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

Posts tagged ‘sensory play’

Protect Your Child Care Business With An Activity Disclaimer

Many childcare programs provide a variety of open-ended art projects for the children in care. In fact, many of the activities are very colorful and consists of using materials that could potentially be placed in a child’s mouth once they take it home such as: scraps of paper, glue, stickers, paint, yarn, pom poms,etc.

I know what you may be thinking, “Isn’t the parent  responsible for their child at home?” Exactly, the parent is responsible for the supervision of his or her child at home.

However, what if you send home some art work or a sensory activity that the child decides to ingest and the parents says that you are responsible? How would you handle that situation?

My goal is to get you to think about reducing your liability and think about the art work that is being sent home with the children.

Questions to ask yourself before sending art work home: Is there anything that I’m sending home that could potentially be a choking hazard? Are any of the materials toxic? Should there be a safety note attached to the Sensory Bottle that Reads:( Please do not allow your child to drink this).

A recent experience at my Child Care Center inspired me to send home a disclaimer that informs parents that we are not responsible if a child ingests art materials while in your care.  For disclaimer ideas, I recommend that you seek some legal advice, be sure that your disclaimer supports licensing regulations or even contact your insurance agent. Be sure to add the new disclaimer to your parent handbook.

I look forward to reading your thoughts about this post. Please leave your comments below.

With Safety in Mind,

Shiketa

 

Category:

Activities, Art, Legal Matters, Policies

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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

Many family home providers are getting empowered in the Family Home Child Care Empowerment club! Take a sneak peek at the first 5 weeks of the club by subscribing to the 5-day mini course “It’s Free”! http://childcarebusinessowner.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=237d43de3475bcab0f4337852&id=e56603be8d

Category:

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

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