Welcome to Backyard Bears Family Day Home!

Backyard Bears is a Family Day Home located in Cochrane Heights, Cochrane, Alberta. We are licensed through BGC Cochrane and Area Day Homes. We are a smoke-free, pet-friendly home with spunky young pup named Kaia and a tabby cat named Banjo. We provide a safe and positive environment where children can learn and grow through a balanced program of age-appropriate child-led free and structured play. Our days are filled with backyard playtime, neighborhood walks, dramatic play, science, art, music, and sensory experiences that will encourage creative thinking and foster a love for learning. We view children as Mighty Learners and citizens who are strong, resourceful, and capable. We believe that children should be treated with dignity and respect, and we celebrate children as individuals with their own wants, needs, likes, dislikes, strengths, and challenges. We create space for unhurried time and offer choices, which allows children to explore and learn at their own pace while respecting their autonomy. This allows children to feel confident in their abilities and  view themselves as competent little learners. The day home has over 3500 sq ft of indoor and outdoor play space. Our indoor space is bright and sunny with lots of age-appropriate toys and activities. Our outdoor space is large and fully fenced with room to run around featuring big mature trees, vegetable gardens, flowerbeds, playhouse, sandbox, mud-kitchen, climbing dome, and a lovely view of the Rocky Mountains. We are also within walking distance of several beautiful parks and natural areas including Cochrane Ranche, W.D. Kerfoot Park and the Elizabeth Barrett School playground.

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We recognize that our work and play take place on traditional indigenous territories in Canada. In the spirit of our efforts to promote reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional territories and oral practices of the Blackfoot (Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai), the Tsuut’ina (Sarcee), the Stoney Nakoda First Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta. Today, Canada is home to many Indigenous peoples and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and play on this territory. 

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