On Demand modules

How will you respond when a child sustains a serious injury or experiences a medical emergency while in your care? This module supports the creation of an emergency response plan and offers guidance on when to call for help from Emergency Medical Services (EMS). It also discusses the practice of implementing regular drills to help professionals recognize the warning signs of a medical emergency, which can reduce confusion when managing real-life emergency situations. (1 hour)

Sleep is as essential to good health as nutrition and physical activity. Researchers continue to discover ways in which sleep affects health in children. Recent connections have been made between sleep and hormone regulation as it relates to the risk of obesity. Association between brain development, cognitive and behavioral effects are areas of interest as well. This lesson explores the relationship of sleep and health including helpful tips and recommendations for age-specific requirements. (2 hours)

WE PLAY stands for Wellness Enhancing Physical Activity for Young Children. This course is designed to provide early childhood educators with tools and support to facilitate active play with preschool children. WE PLAY offers strategies for incorporating physically active play into preschool, including adaptations for children with autism spectrum disorder. (2 hours)

Este curso está diseñado para administradores de programas, propietarios/operadores y educadores de niños de 6 meses a 5 años. Explorará los desafíos y las posibles estrategias de apoyo que los profesionales de ECE pueden tomar para apoyar a las familias a medida que toman decisiones importantes sobre el desarrollo de la salud de sus hijos. Cuando las familias están empoderadas, los resultados para los niños pequeños mejoran. (2 horas)

Cooking with young children is an important way for them to learn through sensory exploration. Safety concerns, as well as the potential “mess” often prohibit families and early educators from including children in cooking activities. This lesson provides practical guidance for fun and manageable ideas to encourage children in the development of their culinary skills. (2 hours)

This course helps cultivate grief-informed practices and preparations that support children's mental health and wellness. Expand your understanding of grief literacy and the ability to apply grief-sensitive approaches to confidently tend to children's grief, loss, and healing. This course distinguishes professional preparations to apply before, during, and following various types of loss children may face to meet the developmental and coping needs of young children. (2 hours)

Early childhood professionals are uniquely positioned to help shape climate resilience. Awareness of climate change is critical in recognizing young children's physiologically distinct vulnerability to climate hazards, such as excessive heat, increased flooding, and poor air quality. Through the lens of climate change, this course weaves together child-centered, climate-resilient, and equitable strategies to reduce risks, increase protective factors, and comprehensively ensure children's healthy development now and in the future. (2 hours)

El número de niños pequeños diagnosticados con diabetes está incrementando. La DT1 frecuentemente se identifica por niveles elevados de glucosa en sangre (hiperglucemia) o Cetoacidosis Diabética, una condición que pone la vida en riesgo. Los signos y síntomas de CAD pueden confundirse con resfriado, influenza o incluso otros virus frecuentes en población infantil por lo que la concienciación resulta vital. El cuidado adecuado y el manejo de la DT1 es vital para un crecimeinto y desarrollo óptimos así como para prevenir las complicaciones en etapas posteriores. Este módulo provee información para los cuidadores de niños pequeños sobre los signos y síntomas así como información básica y cuidado de un pequeño con DT1. (2 hours)

Positive early childhood experiences surrounding food and the social environment are critical for shaping healthy eating behaviors later in life. In this course, childcare providers will recognize their role in establishing healthy attitudes and behaviors towards food among the children in their care. (2 hours)

Positive early childhood experiences surrounding food and the social environment are critical for shaping healthy eating behaviors later in life. In this training, childcare providers will recognize their role in establishing healthy attitudes and behaviors towards food among the children in their care. (2 hours)

Child care providers learn to safely prepare more scratch-cooked meals for the children in their care. Early childhood is an ideal time to instill an appreciation for the consumption of a variety of healthy foods. This course will examine various ways to engage children and parents to encourage acceptance of healthy foods among children in their care. Strategies for communicating with parents about best practices for feeding children will also be discussed so the children can hear similar messaging at home. (2 hours)

Child care providers learn to safely prepare more scratch-cooked meals for the children in their care. This course includes an overview of food skills and food safety as well as examples of CACFP-approved recipes. (2 hours)

In this course, learners will practice food shopping skills and discuss menu planning strategies they can use to make the most of their food dollars when preparing meals for children in their care or at home. (2 hours)

Los proveedores de cuidado infantil familiar enfrentan desafíos únicos para ofrecer y participar en actividades físicas con los niños bajo su cuidado. (2 horas)

Bed bugs are commonly introduced into child care settings, and may become established without proper preventive steps. Although bed bugs do not cause disease, they are considered a threat to health and safety, and they alarm staff and families. This module provides information, activities, and guidelines to assist child care providers in the prevention and safe elimination of bed bugs, and in how to communicate effectively about bed bugs with staff and families. (2 hours)

