Childcare resources for the busy child care provider

Do you work with young children? Where do you get your ideas? The best childcare resources come from experienced providers and teachers like you. That is why this site is going to be about you, for you and by you. So how do you keep the children engaged in learning?

We know that children learn through play, but what they learn is dictated by the materials, activities and environments that we create for them. If you are like me, you are always on the lookout for free lesson plans, games and other ideas to keep the children busy, happy and engaged every day.

After a career of almost 20 years in childcare, I have compiled a collection of my favorite activities, games and lesson plans for all ages of children from infant through school age. Whether you are a family home child care provider with multiple ages or a center teacher working with a group of school-agers before and after school, you will find something here that you can use. Please feel free to put these ideas in action "as is" or to personalize them to meet the needs of the children in your classroom.

Additional resources to watch for on upcoming pages include:

* Complete lesson plans including "how to's"

* Miscellaneous activities to add to your own plan

* Choice of lesson plan templates to complete on your own

* Games to print and make

* Worksheets to print and use

Early childhood providers are some of the most creative people in the world and I know that you will take my ideas and only improve on them. I hope that you will write back to let me know how you changed them. I also want to know how the children responded. I will add your comments so that others can get even more ideas. If you will include your favorite childcare resources, together we can make this site THE go-to place for anyone looking for new ideas to get the children engaged in learning.

In addition, there will be articles and discussion forums about our profession, opportunities for training and more. I hope that you check back often to see what is new.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Articles About the Childcare Profession

Looking for early childhood related articles for your newsletter? Here are some to copy and paste (just be sure to include the copyright information!)

More than a Playground - Creating an Outdoor Classroom in your Play Space

Your outdoor play space can be so much more than a playground. Create multiple learning centers outside, and voila! You have an outdoor classroom!

Ideas for After School Programs

Trying to develop your after school programs? Looking for ideas for your before and after school curriculum? Here are some ideas to get you started as you create your own school age lesson plans.

Resources I Have Found to be Helpful

Various resources to make available to parents, use in staff training, use when referring a child for special needs or situations, or that make it easy to develop your own early learning curriculum.

Pre-reading games to make reading easy and fun!

Learning to read should be easy and fun! Use these pre-reading games to get your children off to a good start!

Free Lesson Plans to choose from to make your job easier.

Everything from blank templates to completed lesson plans. Choose the ones that will help you the most.

Grocery Store Unit Lesson Plan

The Grocery Store Unit is fun for all ages. It is familiar, yet there is so much to be learned. You can touch on every subject area, from reading and literacy to math to geography to science, etc.

Contribute to Childcare Resources

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