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

Posts tagged ‘Preschool’

An Aha Moment…

A moment of clarity, the aha moment is a defining moment where you gain real wisdom- wisdom you can use to change your life…or Business

 

As I was conducting my weekly classroom observations, a three-year old began to roll a car down my leg and my back. I must say that  I began to feel very relaxed as she rolled the car against my leg and back.

Then I noticed another child sitting next to me  playing with some play-doh and she asked me to smell it. As I sniffed the playdoh, it brought back  childhood memories that I had about playdoh.  In fact, I shared the  Aha moment with  the teacher in the classroom and she was so excited to discover that smell can bring back a simple childhood memory.

After my Aha Moment,I was reminded that smell can trigger a memory and if smell triggers a memory, than sensory play has to be great for a child’s brain development!

Moreover, this is why I believe that  it is important to have materials in the classroom that children can smell and experiment with.

Normally, I would have told the three-year old to only roll the car in the block area, however, I was amazed and soothed by the feeling of the car rolling against my skin. Furthermore, I thought about how children should be encouraged to be creative with how they use the materials, such as rolling cars on their friends; it just may calm down an excessively hyper child.

I shared this Aha moment with you to encourage you to provide more sensory play in your childcare business, because it is a great way to stimulate a child’s brain.

Feel free to share an  Aha moment that you have experienced recently in your childcare business. I look forward to reading your thoughts about this post.

Online Resource:

Smell, Taste and Nutrition: Building Block for Early Learning

 

Shiketa

Category:

childcare, Classrooms, play, preschool

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How to Create a More Relaxing Environment At Naptime

Shhhh….It’s Naptime

A perfect nap time happens when all the children get on their cots or lay in their cribs and fall to sleep right away. If that happens for you everyday..then this post is not for you. However, if you have restless kids that have trouble falling to sleep, this post is for you.

Over the years I have discovered that some children can fall to sleep as soon as their heads hit the cots and some kids have difficulty relaxing at nap time. There are three things that we do at my childcare facility to help children sleep and create a more relaxing Environment at Naptime:

1. Turn on some classical or spa like music 20-30 minutes before the children get on their cots or before you place infant/toddlers in their cribs. Music really helps to relax their minds.

2. Plan to have some back running time. I have found that rubbing each child’s back for at least 5-minutes helps the children fall off to sleep very easily. Some kids may not need a back rub. In fact, if you or a caregiver take the time to just sit quietly next to the children; they will fall off to sleep on their own.

3. Add some lavender fragrance to the room. Lavender naturally helps to calm the mind and the body. You will find lavender essential oils at the local whole foods store for less than 10 dollars. Simply add 10-20 drops of  lavender oil to a spray bottle filled with water and spray into the air. ***Ahhh…..Now you have created a more peaceful and relaxing nap time.

Be sure to let me know what you think about the tips in this blog post.

With Your Business in mind….

Shiketa

 

 

Category:

Quality Care

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