The finale of Childminding Week will be the annual SCMA Conference on Saturday 16 May, as we come together to close Childminding Week 2026 with a bang!
The Confident Childminder | Supporting Every Child, Every Day
Saturday 16 May | 9am – 1pm | Online via Zoom
Exclusive and FREE for all SCMA members – you are invited to continue the celebrations, as we welcome our speakers, including Clare Josa and - back by popular demand - Ben Kingston-Hughes, for a morning of inspiration, engagement and learning.
Want to find out more?
SCMA members will receive more information soon, and you can find out more about the SCMA Conference 2026 HERE - including details of all our guest speakers and breakout sessions.
Boost your CPL!
Attending the SCMA Conference provides you with a minimum of four hours of CPL…at no extra cost, and from the comfort of your own home!
Plus, you’ll also be able to gain an additional hour of CPL by watching the recording of the breakout session that you didn’t attend on the day. That’s almost half of your recommended 12 hours of CPL for the year – all done in one go!
Your Childminding Week 2026 Toolkit is available to download HERE - and is packed with essential information, top tips, fun ideas and activities to help you #CheerforChildminding and celebrate Childminding Week 2026.
New for 2026! | Childminding Week Bingo
Childminding Week 'Bingo' is a new activity-based competition for this year's Childminding Week - where you download our exclusive bingo card, featuring fun, cool activities for you and your minding children to do as you #CheerForChildminding. If you and your mindees can weave the activities into each day, and complete our special Childminding Week bingo....you could WIN!
Download and print off your Childminding Week 2026 Bingo Card HERE.
Once again, we’re inviting all childminders in Scotland to mark Childminding Week 2026 – regardless of where you live in Scotland – and come together, in spirit, as one workforce to #CheerForChildminding.
Be part of something bigger! On Wednesday, 13 May we hope that hundreds – and maybe even thousands – of you will get involved by having a Teddy Bears Picnic. Whether it’s in your back garden, down at the beach, in the local woodland, or at your local park – all childminders can get involved and join in with the biggest Teddy Bears Picnic that Scotland has ever seen!
On the BIG day, we’d love to hear from you! Share your photos and messages and tell us about your picnic on social media (using the #CheerForChildminding hashtag) to celebrate alongside your childminding colleagues across Scotland. We’d LOVE to see pics from picnics in all 32 local authority areas!
Are you hosting a Teddy Bears Picnic?
We’d love to know about the Teddy bears picnic you’re planning – whether it be big or small – and whereabouts it’s being held.
If you’re planning to organise and host a special Teddy Bears Picnic for Childminding Week on Wednesday 13 May – please tell us about it by completing this quick form HERE. If there is a group of you organising a picnic together, please just submit one entry for the event.
If you tell us about your event before 5pm on Friday 24 April 2026 and you’ll automatically be entered into a prize draw* to win an Amazon Gift Card and a special goody bag from SCMA. Good Luck!
*Only one main contact for each Teddy Bears Picnic event is eligible for the prize draw. Any duplicative entries for the same event will be disregarded, to ensure the prize draw is fair and equitable. The prize draw will close at 5pm Friday 24 April 2026 and the winner will be selected at random from collected responses. The prize will be dispatched to the winner on Monday 27 April 2026 to ensure it is received in advance of Childminding Week 2026. To be eligible for the prize draw, participants must fully complete form, and confirm consent to be included in the prize draw.
Through social media, we want to empower YOU – and all childminders across Scotland – to come together, celebrate and reflect on how you make a difference every day by supporting the learning and wellbeing of children, families, and communities. Help us to raise the profile and appreciation of professional childminding in Scotland by coming together, as one childminding workforce, and sharing your inspirational stories and photos throughout Childminding Week.
Please #CheerForChildminding by liking, commenting and sharing our posts and stories on social media. And don’t forget to tag us on your social media posts and include the #CheerForChildminding hashtag – this will allow us to see and share your posts and join in with your celebrations too!
The more engagement we have, the more awareness we will generate – helping to showcase the true value and how vitally important childminding is to many children, families, and communities across Scotland.