🍃 October 2026 ECEC Calendar
Curious Minds, Healthy Bodies, Caring Communities
October is filled with opportunities for children to wonder, investigate, move, create and connect.
From World Space Week and Australian Wildlife Week to Earth Science Week, National Nutrition Week, National Water Week and National Children’s Week, October provides rich starting points for learning about ourselves, our communities and the world around us.
Rather than turning every awareness day into a separate craft or activity, this month's ECEC program brings related events together into meaningful weekly learning journeys. Children can revisit ideas, investigate questions, experiment with materials and build on their discoveries over time.
Across October, children will explore science and STEM, creative arts, physical development, wellbeing, sustainability, wildlife, food, inclusion and community through play-based experiences.
The program is designed for children aged 0–6 years and can be adapted to children's interests, abilities, cultures, family contexts and the needs of your early childhood education and care setting.
Monthly Focus:
Discovery • Wellbeing • Sustainability • Inclusion • Community
I like this for October because it connects the strongest themes in your calendar: Space and Earth Science, Australian wildlife, nutrition, mental health, water, children’s rights, inclusion, families and sustainability. It also feels different from September's Growing Together: Belonging, Wellbeing & Our Living World.
🚀 Week 1 — Wonder Beyond Our World
1–10 October
Focus: Curiosity • Space • Animals • Habitats • Educators
Key calendar connections:
- World Animal Day
- World Space Week
- Australian Wildlife Week
- World Habitat Day
- World Teachers' Day
- World Cerebral Palsy Day
- World Dyslexia Awareness Day
- World Sight Day
Learning Direction
This week could begin with children's natural curiosity about animals, habitats, Earth and space.
It gives us excellent opportunities for science and STEM — light and shadow, planets, movement, animal habitats, building, investigation and problem-solving — alongside creativity and inclusive ways of learning.
CREATE: Space-inspired art and imaginative worlds
DISCOVER: Space, light, Earth, animals and habitats
MOVE: Animal movements and space movement challenges
CONNECT: Different ways children learn, see, move and communicate
🥕 Week 2 — Healthy Me, Healthy Planet
11–17 October
Focus: Wellbeing • Food • Science • Healthy Choices • Earth
Key calendar connections:
- World Mental Health Day
- International Day of the Girl
- Earth Science Week
- National Nutrition Week
- Global Handwashing Day
- World Bread Day
- World Food Day
Learning Direction
This week connects children's wellbeing with the health of the planet.
Instead of simply talking about “healthy food,” children can investigate where food comes from, what our bodies need, how bread changes when ingredients are combined, how germs spread and how soil, water and plants support our food systems.
This could become a particularly strong hands-on science week.
CREATE: Food, nature and wellbeing through art
DISCOVER: Food science, germs, Earth, soil and nutrition
MOVE: Healthy-body movement and outdoor challenges
CONNECT: Emotions, wellbeing, food traditions and caring for ourselves
🐦 Week 3 — Nature Needs Us
18–24 October
Focus: Wildlife • Water • Sustainability • Children • Inclusion
Key calendar connections:
- National Children's Week
- Invisible Disabilities Week
- Aussie Backyard Bird Count / National Bird Week
- National Water Week
- Children's Day
- World Kangaroo Day
- United Nations Day
Learning Direction
This could be the strongest environmental inquiry week of October.
Children investigate the living things around their own service rather than only learning about distant animals.
Bird watching, water investigations, Australian wildlife, habitat building and conservation can all become part of the program.
It also gives us an important social connection: every child belongs and every child contributes in their own way.
CREATE: Nature-inspired collaborative art
DISCOVER: Birds, water, habitats and Australian wildlife
MOVE: Outdoor wildlife exploration and movement
CONNECT: Children's voices, inclusion, rights and community
👨👩👧👦 Week 4 — Generations, Imagination & Community
25–31 October
Focus: Family • Creativity • Community • Safety • Celebration
Key calendar connections:
- National Grandparents' Day
- World Pasta Day
- Day for Daniel
- Halloween
- National Bandanna Day
Learning Direction
The final week moves from the wider natural world back toward children's families, relationships and communities.
Grandparents and older family members can inspire storytelling, photographs, family traditions, recipes and conversations about how life changes across generations.
Halloween can remain playful — costumes, shadows, pumpkins, sensory experiences, storytelling and imaginative STEM — without taking over the week's curriculum.
Day for Daniel can be approached through age-appropriate safety, trusted adults, children's voices and help-seeking, rather than frightening content.
CREATE: Family stories, costumes and imaginative art
DISCOVER: Pumpkins, shadows, light and simple Halloween science
MOVE: Movement games and imaginative outdoor play
CONNECT: Grandparents, generations, safety, relationships and community
🌍 October Long-Term Project — From Earth to Sky
This October, extend children's curiosity beyond individual calendar events with our month-long From Earth to Sky Discovery Project.
Children investigate Earth, water, plants, food, Australian wildlife and space through hands-on science, STEM challenges, creative arts, movement and inquiry-based learning.
Beginning with one big question — “What can we discover about our world, and how can we care for it?” — the project can grow throughout the month according to children's observations, questions and interests.
→ Explore the full From Earth to Sky October Discovery Project