Physical Fitness

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.  ~Plato

 

Why is physical fitness important for children?

“Regular exercise benefits children physically, psychologically and socially” (Maddox, 2010). In their developing bodies, physical activity helps children build strong bones and muscles. It can help children develop confidence and a healthy concept about their body and help them feel less stressed (Sessoms, 2011). For younger children, being active can aid in the development of gross motor skills. “Activities such as jumping, hopping, climbing, catching and kicking all involve large muscle movement and develop strength and coordination in young bodies” (Waldo, 2011). Socially, enjoying activities with peers such as sports can help improve a child's social skills. (Maddox, 2010)

As far as long term effects, being physically active during childhood can help develop healthy habits for life. “Children who are physically active are also more likely to continue exercising regularly as adults” (Maddox, 2010). Being active can also increase their life span and put them at a much lower risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, as well as some cancers.

 

What can happen when children do not engage in healthy fitness activities?

“If children do not get enough exercise, the inactivity can lead to numerous health problems capable of reducing their quality of life” (Maddox, 2010). As previously discussed, if children are not engaging in physical activities, they are at a higher risk for obesity, type two diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. They may have self-esteem and confidence issues throughout life which can lead to depression. This can also cause social issues where they may isolate themselves from their peers. Not only will these things affect them during childhood, but throughout life. They will be going into adulthood with unhealthy habits and may lower their life span and increase their chances even more for many other diseases including cancer.

 

How can adults help children develop good fitness habits?

There are several things adults can do to instill good fitness habits in children. The most important way is by becoming a role model to the child. If they experience adults being active and enjoying it, they are more willing to engage in physical activities as well. Adults can encourage children to exercise by signing them up for sports teams with their peers. The children will enjoy being active while having fun with friends. Adults can also set aside time daily for fitness to make it a routine and a habit in their lives. This can be done by doing things together such as taking a family walk after dinner or by playing catch.

Here are a few ideas of activities that adults can use to encourage physical activity in their children:

·         Riding a bike. This activity exercises their gross-motor skills and is something that the whole family can enjoy together!

·         Playing with Play-doh. This activity exercises and helps them further develop their fine motor skills. Adults can have them roll the dough and create many shapes.

 

 References:

Maddox, Nathania. (2010). The Effects of Exercise on Children. Retrieved from

            http://www.livestrong.com/article/343379-the-effects-of-exercise-on-

            children/#ixzz2PzfC2Y8Ube

 

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5th ed.). Belmont, CA:

            Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

 

Sessoms, Gail. (2011). Physical Fitness Activites for Children. Retrieved from

            http://www.livestrong.com/article/326274-physical-fitness-activities-for-preschoolers/

 

Waldo, Nicole. (2011). Preschool Large Muscle Movement Exercises. Retrieved from

            http://www.livestrong.com/article/407229-preschool-large-muscle-movement-exercises/

Healthy Food and Nutrition

In this section of my blog, I will be discussing the importance of good nutrition and healthy eating habits for children and how adults can actively help foster these habits. I will also provide my readers with a few nutritious recipes that parents can prepare with their young children.

 “Adequate nutrition during childhood is necessary to maintain overall health and   provide for growth” (Robertson, 2013, p. 213). Good nutrition and healthy eating habits are highly important, especially for young children, because healthy foods help them in their overall development. Eating healthy allows their muscles to work, gives them more energy and aides in their growth, builds immunity against diseases, and helps them function cognitively (Robertson, 2013, p. 228) If a child does not eat healthy, they are at a greater risk for obesity and some diseases such as diabetes. 

It is highly important for adults to actively help children develop healthy eating habits so that they carry on those habits throughout life. One way adults can do this, and properly the most important way, is to be a good role model for the children. We cannot expect children to want to eat healthy foods if they do not see us doing the same. Children rely on adults to provide the food for them, so by providing healthy meals and snacks and eating them ourselves, we are preparing them for when they are capable of choosing their own foods. Another way adults can help children develop healthy eating habits is by my making eating healthy fun and getting them involved. Having children help prepare meals will making eating healthy enjoyable for them. If they feel that they contributed to making a meal, they will be even more excited to eat it!

