Indoor Hopscotch Tiles

Image from
Better Homes and Gardens Magazine

If hot weather has you scrambling for gross motor activities you can do with children inside, try this one!

Gather ten carpet tiles or squares of vinyl flooring.  If your squares aren't the same color already, or if the color is dark, spray paint them all white first.  Then use a stencil to paint numbers 0-9 on the squares in different bright colors.

Allow at least 24 hours for drying before playing with the tiles.  You can arrange the tiles in a classic hopscotch pattern, as shown, and use them either indoors or out.  A beanbag or a rock can be used as a marker.  Read the full hopscotch rules here to refresh your memory!

Playing hopscotch, children will learn math skills like how to identify numbers and patterns.  They'll learn gross motor skills like how to hop on one foot and how to balance while they pick up a beanbag.  They'll also learn social-emotional skills like taking turns and following rules.

The numbered carpet tiles could be used for many other activities inside or outside as well.  Use them for group times, and give each child a designated space to sit or stand.  Make letter squares or shape squares, as well, for more variety, and allow children to make up their own games using the carpet tiles.

Tweet, Like, and Follow: Where to Find Us On the Web

Now Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri has more methods than ever for keeping you informed of the latest news for families and child care professionals. Whether you’re looking for professional development clock hour opportunities in your area, help with challenging behaviors, fun and educational activity ideas, or ways you can influence legislators in Missouri, find us on the web, and we’ll keep you up to date.

First, you’ll want to make sure you’re receiving our e-mails. To save the costs of paper mailings, we’re keeping in touch via e-mail as much as possible. These e-mails include newsletters and information about trainings.

If you’re not already receiving our e-mail updates, join our e-mail list. Tell us your county, and whether you’re a part of a child care center, group child care home, family child care, or a member of the community, and you’ll receive e-mail updates that are relevant to you.

Then make sure janet@mo.childcareaware.org is in your list of “safe senders” to keep important information out of your junk mail folder. We will never sell or share your e-mail address, and you can unsubscribe from the e-mail list at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of each e-mail.

If you’re a tweeter, be sure to follow our Twitter feed. Our username is @CCACentralMO. We’re tweeting timely information such as product recalls, legislative calls to action, and other current events that affect children and child care professionals. We encourage you to “retweet” any updates you want to share with friends.

Stay informed on Facebook by “liking” our page. You’ll find us by searching “Child Care Aware of Central Missouri.” Click the “like” button at the top of our profile, and you’ll receive all of our status updates. Ask your friends and co-workers to like us as well, and you’ll all stay informed about upcoming trainings, activity ideas, and more.

For more in depth articles and information, follow this blog!  Please continue the conversation by commenting on the articles to share your own ideas and opinions. Scroll down the right sidebar of the page to follow us using Google Friend Connect or to follow by e-mail, and you’ll never miss an article.

Technology offers many ways for you to stay informed, and these social networking sites allow you to quickly respond to our posts and let us know your thoughts. We look forward to communicating with you and continuing to meet your professional needs.

Importance of Registering for Trainings

Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri has been able to offer a wide variety of Professional Development Clock hour opportunities this fiscal year, many at no cost to participants.  Whether or not a training costs money for you to attend, it is still important for you to register several days before the training.  Space is limited for most sessions, and walk-ins may not be accepted. 

Registering also allows us to bring the correct number of books, handouts, and snacks.  If people do not register, we may not have enough materials for everyone.  If people register, then do not attend, we’ve wasted money on handouts, snacks, and drinks that won’t be used.

Please help us keep costs down, and help us make every training experience a valuable one for all participants by registering ahead of time for trainings, and by cancelling your registration if you will not be able to attend.

Check out the Missouri Workshop Calendar for a comprehensive schedule of clock hour professional development workshops available in Missouri.  You can use the "search" feature to find trainings on specific topics or within a certain number of miles of you!

Biting in Child Care: Why It Happens and How to Stop It

Biting is a common occurrence when groups of toddlers spend time together, and it's one of the concerns both teachers and parents contact us about often.  Most of the time, children are biting because they haven't yet learned more appropriate ways to get their needs met.  By spending a little time carefully observing the child and noting when, where, and how the biting usually happens, you can often figure out how you can stop this upsetting behavior.

Ask yourself these questions:

When does this child bite?  If it's close to meal time, he might be biting because he's hungry.  If it's before nap, she might be biting more when she's tired.  If it's during free play, the child might be having trouble asking for what he or she wants.

What is the child's mood like when he or she bites?  Focusing on the child's mood can also help determine the cause.  He or she might be expressing anger or frustration.  The child might also simply be taking in sensory information from his environment and learning about cause and effect.

Does this child bite when there is less supervision?  This is often the case.  While biting can happen even with the closest adult supervision, if caregivers stay near children, they can often intervene before biting takes place.

Does this child bite one person in particular?  If so, focus on the interactions the child is having with this person when trying to figure out the cause of the biting.

How much language is the child using?  Young children often bite because they don't yet have the language skills to express themselves in more acceptable ways.  If you determine lack of language skills to be a cause of biting in your classroom, it's important to help the child learn to "use his words" to tell others what he wants and needs.

