Ways to Find Stress Relief

Posted on October 21, 2013 by CCL Admin

Ways to Find Stress Relief

Go to bed on time.
Get up on time so you can start the day un-rushed.
Get rid of clutter.
Allow extra time to do things and to get to places
Live within your budget, don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
Eat right
Every day, find time to be alone.
Talk less, listen more.
K.M.S. Keep Mouth Shut (this single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.)
Take one day at a time. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, now you have worried twice!

I guess Ben Franklin had the right equation –Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise!

TIME MANAGEMENT VITAMINS(take a couple every day)

Many providers, myself included, complain that they never get a chance to get things done, that “have to” tasks mount up and become overwhelming. We feel stress and take the blame for procrastinating. We get in a bad mood, and everything gets worse. To improve this situation, take this list seriously.

• Set at least one priority goal each day

• Do it right the first time, Give it your best shot.

• Complete one task before moving to the next

• Do the most difficult tasks at your peak energy times if possible.

• Delegate whenever possible, and try not to micro manage!

• Do the hard task first, get it out of the way.

• If you won’t have time to finish, at least get started.

• Say “NO” more often

• Do it NOW.

Check out our online class:Caring for Yourself as a Child Care Provider

Scarecrow Theme and Activities

Posted on October 7, 2013 by CCL Admin

Scarecrow Preschool Theme and Activities

Scarecrows aren’t scary. Learning about scarecrows is a fun way to introduce the theme content of autumn and harvest time.

Scarecrow Songs and Poems

I’m A Little Scarecrow
I’m A Little Scarecrow
Stuffed with hay
Here I stand in a field all day.
When I see the crows,
I like to shout,
“Hey! You crows, you better get out!”

Scarecrows (Tune: Sing a Song of Sixpence)
We’re the farmer’s scarecrow
We scare the away the birds,
We keep the farmer’s corn safe
without any words,
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
when they come walking round.
Boo!

Did You Ever See a Scarecrow? (Tune: Did You ever See A Lassie?)
Did you ever see a scarecrow,
A scarecrow, a scarecrow?
Did you ever see a scarecrow,
That’s filled with dry hay?
He’s dressed all in old clothes;
He scares off the black crows.
Have you ever seen a scarecrow,
That’s filled with dry hay?

Scarcrow Chant
Scarecrow, scarecrow,
How scary can you be?
You scared away the crows
But you can’t scare me!

Scarecrow Crafts

Toilet Paper Roll Scarecrow Click HERE for directions and photos.
Paper Plate Scarecrows Cut circles and triangles out of black, brown, orange, yellow and red construction paper. Give each child a paper plate and allow them to glue the shapes on the plate to make the scarecrow’s face. Use a large triangle for a hat and add strips of yellow construction paper for straw hair.
Paper Bag Scarecrows Give each child a plain brown paper bag and newspaper for stuffing. Let the children crumple the newspaper and stuff the brown paper bag into a round head shape. Help tie a rubber band around the scarecrowfs neck to keep the newspaper in. Allow children to be creative and use yellow construction paper for hair, any color construction paper for a hat, and markers to decorate the scarecrowfs face.

Scarecrow Math

Crow Counting Make and laminate 10 crows with a number on each one (1-10). Have one child pretend to be a scarecrow. Other children will get a numbered crow. The Scarecrow stands in the front of the room and yells ‘caw, caw, caw.’ When the Crows here this, they must scatter and try to line up in numerical order. Scarecrow can also call out a number and that Crow comes to the front the room.
How many patches Give each child a picture of a scarecrow and small square cutouts (patches) of different colors and sizes. Ask the child to roll dice and glue that number of patches onto the scarecrow.

Find More Fall and Halloween Ideas: click here!

Posted in Joni | Tagged crafts, poems, preschool, scarecrow, scarecrow activities, scarecrow theme, songs | Leave a comment

What Makes Online Child Care Lounge Classes Special?

Posted on September 26, 2013 by CCL Admin

Finally! You can participate in child care training when you need it, without leaving the comfort of your own home. Forget expensive conference fees, babysitting arrangements and traffic jams. Now there are quality online child care trainings for your convenience. You can enroll for a class whenever you wish and complete it at your own pace.

Check the status of this Child Care Lounge class in your state: Be sure to click on your state to see what specific classes are approved, as some states approve classes individually.

