CCR News Feed

The Bored Jar- Bird Watching

Thu, 05 May 2011 15:04:11 GMT

Every week, Child Care Resources will publish The Bored Jar blog, which will provide you with ideas of activities to do with the children in your care. We know that much of the correspondence we send has to do with rules and regulations, but The Bored Jar will only be filled with fun activities. Whenever you’re bored with your kids, try some of our Bored Jar ideas!

Bird Watching

The warm weather is great for bird watching. Make a bird feeder with your child to attract some feathered friends to your yard.

What you need:

empty half-gallon milk or juice carton
scissors (adult and child)
birdseed
string
paper towels
tape

What to do:

Wash out and dry the carton. Create flaps on the sides of the carton by drawing a rectangle on each side and cutting out three sides of each rectangle, leaving the top intact.
Ask your child to help you fill the carton with birdseed and seal the top of the carton with tape. Then punch a hole in the top of the carton and run string through the hole and open the flaps out. Hang the carton outside.
Record the kinds of birds that come to eat and the different times of day that they feed.

Learning Benefits:

encourages problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
develops the ability to follow directions
builds observation and recording skills

To read about this project and more check out Scholastic.com.

The Bored Jar- Paper Bead Necklaces

Thu, 12 May 2011 16:52:15 GMT

Paper Bead Necklaces

Various types of crafts have been made from paper by individuals in developing countries – coiled paper baskets, bags, jewelry and more- it is all very impressive. Using that as inspiration, we suggest you try making recycled paper bead necklaces.

Materials Needed:

magazine pages
scissors
glue stick
damp sponge or cloth
work mat
pencil
yarn
darning needle (or children’s needle)

The beads are made from pages of a magazine. Cut the inch-wide triangle shaped pieces beforehand. The more colorful the better! To make the beads, glue can be applied. Stopping about an inch from the widest end to make sure that the bead will slide off the pencil after being rolled. Next, starting at the widest end, glue side up, role the paper. After the paper has been rolled, apply glue to the tip of the triangle, if needed. Then, slide the bead off the pencil and trim the edge when needed. After cleaning off hands, get out some yarn and a needle. Start to string the necklaces. Tie a large knot at the end to prevent beads from sliding off. If you want, make extra beads to add to your bead collection for future necklace making.

To see pictures and read more, check out The Wonder Years.

Upcoming Events- 5/25/2011

Wed, 25 May 2011 08:58:00 GMT

Upcoming Events- 5/25/2011

Each week, CCR will use our RSS feed to keep you informed of any events coming up the following week, which include office closures, holidays and upcoming training opportunities.

Closure- 5/30/2011

Child Care Resources will be closed Monday, May 30th in observance of Memorial Day. We will open again on Tuesday the 31st at 8:00 am for our regular business hours. Have a great weekend!

Child Care News- May 2011

Fri, 27 May 2011 10:02:00 GMT

Each month, Child Care Resources publishes the Child Care News newsletter. Each edition will share information from one of our departments, and any pertinent or time sensitive information.

Food for Thought from the CACFP

At the end of March, Child Care Resources’ Child and Adult Care Food Program was reviewed by the State. CCR recieved a good review, with only minor problems; all of them things that can be remedied. Thank you to all the CACFP participants who sent in the items requested prior to our review.

The following is a list of some common problems that were seen in facilities during the review, so please keep these things in mind for your program:

Serving non-creditable foods.

The posted menus did not match what was served.

Menu substitutions were not recorded on the posted menu, and not changed in Minute Menu.

Infant feeding schedules were not available or were not being followed.

Special diet statements were not completed for children with allergies or intolerances. If items needed by certain children are posted for staff reference, it must be in a confidential place.

Discrimination was observed. Not all children in the facility, including infants, were enrolled in the CACFP, or children were fed away from others.

Staff were not trained in the protocol for Food Program review.

Children on the sign-in sheets did not match the children present. All sign-in sheets must show the first and last names of the children enrolled, and must be readable.

Documents requested during the visit were not available for review.

Family-style meal service is not required, however, the state would like to see it utilized more often.

The mealtimes recorded on the Sponsor/Provider agreements were not being followed; this makes it very hard to view a meal service, which CCR’s CACFP is required to do.

We hope this list of reminders will help remedy some of the common problems. Thank you for all the time you invest in your business and in the lives of the children in your care!

- Claudette from the CACFP.

MyPlate Instead of MyPyramid

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:41:00 GMT

MyPlate Instead of MyPyramid

Recently, First Lady Michelle Obama and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin revealed a new icon to assist individuals and families with making healthier food choices. The MyPlate diagram is easier to reference than MyPyramid, and focuses on the plate in front of the person eating. To take a look at the new diagram, go to ChooseMyPlate.gov.

To read the article by the USDA, and to learn more about MyPlate and MyPyramid, view article here>>.

Upcoming Events 6/9/2011

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:45:00 GMT

Upcoming Events 6/9/2011

The Professional Development Incentive Award applications (formerly known as the Merit Pay award applications) are now available!

Professional Development Incentive Awards:

Applications Avaliable: June 8th
Applications Due: August 19th

Professional Development Incentive Award- Higher Education:

Applications Available: June 8th
Applications Due: August 5th

You can download applications at The Montana Early Childhood Project.