The number of young children diagnosed with diabetes is increasing and is frequently identified by high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) or a life-threatening condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Signs and symptoms of DKA can be misattributed to the flu or other common childhood viruses making awareness vital. Proper care and management of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is critical for healthy growth and development and prevention of complications later in life. This module informs caregivers of young children about the signs and symptoms and the essentials of caring for a young child with T1D. (2 hours)

Self-regulation is children’s ability to respond appropriately to situations by managing their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Self-regulation in the context of eating is the ability to realize when you are hungry or full and appropriately respond to that feeling. There are many opportunities for adults to support children’s self-regulation of food intake. This module provides strategies to support and encourage children’s self-regulation abilities. (2 hours)

Early childhood professionals can be a major force in promoting children’s nutrition and healthy eating at home. When you implement nutrition best practices, you can serve as a role model for families to practice these strategies at home. Learn how to communicate with families at three levels: individual communication, classroom communication, and program-wide communication and how to use a variety of methods to communicate with families. (2 hours)

Engaging children in sensory exploration of foods is an important part of nutrition education. This includes engaging the five basic senses of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing. With this lesson, you will learn various strategies to engage children’s senses with food. Repeated practice of these strategies will make teaching and learning fun for both you and the children. (2 hours)

Early childhood educators may try to shape children’s behaviors, in eating and general interactions, by offering them highly desired foods as rewards. Although food-based rewards may seem effective, this practice can lead to long-term unhealthy eating behaviors and a decreased liking of healthy foods. In this course, you will learn how to encourage children to try new foods and eat healthy foods by effectively using praise and non-food rewards as alternatives to food rewards. (2 hours)

Allowing children to serve themselves is recommend by many national entities. Children gain a sense of pride and strengthen their sense of belonging to the group when they take an active role during mealtimes. During self-service, children develop fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and learn to understand size, shape, and weight concepts. ECE professionals can teach children how to serve themselves and provide an environment that prepares children for self-service. (2 hours)

Role modeling healthy eating is leading by example—a helpful teaching strategy for preschool children 2–5 years old. Children mimic adults; therefore, adults can show children how to do something and provide children with examples of a desired behavior. This module addresses several effective strategies for modeling healthy eating behaviors for young children. (2 hours)

Many adult caregivers experience the challenge of getting children to try different foods. This lesson presents peer modeling as an easy and effective solution to this challenge. During family-style dining, children pass the foods, serve themselves and eat meals together. Children learn from watching their friends. If their friends try new foods, children will try them, too. Research shows that, if practiced properly, peer modeling encourages children to try new and healthy foods. In this module, you will learn how peer modeling can encourage healthy eating in children during EAT family-style dining. (2 hours)

Family child care providers play an important role in the health of young children in their care. This module focuses on action steps suggested by thought leaders, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers at the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future Summit (2016). These collected next steps are opportunities for early care and education settings, and specifically the family child care setting, to support healthy weight in young children and improve provider wellness. (2 hours)

Cultural awareness and learning experiences for young children are enhanced through exposure to hands-on cooking and tasting activities with ethnic foods. Children are more open to trying new foods from other cultures when they have been involved in the preparation process. In this module, learn strategies to introduce healthy versions of ethnic foods with simple recipe ideas to make with the children. (2 hours)

Family child care providers face unique challenges in offering and participating in physical activities with the children in their care. This module provides practical, economic solutions to the barriers that can influence a family child care provider's ability to lead successful physical activities whether the issue is space, cost or provider ability. Learn from a leading physical education expert about fun ways to incorporate more physical activity into every day. (2 hours)

Food allergies are on the rise. Though the reason is not yet clear, key to caring for young children with food allergies is the creation of a plan for preventing allergic reactions and for how to respond to a food allergy emergency. This lesson describes food allergies and what early care and education professionals need to know to ensure the health and safety of children with food allergies. (2 hours)

Providing healthy and safe food in child care is a key role for both center and home-based child care practitioners. Preventing foodborne illness (FBI), and making sure children are safe from choking risks and other food-related injuries, requires awareness and planning. This lesson describes guidelines for food safety practices that will enable child care providers to make food healthy and safe for the children in their care. (2 hours)

Planting, growing and harvesting a garden provide opportunities for growth and development in young children on multiple levels. From learning the origin of food to exposure to new and healthy foods, children benefit from the experience. This lesson explores practical ways to garden with children in a variety of settings, offers important tips for success and ideas for incorporating nutrition education. (2 hours)

Research documents the benefits of playing, learning, and simply being outdoors. National and international movements encourage more time in nature. However, this can be challenging for early care professionals. In this lesson, adult facilitators view examples of rural, suburban, and urban programs that support outdoor fun. Grow in confidence, understanding and capacity to support best practices in outdoor play for birth to school-age children. (2 hours)