Child Care Lounge classes are special because …

They are all developed and taught by Joni Levine who has an M.Ed in adult education and curriculum design and development.
- We sought the input of other child care providers and professionals regarding the class topics and content.
- They meet standards for quality online training.
- They meet principles for adult learning.
- They meet the quality assurance/training approval standards for many states.
- We use a variety of content resources and media when developing the classes.
- The assignments are subjective questions (not pass/fail) and ask students to engage in critical thinking.
- The class content focuses on real-life application.
- Students are encouraged to complete an action plan to promote transfer of learning.
- Components for student interaction and support include our message board and weekly live chats.
- Instructor interaction and technical support is available via email or phone at least five days a week (often seven).
- We issue a free PDF certificate by email and hard copy of a certificate at minimal cost (if you wish) that meets the requirements of your state.
- We review your assignments promptly (less than 2 weeks without additional charge) and give you personalized feed-back.
- We are accessible and easy to reach.
View Testimonials From Other Students

Posted in Administration, Kay Mishkin, Uncategorized | Tagged approval, child care, child care training, online training, providers, students, training | Leave a comment

Don’t Throw Those Paper Towel Tubes Away!

Posted on September 12, 2013 by CCL Admin

by Wanda Huntley

As a teacher of young children, I try my best to be frugal and creative with all materials. Here are some ideas on how to use those tubes:

- spyglass
- binoculars

- telescope
- magic wand
- cocoon/chrysalis
- kaleidoscope

- musical instrument
- baton
- candle
- measuring stick
- rocket/space shuttle/airplane
- traffic light
- tree
- flower

- tunnel
- microphone
- megaphone
- snowman
- bracelet
- napkin rings
- caterpillar

- goggles
- shaker
- candy cane
- circle printer for art
- puppet

talking stick
bat for swatting balloons/nerf balls
pointer for circle activities
Christmas tree ornament
funnel for sensory table
flag/banner for parade
tower for block play
tube for marble play
hiding spot for guessing things during circle activities
roll papers up to fit inside them to send home…almost like an envelope!
base for a map

The sky is the limit! Cut them in half or in smaller segments for a totally different effect.

Be sure to ask the parents to save them for your class. You will be surprised at how creative the children are with these, when they are out on the free art table or the science table. They will find all sorts of ways to use paper towel tubes!

Posted in Authors, Wanda Huntley | Tagged activities, activity, caregivers, child care, child care lounge, childcare, children, classroom, craft, day care, daycare, family daycare, ideas, paper towel tube, preschool, project, recycle, toilet paper tube, tube | Leave a comment

Getting To Know You

Posted on August 9, 2013 by CCL Admin

by Janine

The start of the school year is quickly approaching. Here are a few ideas for helping the children in your class get to know one another, as well as encourage positive relationships and cooperation throughout your classroom!

Click here to learn about welcoming new children to your program!

Candy Talk – Pass around a bag of candy to all of the children. Tell them they can choose as many pieces as they want between 1 and 5, but they can’t eat them yet. Once each child has had a chance to choose their candy, tell the children that they must share one thing about themselves with the class for every piece of candy they took. This is a great way to encourage even shy children to share information about themselves, since everyone loves candy! (Just be aware of allergies and dietary needs).

My Favorite Book – Ask each child to bring in their favorite book to share for story time. You can even ask them to dress as their favorite character and have a storybook themed day!

The Shoe Game – Ask the children to sit in a circle. Have all of the children remove one of their shoes and place them in a pile in the middle of the circle. Choose a student to go and pick a shoe from the pile. The student whose shoe is chosen gets to ask the chooser one question about him or herself. Keep playing until every child has had a chance to choose one of their classmates’ shoes.

A Bowl of Friendship Snack – Ask each child to bring in one cup of their favorite cereal. At the beginning of snack, each child can add their favorite cereal to a large mixing bowl one at a time. (This is a great way to find something in common with another child who may share the same favorite cereal) Mix all the cereals together and serve as a snack, either with or without milk.

Cooperative Games – Try playing games that encourage the children to work together for a common goal. This helps create a sense of camaraderie and teamwork, as there are no winners or losers. Here are a few of our favorites:

- Cooperative Musical Chairs – played the same was a regular musical chairs, except as chairs are removed, no one gets out – the children must find ways to make everyone fit by sharing their chairs.

- Parachute Play – have the children work together to make the parachute go up and down. You can even add balls or stuffed animals to the chute and have the children work together to bounce them up and down within the chute.

Balloon Bounce – have the children work together to keep the balloons up in the air.

Create a Story Web – This uses a ball of yarn while children are sitting in a circle. Have a child start making up a few lines of a story. That child then rolls the ball of yarn to another student in the circle who continues with the story, while holding onto the end of the yarn. As each child adds to the story, holding onto their portion of the yarn, a visual “story web” is created.

Friendship Bracelets – Have the children create friendship bracelets out of beads and pipe cleaners. Then have them randomly share their bracelet with a classmate. (You can have the children choose names from a hat, etc.).

Student Match Game – to help the children learn the names of their classmates, you can create a match game where the students need to match the child’s picture with their name and use this as a table activity.

Making Friendship and Cooperation key values in your classroom from the first day of school will help to encourage the children to form positive relationships with one another. Please share your ideas with us below!

