Inspirational and Empowering Child Care Business Owners To Build Successful Child Care Businesses

Posts tagged ‘childcare’

Kids Love Sensory Play

“Creating a Child Care Business That Kids Love”

As I wrap up the theme on creating a childcare business that kids love, I thought it was appropriate to end the theme with ” Kids Love Sensory Play.” I chose sensory play, because it is open- ended and there is no right or wrong way to explore sensory materials.

In fact, kids love to play in anything that is messy! Today I want to inspire you to plan and encourage more sensory activities in your childcare program.

According to Elaine Lambe  (Educational Consultant), “Sensory play is currently seen as one of the key areas of play for babies and young children and a crucial part of their development. Sensory play is play that involves the use of one or more of the five senses, touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing. Our senses are our guide through the world around us and for babies and young children they provide endless opportunity for fascinating discovery.”

Today I want to share with you  five sensory play ideas that kids really Love:

Exploring Shaving Cream “It’s messy, yet it is fun! Kids can make shapes or even practice writing their name in the shaving cream.

Source: Cultivated Lives

Colored Rice Explorations. This is a Pot of Gold Activity planned back in 2011. The teacher dyed the rice yellow, by soaking the rice in yellow food coloring and by adding a small amount of alcohol. Then she let the rice air dry over night. The kids love to feel, scoop, sift, explore the color and measure the rice.

Exploring Cornmeal. The first time that I saw kids playing in cornmeal was in my child development laboratory Class back in 2002. I didn’t think it was quite educational back then, however, now we love to add cornmeal to the sensory tables to encourage the children to; explore the cornmeal by feeling, measuring, scooping, writing in the cornmeal and whatever they discover that they can do with the cornmeal that will enhance their play.

Source: Not Just Cute

Colored Water. This is a great way to teach children their colors or to spice up the water play!

Source: Not Just Cute

Styrofoam Fun! Don’t throw away anymore Styrofoam, save it for sensory play!

Source:Loving and Learning in Pre-K

I realize that many of the sensory activities above may not be appropriate for children under the age of three, however, it is appropriate for a toddler to explore water play or to play with edible  home-made playdoh or with pudding.

Whatever sensory activities that you decide to incorporate into your program, I know that the kids will enjoy it because Kids Love Sensory Play! Feel free to share sensory activities that you offer in your program and share your thoughts about this blog post.

With Your Business in Mind,

Shiketa Morgan

Resource Links

http://play-activities.com/blog/sensory-play-%E2%80%93-part-1-%E2%80%93-introduction-what-is-sensory-play/

http://childcareandbeyond.tripod.com/sensoryplay.html

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Category:

Activities, Child Care Center, Curriculum, preschool, Quality Care

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Kids Love Singing Songs

When parents walk into your childcare business, they are listening to what is going on. One of the most joy-able sounds to hear in a childcare program is the sound of children singing. In fact, I have not seen one child yet that does not like to sing.

Singing songs seem to bring a spirit of cooperation in a classroom or in your home, relaxes everyone, including you and it is great to do throughout the day.

One of the things that I have discovered about singing songs is the simple fact that you can get kids to cooperate better when you are singing songs. Today I am going to share with you how you can incorporate more songs into your program, because after all….Kids love a place where they can sing!

Moreover, when the kids are happy…the parents are happy too!

Singing Songs during Transition Times

Transition times can be chaotic. In fact, anytime that you make a change throughout the day, it interrupts the kids play and some kids may even resist the change. However, incorporating songs as kids transition from activity to another is a great way to add some joy to your transition time.

Before you or your staff tell children to clean-up, it is a great idea to give children a five-minute warning. Ex, You all have five more minutes to play and then we are going to clean-up to go outdoors, prepare for lunch, read a story, set-up cots, go potty, etc. Giving a warning, prepares the child for the change and it gives them enough time finish up their play/projects.

Here are three song ideas for busy times of the day:

1. During hand washing time.  “ This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands, this is the way we wash our hands….. all day long.” Repeat it as many times as the child desires.

2. Singing as the kids are waiting to eat lunch. ” I smell lunch, I smell lunch, um um good, um um good.  I can smell the (name food)  I can smell the (name food) then have the kids to rub their tummies as they say, um um good. Repeat the songs until all food is named and served.

3. Transitioning to line-up. We’re going out to play, we’re going out to play, hi ho the Derry-o, we’re going out to play..hey! Repeat the song, as children line-up and begin to march outside.

This is was just a few songs that I have sung with children in my childcare program to make transition time much smoother and to assure that children have an enjoyable experience while they are in my program. In fact, many of the songs, I simply make-up as I go and the kids, seem to catch on as I song the song with them.

I hope that you are  inspired to incorporate more songs into your program. If I were to walk in your program, what songs will I hear? Feel free to share the songs that the kids in your program love to sing and what you think about the songs in this post.

Check out this Website that is full of children songs: http://www.theteachersguide.com/ChildrensSongs.htm

Thanks for Creating a Child Care Business that kids Love!

Shiketa

Photo Credit

Category:

Child Care Center, Curriculum, Family Child Care, Home Daycare, Lesson Planning, Music, preschool

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