The Bored Jar- Sun Puppets

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:45:00 GMT

Every week, Child Care Resources will publish The Bored Jar blog, which will provide you with ideas of activities to do with the children in your care. We know that much of the correspondence we send has to do with rules and regulations, but The Bored Jar will only be filled with fun activities. Whenever you’re bored with your kids, try some of our Bored Jar ideas!

Sun Puppets

We could all use a little more sun around here, right?
This idea, taken from Susan K. at Preschoolrainbow.org, is great for encouraging children to learn about the sun during summertime, including why so many things grow during this time of year and also the importance of sunscreen. To start, you will need the following materials for each puppet:

Two 9 inch paper plates
Orange, yellow, and white construction paper
Cardboard paper towel tube
Yellow and orange paint
Yellow or orange yarn
Rubber band (red would be great!)
Aluminum Foil
Two brass brad paper fasteners
Glue, Scissors, Pencil and news/butcherpaper to work on and keep your space clean!

Directions

Trace the children’s hands on the colored paper. You will need a total of 11 hand shapes, preferably in a variety of orange and yellow colors.
Each child should paint the bottom of 1 paper plate yellow or orange (or a mix.)
Children should cover the bottom of their second paper plate with glue. Help them arrange the their hand shapes around the edge of the gluey plate like the rays of the sun! As you go, teach the children about patterning by showing them how neat it looks when you alternate the colors of yellow and orange. Leave a 2 inch gap between the first ray laid down and the last. sometimes it helps to draw two lines for them to show where to begin, and where to end.
Help the children put the top of the painted plate over the gluey plate so that it looks like a yellow sun with rays all around it. The opening 2" gap is the bottom.
To make the mouth, push the two brass brad fasteners into the sun above the opening and about 3 inches apart. Hook an end of the rubber band over each fastener. Open the fasteners on the back of the sun to secure them (children may need assistance for this part.)
Cut two eyes from white paper, the childen can color pupils on the eyes or draw the eyes themselves and cut them out, then glue the eyes to their sun.
Have the children cover their tubes with aluminum foil, folding the extra foil into the ends of the tube. Cut a 2 inch slit on each side of one of the tube ends. Help the children slide their suns into the tube using these slits.
Tie one end of a 24 inch piece of yarn to the bottom of the rubber band mouth so that it hangs down. To make the sun look like it’s talking, just pull on the end of the yarn!

WHAT DOES YOUR SUN WANT TO SAY?

Upcoming Events- Intro to CSEFEL Classroom Workshop

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:57:20 GMT

Upcoming Events- Intro to CSEFEL Classroom Workshop

Intro to CSEFEL

Build an understanding of the principles surrounding the Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. Students will obtain an overview of the Pyramid Model. This course is a pre-requisite to all CSEFEL modules and must be completed prior to attending the CSEFEL module classes.

Date: Tuesday 07/05/11
Time: 6:30-8:30 pm
Location: Child Care Resources’ Training Room at 105 East Pine St, Lower Level, in Missoula
Cost: $10.00
Training Hours: 2.0
Training Level: Beginning
Instructor: Jennifer Swartz
Knowledge Base: Professionalism

The Bored Jar- Honesty Book

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:01:35 GMT

Honesty Book

This activity provided by “A Place of Our Own”:http://aplaceofourown.org/activity.php?id=488 encourages honesty in your child. Try making this honesty book today!

All children exaggerate and make up stories at one time or another, but what is often surprising for parents to learn is that in many cases, the child is not intentionally being untruthful. In this activity, learn how an honesty book can help your child become more truthful.
What we learn:

Honesty
Pre-literacy skills
Language development

Materials Needed:

Notepad
Markers
Directions:
Use an honesty book to reinforce the importance of telling the truth. For example, let’s say that your child doesn’t want to eat his vegetables. Instead of eating them, he hides them in his pocket, but he tells you that yes, he’s eaten his vegetables. Use that example as the basis for a story in your honesty book.

Make up a story about how a dinosaur doesn’t want to eat his vegetables, so instead of eating his vegetables, he hides them under the table. The difference in your story is that when asked if he’s eaten his vegetables, the dinosaur actually tells the truth and says, no, that he’s hidden the vegetables under the table.

You can simply use a blank notepad to create your honesty book or you can create your own book using sheets of paper tied together with string.

Make up the story alongside your child. You and your child can draw pictures to accompany your story or you can take photographs of toy dinosaurs to paste in the book.

As you’re telling the story to your child, be sure to ask your child open-ended questions about what’s going on in the story. Reinforce the positive message about how the dinosaur in the story was honest, rather than being untruthful about not eating his vegetables.

Important Notice- An All-Abilities Playground for Missoula!

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:13:00 GMT

The Playground Project: An All-Abilities Playground for Missoula

Missoula children, along with their parents, supporters and friends, are working with Missoula Parks and Recreation to create a vision for a very special all-abilities playground. This will be a play place for everyone, inviting many styles of play: physical, sensory, social, imaginative, creative and exploratory. The project is in the early stages. Your participation will help to form this vision, so that a budget can be developed and funds raised to create this special place.

You can help by sharing your dream for a place where we can all play together. Take a quick, one-page survey
Or
Join this Cause on Facebook>>