Posted in Activities, Janine | Tagged activities, activity, back to school, caregivers, child care, child care lounge, childcare, children, classroom, daycare, ideas, preschool, teachers, welcome | Leave a comment

Fun with Bottles

Posted on July 17, 2013 by CCL Admin

by Janine

Here are a few ideas for recycling 20 ounce water or soda bottles into classroom activities!

1. Mini Ocean Bottles – Fill the bottle halfway up with vegetable oil. Then finish filling the bottle with water. We suggest adding a few drops of food coloring to make it blue. When you shake the bottle slowly back and forth, it will simulate a wave, as the oil and water will not mix. You can even add a small plastic sea creature for added fun.

2. Bubble Bottles – Fill a bottle about a third full with water. Then add a generous amount of dish soap. Add a few drops of food coloring for added fun. When the children shake the bottle it will fill up with colorful sudsy bubbles.

3. Music Shaker Bottles – Add dried rice, beans or popcorn kernels to a bottle. Add some glitter or beads to add sparkle.

4. Sensory Bottles – Fill your bottle with water. Add a few drops of food coloring and lots of glitter. You can also add some beads, buttons, shells, etc. that will move around when the child shakes the bottle.

5. Sand Art Bottles – Have the children fill their bottle with layers of colorful sand.

6. Discovery Bottles – Make a variety of themed bottles for the children to compare and contrast. Some ideas could be feathers, jingle bells, buttons, beads, rice, dried beans, noodles, etc. Be creative.

7. Treasure Hunt or I Spy Bottles – Add dried rice or sand to a bottle as well as a collection of small, colorful items. For older children, make a list of the items to keep with the bottle so they can complete the treasure hunt. Younger children can play I spy, simply telling you what they see hiding within the bottle.

While these bottle activities are fun and educational, they are also great for helping to calm and sooth children experiencing high emotions, as well as children on the Autism Spectrum.

Click here for: Even More Fun Ideas with Bottles!!

We would love to hear how else you can recycle plastic bottles into projects in your program.

Posted in Activities, Janine | Tagged activities, autism, bottles, care, caregivers, child care, childcare, children, classroom, craft, day care, daycare, family daycare, plastic, preschool, recycle, sensory | Leave a comment

13 Rainy Day Activities

Posted on July 10, 2013 by CCL Admin

by Ellen

If you are having a rainy summer, it can be tough to find ways to keep your child care children entertained and occupied. Here are some unique ideas to try the next time you find yourself inside on a rainy day!

1. Set up a scavenger hunt by giving children a list of items to find in the room. If you have a lot of old magazines, you can do a magazine scavenger hunt, where they have to find pictures of certain items in magazines.

2. Put on a talent show or a puppet show.

3. Pop popcorn and set up a movie theater in the dramatic play area. Have children sell tickets, fill popcorn buckets, etc., followed by all children watching a kid’s movie.

4. Paint the windows! Make washable window paint (Mix 1/3 cup Clear Liquid Dish Soap, 3 Tbsp Powdered Tempera Paint, 2 Tbsp Liquid Starch). It can be fun to paint a ‘sunny’ scene on the window to brighten up the room.

5. Wash Toys. What better time than a rainy day to clean some toys. Set up a car wash with all of the toy cars and vehicles and let kids clean them. In the housekeeping area, have children wash the dishes and give the baby dolls a bath.

6. Find an easy children’s play and rehearse the play. Put the play on for parents at the end of the day.

7. Challenge children with Minute-To-Win-It games. Get some ideas here: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/minute-to-win-it-game-ideas.html

8. Make a rain painting. Have children draw on cardstock with washable markers. Place the drawings outside in the rain until the colors have run. Bring inside to dry on a flat surface.

9. Play balloon hockey. Tape a piece of cardboard on the end of a wrapping paper tube for each child to have a hockey ‘stick’. Let children try to score goals into a laundry basket.

10. Measure the rain. Put a variety of pots and jars outside to measure the rainfall. With each container, have children estimate how much rain will fill it up. Draw a line on the container with each child’s guess.

11. Create Rainbow Rain. Fill a clear container 3/4 with water. Then cover the top with shaving cream to create cloud peaks. Have children drop food coloring on top of the cloud in rainbow order. Then have them syringe water over top of the food coloring drops to make it rain. It creates a really cool effect.

12. Bubble wrap walk or hopscotch. Table bubble wrap on the floor and let kids march around.

13. Make a marble run. Be creative and have children use different sized cardboard tubes to create a marble run. They can use poster tack to tape their tubes to the wall and work to get the marble to flow through the tubes.

Of course, you can always take children outside to play in the rain…jumping in puddles is great fun. Share what ideas you have for rainy days in the comments below!

