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Nutrition activity ideas, cooking activities, and nutritous and easy recipes for snacks and meals for children.
Research shows that breastfeeding is best for growth and development of infants and offers many health benefits. The caregiver plays a vital role in supporting breastfeeding mothers. What can you do?
Keeping children safe is a top priority for early childhood practitioners. Every day you work to create a safe space and a caring place for children at your program.
Webinar recording, handout, and slides from the presentation on March 22, 2023.
Families with busy schedules can struggle for time to put a home-cooked meal on the table, much less find time to include young children in cooking activities. What was once considered a life skill is becoming, for some, a dying art as convenience and processed foods become the norm. Yet, children can learn much more than healthy food choices through early experiences with cooking and there are benefits for families as well.
Research demonstrates that children need responsive care and opportunities to build healthy attachments to their caregivers. It’s difficult to imagine responsive care without holding an infant, rocking a toddler, or graciously accepting the good-morning hug from a happy three-year-old. Physical contact with others is valuable and a critical component of healthy development, but may be missing or misunderstood in many early childhood programs.
Getting moving means not only increasing physical activity, but also reducing time spent in sedentary activities.
Based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, USDA established MyPlate as the nutrition icon to remind Americans to eat healthfully and to make better food choices. It uses the familiar image of a place setting to show proper proportioning of the five basic food groups as they would fit into a daily meal plan.
Webinar recording, handouts, and slides from the presentation on May 31, 2023.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says, “Breast milk is best for infants.” Providing infants and mothers the opportunity in child care to continue breastfeeding, or to use breast milk in bottles, is important.
Tooth decay is the number one chronic disease that affects young children and is five times more common than asthma. Untreated, tooth decay can cause pain and infection, resulting in children who stay out of care and experience problems with eating and speaking. Dental decay (also known as dental caries) can affect children’s concentration and learning. Twenty percent of children between five and eleven years of age have at least one untreated, decayed tooth. Children from low-income families suffer from twice as much untreated tooth decay (25%) as children from higher income families (11%). (CDC 2014) Yet tooth decay is easily preventable. Regular dental habits such as toothbrushing and a healthy diet can reduce the occurrence of cavities greatly. To be most effective, both should be part of a child’s routine at home and at his early care and education program. Additionally, adults in the child’s life should model good oral health practices and participate in routines with the child.
Eating and preparing foods can be a great sensory experience for children and a fun learning opportunity.
Many mothers with young children are choosing or planning to breastfeed their babies. Research demonstrates that breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for infants. Many mothers must to return to work and face the challenges of continuing to breastfeed, and this can be difficult. How can we as caregivers support breastfeeding?
Food allergies in children have increased significantly in recent years though the reason why is not yet clearly known. Understanding how to manage food allergies in the child care setting is essential for keeping children safe and for helping parents to feel confident about the ability of other caregivers to know what to do, especially in the event of a food allergy emergency.
Food allergies in children have increased significantly in recent years though the reason why is not yet clearly known. Understanding how to manage food allergies in the child care setting is essential for keeping children safe and for helping parents to feel confident about the ability of other caregivers to know what to do, especially in the event of a food allergy emergency.
Most adults depend on the TV, radio, and newspapers to find out what’s happening in local areas and in the world. Adults may forget that children are seeing and hearing the same news reports. Stories and pictures that may not seem bad to adults can be confusing and frightening to young children.
Touch is a means of learning for children. From the very early stages of life touch conveys communication and discovery. Teaching and providing children appropriate touch is a responsibility of early educators. Valuable information can be found to assist teaching children about appropriate touch through the use of research, self-reflection, and intentional planning.
There’s a lot in the news about children and the rising rate of childhood obesity. Studies are showing that what children drink plays an important part in keeping children healthy and at a proper weight.
Toilet learning is a big step for both children and adults. Changing diapers all day is a lot of work, and families may find that diapers become very expensive. Although the adults are ready to take that big step, the key is the child’s readiness. Toilet learning can take a lot longer when a child is pushed into it, and often involves tears and frustration on both the child’s and the adult’s side.
This time of year also means being extra vigilant about sun safety and biting insects.
Warmer temperatures are often the first sign of spring’s arrival. Shortly afterwards a common six-legged pest also may let you know spring has arrived by making an appearance inside your building.