Once you've determined the reason the child bites, you can begin to work on a plan for reducing the number of incidents.

Some strategies to reduce biting in the classroom:

• Offer a variety of activity choices that are developmentally appropriate for the children in the room.
• Teach children to use words to express emotions.
• Make sure the child who bites is always close to an adult.
• Change the classroom schedule as necessary, possibly moving up meal times or rest times, or breaking up unstructured periods.
• Have multiples of favorite toys available.
• Make sure the room is arranged so children have plenty of space to move and play.
• Spend quality one-on-one time with the child when he or she is behaving well.

For more information on biting and other challenging behaviors, check out So This Is Normal Too?: Teachers and Parents Working Out Developmental Issues in Young Children by Deborah Hewett.

Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri Hosts Creative Curriculum Training

Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri hosted a two-day Creative Curriculum training June 21 and 22, 2011 for participants in the Accreditation Facilitation Project.  Programs currently working toward Accreditation with the agency’s help were invited to send two staff members to this workshop at no cost to the program.  Early childhood educators came to Columbia from as far away as Lebanon and Lewistown to receive a total of 12 clock hours of professional development covering the basics of The Creative Curriculum, including Objectives for Development & Learning, Interest Areas, Literacy, and Mathematics. 

Hands on activities showed attendees how to guide children’s learning experiences to meet multiple objectives, while keeping children engaged.  Participants also received The Creative Curriculum for Preschool Volume Five books to use in implementing The Creative Curriculum in their programs.

If you're interested in improving the quality of your child care program by participating in our Accreditation Facilitation Project, call Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri today at 800-243-9685.

Using Dolls to Teach Problem Solving

Teaching children problem solving skills can be a great way to reduce challenging behaviors in your home or classroom.  Adults often swoop in and tell children how to solve problems (How often do you say, "Tell him you're sorry."  "Now nobody gets to play with the truck."  or "Go sit in time out."?) because it's quicker and easier in the moment.  But in the long run, taking the time to teach children how to solve their own problems will make your life easier, and teach kids a valuable life skill.

One way to introduce problem solving is to role play situations that often happen when groups of children are together.  During circle time, or another time children are calm and quiet, you can simply ask something like, "What would you do if someone had a toy you wanted to play with?"  Then discuss the ideas children share, and provide some suggestions of your own if necessary.

Using dolls to set up and act out situations can also be helpful.  Persona dolls are designed to be culturally diverse, and they come with pre-written "life stories" that can be helpful when role playing with children.  However, you could easily use dolls, puppets, or stuffed animals you already own and create your own stories.

Then be aware and involved when children are playing, and when a similar situation arises, you can take the time to discuss how children might solve the problem.  For instance, if you've shared a role playing scenario in which children discuss what to do when someone takes a toy, next time you see a toy taken, go to the children and say something like this:

"Oh my, I see that Johnny took the truck from you.  You seem very upset.  What are some ways you could solve this problem?  What did our doll do when that happened to him?  Right, you could take the toy back from Johnny.  Or you could ask nicely if he would give you the toy back.  Or you could tell an adult.  What would happen if you did....  Which solution would you like to try?"

This approach takes some time, but it's valuable for children, and over time, it will enable kids to solve their own problems, which will make your life easier!

For more ideas on how to use Persona Dolls, or other dolls in your classroom, check out Kids Like Us: Using Persona Dolls in the Classroom.

Let's Move! Child Care

On June 8th, the First Lady, Michelle Obama, announced Let’s Move! Child Care, a new initiative that will support child care providers in their efforts to help children develop healthy habits early in life. ‪Through the new Let’s Move! Child Care website, www.healthykidshealthyfuture.org, child care providers can access free online tools and resources pertaining to nutrition, physical activity and screen time.

The guidelines and resources available through Let's Move!  Child Care can help your child care program meet or exceed physical activity standards set forth by Missouri's Section for Child Care Regulation Division of Regulation and Licensure, as well as the standards of major child care accreditation systems.

Here's a small sample of the information available on the website: 

Let's Move!  Child Care Goals:

1. Physical Activity: Provide 1-2 hours of physical activity throughout the day, including outside play when possible.

2. Screen Time: No screen time for children under 2 years. For children age 2 and older, strive to limit screen time to no more than 30 minutes per week during child care, and work with parents and caregivers to ensure children have no more than 1-2 hours of quality screen time per day (as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics).

3. Food: Serve fruits or vegetables at every meal, eat meals family-style whenever possible, and don't serve fried foods.

4. Beverages: Provide access to water during meals and throughout the day, and don't serve sugar-sweetened drinks. For children age 2 and older, serve low-fat (1%) or non-fat milk, and no more than one 4- to 6-ounce serving of 100% juice per day.

5. Infant Feeding: For mothers who want to continue breastfeeding, provide their milk to their infants and welcome them to breastfeed during the child care day. Support all new parents in their decisions about infant feeding.

The website also includes a checklist that can be used to assess how much activity children in your child care program get daily.