Posted in Activities, Ellen | Tagged activities, child care, childcare, preschool, rain, raindrops, rainy, umbrella | Leave a comment

Cow Appreciation Day Activities

Posted on June 25, 2013 by CCL Admin

by Ellen

July 15 is National Cow Appreciation Day! There are lots of fun activities you can do with young children that involve cows.

Some Cow Facts for Kids (source – kiddyhouse.com):

Cows are able to see color.
Cows can see almost 360-degree panoramic vision
Cows have a keen sense of smell up to 5 miles away
Cows can live up to 25 years.
The number of rings on the horns = approximate age
A cow has 4 stomachs.
No two cows have the same pattern or spots.
An adult male cow is called a bull.
An adult female is called a cow.
The young is called a calf.
Cows eat corn, hay, barley, beet pulp, grass and wheat.
Cows give us milk, leather and meat.

Simulate Milking Cows

Get plastic gloves and carefully fill them with milk…they will look like cow udders. Close them up like you are tying a balloon and attach them to a clothesline that is close to the ground. Put buckets under the ‘udders’ and poke a hole into each udder with a pin. Let children take turns and milk the cows by squeezing each udder.

Purple Cow Fun

Review the popular poem by Gelett Burgess:
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.

Make Purple Cow Milkshakes: Have children help add milk, ice cream, red and blue food coloring into a blender. Mix up the ingredients and serve to each child.

Grow Grass

Plant grass in the sensory table – talk about how cows eat grass. After it has grown, add plastic cow toys for children to play with in the grass.

Milk Graph

Let each child taste a sample of white milk, chocolate milk, and strawberry milk (be sure to make sure there are no milk allergies!). Create a graph or chart depicting children’s favorite type of milk.

Torn Paper or Fingerprint Cows

Give each child a cut-out of a cow on white construction paper. Have them tear pieces of brown and black paper and glue onto their cow for spots. They can also use paint and make fingerprint spots.

Read Cow Books

There are so many cow books for young children:

We hope that this gives you a start to get moo-ving to celebrate Cow Appreciation Day. Share your cow ideas for preschool by commenting below!

Posted in Activities, Ellen | Tagged activities, activity, bull, calf, caregivers, child care, child care lounge, childcare, children, classroom, cow, craft, day care, daycare, family daycare, Milk, moo, preschool | Leave a comment

Hello, Goodbye

Posted on June 19, 2013 by CCL Admin

by Kay Mishkin

Summer can be a wonderful, carefree time of year. It can also be the season for children to transition in or out of your child care group. It can be a source of some confusion if you are planning on “two months of fun in the sun” while at the same time you are worried about your enrollment after some children leave.

It is for these reasons that summer is not always the happiest time of the year for family child care providers. Some of the feelings we are experiencing are:

Relief: especially if the child who is leaving was a spirited or difficult child. You may be looking forward to a calmer group, easier dynamics and a quieter time in general.

Anxiety: about keeping enrollment up to a good level. Sometimes you worry about overlap, if the new family needs to start before the transitioning family leaves… you may be anxious about getting to know that new child, especially if they have a special need or concern.

Sense of Loss: of course you will miss some of those happy faces who have moved on. Things will happen during the day which bring them to mind, and you’ll feel their absence. We may also miss certain parents who have been wonderful and supportive. It can make us feel left behind as others are forging on into the future.

Challenge: change always challenges us to rearrange, re-think routines, to be extra observant so as to learn quickly about new children and parents. Sometimes it is hard to gently mold that child into your group, or to get trust from that new parent. I find that staying fresh in my attitude, open-minded and excited is also a major challenge.

Impatience: is often felt toward those children who are outgrowing your group. Even though we love them, we find our tempers short with them, our expectations very high. this may be one way of preparing ourselves for them to leave us.

Fatigue: during these times it is not unusual to feel tired and hassled. You are carrying a double load of concerns and your daily routine has much added to it for you to deal with. Summer may add to your fatigue by its’ irregular schedules, vacations, school-aged children may be temporarily added to your group. On top of all this, you may be holding parent interviews for fall openings and maybe dealing with your own school aged children home for the summer.

We have all figured out our own best ways of dealing with this ‘Hello – Goodbye’ time of year, whenever it occurs. It helps to be aware of our own stress level. Plan ahead for lower enrollment or lower income through these few months, and above all, continue to care for yourself. Keep yourself rested, allow some time to enjoy the sun, beach, garden, whatever. It’s worth a lot to just take a few hours to appreciate a sunset, smell the breezes. reflect upon the quietness of a lake , or just enjoy a quiet supper with the family. Autumn may bring a sense of order, calmness and routine. If you plan for it, IT WILL COME.

Posted in Administration, Kay | Tagged activity, anxiety, caregivers, child care, child care lounge, childcare, children, day care, daycare, enrollment, family daycare, preschool, summer | Leave a comment

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