Happy New Year

Welcome 2026!

Thank you for starting your year with us at the Hub. Each month, we strive to provide families in Lane County with fun activities, helpful parenting resources, and opportunities to connect with other parents.

Whether you’re looking for a cozy spot to escape the cold, hoping to meet new friends at a community café, or searching for a playful list of Groundhog Day books to read with your kids, we’ve got something for you this January.

Take good care, and thank you for being part of our community. We’re so glad you’re here!

Warming Spaces in Lane County

When temperatures drop, keeping warm and safe becomes even more important. Lane County offers a growing list of Warming Spaces where community members can warm up during the day. These include local public buildings and participating businesses that welcome those who need a warm place, especially if home heating is limited.

Some locations may also activate as Warming Shelters when temperatures reach certain thresholds. These sites can open overnight to provide additional support.



Find the full list of Warming Spaces and Shelters here.

It's Raining: What To Do with the Kids?

Looking for things to do when the skies are grey? Eugene, Cascades and Coast has some great ideas or check out our Family Fun page.

Books You May Like

Acclaimed author Doreen Rappaport and Coretta Scott King Award winner Bryan Collier have pooled their talents in a stunning tribute to civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. An extraordinary picture-book biography, Martin's Big Words consists of Rappaport's own words interwoven with quotes from Dr. King...all powerfully brought to life by Collier's striking, glorious art.

As tradition dictates, halfway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox on February 2nd each year, the world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, gets coaxed out of his cozy Pennsylvania burrow. If he sees his shadow, winter will last six more weeks. If not, spring is on the way. While Phil’s predictions historically aren’t highly reliable (he’s been right less than 40 percent of the time in recent decades), he and his counterparts are still fun to read about. Here are eight imaginative titles to get kids thinking about groundhogs, weather, seasons, hibernation, and shadows.

Parenting Blog Posts

Sleep and Rest Routines for the Whole Family

"We’ve all experienced the challenges of supporting an upset child who was tired or not well-rested. And we have also been in a position as parents when we tried to do more than was reasonable on less sleep than we really needed, too. 

How long and how well we sleep has a big impact on the overall well-being of both children and adults alike."

Read more from Aoife Magee here.

The Gifts that Keep On Giving

"I was recently at an event where a child was handed a toy. They asked an adult, “What does it do?” This was a reasonable question when there are so many toys that only seem to do one thing. And when toys only do one thing, children tend to lose interest quickly. More than anything, children require novelty for skill building. So consider offering open-ended toys: items and materials that have nearly unlimited potential for what they can do when the opportunity arrives. In contrast to closed-ended toys, these are more versatile and allow for child-led, creative, and imaginative experiences with no predetermined rules or outcomes."

Check out this recent blog post from guest contributor Aoife Magee.

4J School Choice

A message from Eugene School District 4J:

Welcome, parents of incoming Eugene School District 4J kindergarteners! We want to let you know about school choice in 4J. Your child may enroll early in your neighborhood 4J school or request a transfer to a different 4J school. Options include language immersion, alternative and other neighborhood schools.

January is the start of school choice month in 4J. Families can attend live virtual information sessions on Jan. 8 and 15, tour schools in and out of their neighborhood virtually or in-person, and explore their options for the fall. For schedules, recordings and links, please visit 4j.lane.edu/choice.

4J residents may submit transfer requests online between Jan. 15-Feb. 15. The school choice process is not first come, first served. As long as you submit your request online by Feb. 15, your 4J student will be included in the lottery to determine the order in which transfer offers will be granted.

For more information, visit 4j.lane.edu/choice. If you do not have access to the internet, please call the 4J school choice coordinator at 541-790-7553 for assistance. 

MLK Jr. March & Celebration

Eugene-Springfield NAACP 2026 MLK March & Celebration, January 19.

The theme for this year's March is "Together. Together we can. Together we will. Together we are unified."



People from Eugene and Springfield are invited to gather beginning at 9:00 am the X's and O's at Autzen Stadium to meet UO athletes, drop off non-perishable food donations for the NAACP Food Pantry, and for a brief program.

Learn more here.

Crafty Resolutions at MECCA

Crafty Resolutions 2026!

Want to explore a new art form, dive into creative projects, or try the craft you've always wanted to learn? Here's your chance. We're starting the New Year with six weeks of creativity at MECCA. We have a new craft theme every week with sales in the shop, workshops, Scrappy Hour artist meetups, and take-home craft kits.

Space is limited for each workshop, sign up today at www.materials-exchange.org

Baby Clinic - Our Community Birth Center

Free drop-in support for postpartum and baby feeding

Join us every Monday from 12-1:30 pm for postpartum and baby feeding support from our knowledgable and dedicated staff!

• Have your baby weighed and track their growth

• Have your lactation & feeding questions answered

• Make connections with other parents

Baby Clinic is open to anyone in the community regardless of where they give birth. It provides a unique and special opportunity for peer to peer support. We have seen parents and babies develop long lasting friendships through Baby Clinic. There is no age limit for babies who attend Baby Clinic! Free to attend! No registration required.

“I gave birth in January with the supportive services of the birth center and have a 10-month old now. As I talk to our friends with babies about their experiences, I’m learning how lucky we were to have had access to home visits and Baby Clinic immediately after birth. The home visits really helped with my healing after birth and it supported our bonding as a new family. We also took advantage of attending Baby Clinic, which was a great place to check in with a lactation specialist, weigh our baby, and get support from other families. I loved knowing this support group was available every Monday if I needed it.”

Collaborative Problem Solving - Virtual Classes

Thanks for reading our newsletter! We would love to hear your feedback on the content of our newsletter, questions, or recommendations on what you would like to read about next time. Feel free to send us an email at education@unitedwaylane.org.

Thanks to Crosscultural Now for Spanish translation. (Some translation provided by DeepL.) Deep appreciation to the team at ODHS for keeping our community connected. Newsletter edited by Lisa Milton.

The Early Childhood Hub of Lane County is your local parenting education hub.

Our mission is to ensure all parents in Lane County have the knowledge, tools, and support to nurture their child’s optimal development for success in school and life.