About Jackie Currie

Jackie Currie opened her private home daycare in 1998. For more than 20 years, her mission has been the same – to provide the kids in her care with all the ingredients of a good old-fashioned childhood.

A love for children and a passion for art, crafts and play-based learning has led Jackie to provide countless children, from toddlers to tweens, with a safe and loving environment to learn, play, create and thrive in.

In 2011, Jackie began blogging as a way to share her creative daycare activities with other parents and early childhood educators. Her blog grew quickly, becoming an international resource for kids’ art, craft and play ideas.

In addition to a Facebook page with 1.6M followers, Jackie runs a private Facebook group, Childcare Provider’s Inspiration Network, which provides support, encouragement, inspiration and networking to more than 2000 carers and ECE’s.

In all, Happy Hooligans inspires 2+ million parents, care providers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.

Additionally, Jackie is a senior writer for CBC Parents, has appeared on CTV’s Canada A.M., and has been featured by Good Morning America, Good Housekeeping, Parents Magazine, Today’s Parent, Woman’s Day, Woman’s World, and countless other publications.

On a more personal note…

Welcome!

I’m Jackie, the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. I’m a mom, wife, daycare provider, and a reformed glitter-phobe. (Embrace the glitter! It really does make everything better!)

Arts, Crafts and Good Old-Fashioned Play

My blog, Happy Hooligans, centers around the daily activities of my home daycare, and is dedicated to easy, inexpensive arts & crafts and good, old-fashioned play.

My own children are grown now, but happily, I still have plenty of kids in my life, from the toddlers and preschoolers in my care to the tweens and teens who grew up in my home, and who still come to craft with me on weekends and holidays.

I’m so grateful that after all these years, I’m still fulfilling my passion, and providing kids with a loving environment in which they can play, create and learn.

Meet the Hooligans

These are the little people that I lovingly refer to as “The Hooligans”.

They’re the children in my home daycare, and the reason that my blog exists.

In 1998, after having my first son, I left my career in bank management and opened the doors of my own home daycare.

Because of my my life-long love for children, I knew that owning and operating a home daycare would bring me more joy, passion and satisfaction than a career in the corporate world ever could, and that it would be a rewarding way to subsidize our family’s income while being a stay-at-home-mom.

I’ve never looked back.

I often say I have the best job on the planet.

My home daycare allowed me to be at home with my boys during their formative years, making their days fun, adventurous and educational.

As well as being at home with their mom, my sons had the added bonus of growing up surrounded by other children – the hooligans in our daycare.

My sons have long since graduated from my daycare, but thankfully, I’m still surrounded by little ones.

The hooligans and I spend our days crafting, baking, creating, learning, exploring, discovering and adventuring.

We’re all about good, old-fashioned fun here. We embrace getting messy, crafting and creating, imaginative play, outdoor adventure, and care-free, unstructured play.

Be inspired…

I hope, as you browse through the crafts and activities on my blog, you’ll be inspired to try them with your own children.

Let’s pledge to provide our kids with the simple and enriching joys that we experienced in childhood. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Whether you’re visiting for the first time, or you’ve been following us for years, thank you for stopping in.

I am honoured to share our experiences and ideas with you, and thankful to have you here.

I am grateful too, for the many talented early-years bloggers who inspire me to be the best I can be, and to make the hooligans’ world more exciting, engaging and adventurous.

It is my hope that we hooligans might inspire others in the same way.

Yours in Play,

Jackie & The Hooligans

Each month, more than 2 million parents, teachers and caregivers turn to Happy Hooligans for creative inspiration, and 1.5 million fans follow the hooligans on Facebook.