Water Play

Water play is an important part of sensory learning. Children have the opportunity to explore water with just their hands or entire bodies and different materials can be used to enhance the experience. While at school, water play is explored in water tables both in the classroom and outdoors. We follow several rules to reduce injury, accidental drowning, and the spread of germs. One of the most important things we do is supervising play at ALL times. Water play whether in a pool, a bathtub, or even a small tub of water should always be supervised by an adult at all times. It is important to wash hands before and after water play to reduce the spreading of germs. Also, change the water out often if children are going back and forth from water play to other activities to make sure the water is clean. Now that summer is just around the corner, many people will be planning activities that include water to keep cool. Please take a few minutes to look over some of the following websites about water safety. 

http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/outdoor/water_safety.html

http://www.healthychild.net/SafetyFirst.php?article_id=234

Safe Play

One of the common things among children of all ages is toys. Children play with them at home, at school, and when they are visiting friends and family. One of the things most parents do not think about is if certain toys have had a safety recall. At our center, we are constantly checking safety recalls, ensuring that your child is having optimal play with only the safest materials and toys. There are several ways you can protect your child from toys that aren’t safe for them.

·         Check the wear and tear of your child’s toys at home. Some toys might have pieces missing from constant use which could mean that the toy is no longer safe to play with or could pose a choking hazard if smaller parts are accessible. Check for broken pieces to make sure your child would not get hurt by sharp pieces.

·         If you are a parent with more than one child in the home, keep toys of the older children out of reach of the younger ones, especially if there is a label on the toy for a certain age. Little ones like to place everything in their mouths and could grab something that isn’t safe for them to play with.

·         Visit the following website to check for safety recalls on items you might have in your home. http://srs.dph.illinois.gov/webapp/SRSApp/pages/.

·         Make a list of items you are searching for at garage sales and check the safety recall website FIRST to make sure you aren’t wasting money on items that your child won’t be able to play with.

·         Before accepting items such as bedding, used outdoor play items, and other child accessories, check the website and the condition of the materials.

Welcome

Welcome to the newest way we will be serving your family. This blog was created to offer you another method of learning about updates at the child care center as well as sharing important health and safety information as it relates to children. We appreciate feedback and encourage topics that you might want to learn about. Our goal is to offer you the additional support by researching specific areas you would like to know about to better equip all of us in caring for today's children. We will also utilize this blog as another way of answering your confidential questions/concerns that we collect from the parent information boxes located in each classroom.