Team Day Nursery needs your help

We had so much fun last year, we’re going to do it again! Team Day Nursery will be competing again next month in the Indiana Sports Corp’s Corporate Challenge. The Corporate Challenge is a fun-filled community event that emphasizes healthy lifestyles and company camaraderie.  Leading up to the September 21 & 28 competition, Team Day Nursery will have a chance to earn points by participating in the Community & Compassion Events. One of the ways you can help us  earn team points is to donate sports equipment (trust us…we need all the help earning team points that we can get!!)

Donation box decorated by students at Day Nursery Northwest

Collection boxes will be available in the lobby of the 7 Day Nursery Centers until September 20. Check out the list below for the items that are most needed.

Indiana Sports Corp’s Geared For Health program collects and distributes donated sports equipment to help under served local young athletes have the equipment they need to jump start a more active lifestyle while encouraging a commitment to good health. The program collects new and gently-used donated sports equipment from manufacturers, retailers, institutions, events and individuals, and distributes it to not-for-profit, youth-serving organizations, sports leagues and sports clubs.

Geared For Health accepts:
– traditional sports gear (soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, football, lacrosse, hockey, tennis, golf, volleyball, boxing, wrestling, martial arts)
– yard games (badminton, croquet, bocce ball)
– playground and street sports equipment (rollerblades, roller skates, street hockey gear, Frisbees, jump ropes)
– water sports gear (masks, fins, kick boards, pool games, water guns)

Are you ready to LEAP into ART?

Proceeds from Leap Into Art will support arts programming for children.

Do you have your ticket yet for LEAP into ART? Day Nursery and Arts for Learning  are joining together on Saturday May 18 to raise money for arts programming for children.This adult-only event features live music, hands-on arts activities  and lots of yummy hors d’oeuvres, Barefoot Wine and Sun King Beer. Come “Be a Child Again” while you shop the silent auction and make a masterpiece to take home with you. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here or by calling Sarah Ferguson at 317-636-9197 ext. 240.

Here’s a flyer you can download and share with your friends.  Tickets are limited so order yours today! Leap into Art flyer

Day Nursery Board Members Day of Caring

Members of the Day Nursery Association and Day Nursery Auxiliary boards gathered early Saturday morning to help build garden boxes on the preschool playground of our Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central Avenue.  Both the preschool and infant toddler playgrounds are undergoing a major transformation to turn them into a certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom.

Pictured here is one of 4 garden boxes that the volunteers built.  A second group of volunteers will construct the toddler garden boxes soon.  Children will have the opportunity to plant seeds in the winter and nurture them in indoor greenhouse environments, transplanting them to the boxes every spring.  A project approach to learning is used in these science lessons in that the classroom groups research and decide what they want to grow,  how to take care of the plants, and ultimately how to prepare the food when they harvest it.

One focal point of the preschool playground consists of 5 x 5 foot decking platforms that are at different heights and framed by round wooded trunk-like posts. Once this play area is built, children will be able to add fabric and other items to create, build and play using imagination and team building skills with other kids.  The different levels create rooms/spaces that are available simultaneously for constant play.  The toddler playground has another platform deck, built to scale for younger children. The project is being facilitated by Daryn Fair, President of Fall Creek Land Design.

Day Nursery Race Into Reading with Simona De Silvestro

Simona De Silvestro visited preschoolers in the Day Nursery Northwest Center in April to read to them and to learn more about our mission to provide quality early childhood education.

We’re only 3 weeks away from our new fundraiser Race Into Reading which will be held Wednesday May 9 in Indianapolis.  Indy Car driver Simona De Silvestro will be the honorary chair of the event which will be held at The Riverwalk in Broad Ripple.  Ticket information can be found online or you can call our office at 636-9197 ext. 222 to charge your tickets by phone.  Calling all Indy Car fans!  This is a great chance to spend two hours talking racing and support a great cause.  Support of the Day Nursery Race Into Reading event will help low-income children from 250 Indianapolis families have access to a literacy-rich environment and a great early childhood education through the Day Nursery Tuition Assistance Scholarship fund.

Day Nursery Auxiliary Style Show this Friday

We hope to see you this Friday, October 7 at the Oak Hill Mansion in Carmel for the Day Nursery Auxiliary’s annual Luncheon and Style Show fundraiser. A limited number of tickets are still available. If you need more information, check out the Auxiliary’s website.

Want to help spread the word about Day Nursery? Then Get On Board!

Are you passionate about serving your community and interested in participating in a significant way? Then Get on Board is for you! 

Interact with nonprofit organizations from across central Indiana looking for community-minded leaders at this annual event, scheduled for Monday, October 4 at Conseco Fieldhouse from 4:00-6:30 pm.  Get on Board provides a chance to learn about leadership volunteer opportunities and potential board positions.  Day Nursery will be located at table #16.  Here is a link to the event program.

 Get on Board is a one-stop-shop for qualified, passionate individuals looking to increase their civic involvement at a leadership level.  In addition, it is a turnkey opportunity for organizations with board vacancies to interact with hundreds of potential board members all in a single evening.  Since its inception nine years ago, this premier community event has infused more than 2,000 new board members, committee members and volunteers into the local non-profit community.

 Register now! The event is open to the community. Don’t miss your chance to make a difference in Indianapolis.

Day Nursery students enjoy Dramatic Play area

The two-year olds in the Day Nursery Ruth A. Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central, love dressing up. All classrooms are set up with hands-on learning centers.  These children are playing the Dramatic Play/Housekeeping area. To get the most out of dramatic play, children need a variety of materials, equipment, and props to encourage creative expression and imagination.

While you are doing your spring cleaning, keep Day Nursery in mind. We always welcome gently used donations of both men and women’s clothes and shoes as well as items that can be incorporated into prop boxes.  Here’s an example of items you may have around the house that would be perfect for a restaurant-themed prop box:  old take out menus, tablecloth or placemats, dishes, apron, vase and flowers, chef hat, order-taking pads, plastic plates.

You can drop off your donations Monday-Friday at any of our 7 Day Nursery locations listed to the right of this column or call me at 636-9197 ext. 227 if you have any questions about your donation.