckies. They used straws and water bottles to get the ducks to move around. It didn’t appear that the toddlers picked a winner, but they did seem to be having fun. One child worked on figuring out how to say the word “ducky.”
After the race, it was story time. The kids were directed to sit down and get ready for a story about none other than rubber duckies, although many of the toddlers preferred to explore the room while listening to the story.
The group gets together each month to allow the kids to play and participate in activities while the parents get some needed socializing time. Anyone with young children is welcome to attend the meetings. Information on signing up for the program is available at the health department.
The Nest located at 410 St. Mary’s Drive is open for events like the Parents As Teachers program, and they plan to open in late February as a nonprofit home to pregnant or parenting young moms.
“We’ve been actively working for the past year to get this open,” said Jen Blumberg, executive director and founder of The Nest. “We’ve had some generous donations in our area and in the state to help get this started.”
The Nest is an actual home where residents will live with their children.
“This isn’t short term housing,” she said. “We encourage people to stay at least six months and up to two years.”
The moms can spend that time working on acquiring an education, finding a job or anything else that helps them gain the tools they need to raise healthy, happy children.
Blumberg said an open house for The Nest is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25, at 4:30 p.m. And they are currently looking for volunteers. For more information, call 406-546-0199 or www.facebook.com/TheNestMontana.