 I am going to provide three nutritious recipes for adults and children to prepare together. These recipes are some of children’s favorite meals, with a healthier twist!

Tiny Pizzas

(Kids Health from Nemours)

Prep time: about 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 standard-sized bagel, cut in half

tomato sauce

shredded mozzarella cheese

toppings like diced green pepper, chopped onion, or chopped tomato (whatever you like)

seasonings like oregano, basil, and pepper

Directions:

1.      Set the oven to low heat.

2.      Spread tomato sauce on each bagel half.

3.      Sprinkle the shredded cheese all over the tomato sauce on each half.

4.      Add your favorite toppings.

5.      Put a light sprinkling of seasonings on each half.

6.      Put your bagel halves on a baking sheet.

7.      Bake in the oven on low heat for about 5 to 8 minutes. You'll know they're done when the cheese is bubbly.

8.      Let cool for a minute, then enjoy your tiny pizzas!

Serves: 1

Serving size: 2 tiny pizzas

Nutritional analysis (per serving):
210 calories
9 g protein
4 g fat
34 g carbohydrate
2 g fiber
11 mg cholesterol
633 mg sodium
144 mg calcium
1.9 mg iron

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

(Kids Health from Nemours)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 slices whole-wheat or whole-grain bread (at least 3 grams of fiber per slice)

2 slices of reduced-fat American cheese

Directions:

1.      Toast bread.

2.      Add cheese slices to one slice of bread.

3.      Top with other slice of bread.

4.      Wrap sandwich in paper towel.

5.      Microwave on HIGH for 20 seconds or until cheese is melted (do not overcook).

Serves: 1

Serving size: 1 sandwich

Nutritional analysis (per serving):

298 calories

298 calories

21 g protein

10 g fat

5.4 g sat. fat

31 g carbohydrate

6 g fiber

26 mg cholesterol

1203 mg sodium

704 mg calcium

5.4 mg iron

120 mcg folic acid

 

French Toast

(Kids Health from Nemours)

Prep time: about 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/4 c. milk

dash of vanilla extract

1 tbsp. margarine

2 pieces of bread

Directions:

1.      Crack the egg into a medium-sized bowl and beat well. Then mix in the milk and vanilla extract.

2.      Put the margarine in a frying pan. Heat the pan on the stovetop on medium heat. It's hot enough when the margarine starts to bubble.

3.      Dunk each piece of bread in the egg mixture. Make sure the bread is totally covered.

4.      Cook the bread in the frying pan on low heat until the underside is light brown (about 5 minutes).

5.      Use a spatula to flip the bread over, and cook again for another 5 minutes.

6.      Use the spatula to transfer the French toast to a plate.

Serves: 2

Serving size: 1 slice

Nutritional analysis (per serving):

162 calories
6 g protein
9 g fat
13 g carbohydrate
0 g fiber
107 mg cholesterol
218 mg sodium
80 mg calcium
1.1 mg iron

 References:

Kids Health from Nemours. (2011). French Toast. Retrieved from

            http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_recipes/french_toast.html#cat20744

Kids Health from Nemours. (2011). Mealtime Makeover: Grilled Cheese. Retrieved from

            http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_recipes/m_grilled_cheese.html#cat2

            0744

Kids Health from Nemours. (2011). Tiny Pizzas. Retrieved from

            http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_recipes/tiny_pizzas.html#cat20744

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5th ed.). Belmont, CA:

            Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

CPR and Choking Emergencies

For many child care professionals, having a child that is choking or having to administer CPR is a big fear, but also something that they should be prepared for at all times. In this blog post, I will describe two scenarios: one where a child is choking on food and one where a child needs CPR. I will then outline the emergency procedures that the teacher must take to save the child and discuss the importance of planning ahead of time for such events.

Scenario #1: It is snack time in your child care facility. All of the students range from ages 6 months to 2 years old. They are all either sitting in high chairs or around a small table. All of a sudden, you see a one year old baby choking on one of his snacks. The NAEYC recommends several steps to responding to emergency situations. For a situation like the one occurring in your child care facility, it is best to “act immediately and remain calm” and if another teacher is present, they should be keeping the other children calm (Robertson, 2013, p. 179). You should have someone call emergency medical personnel while you grab the baby out of the high chair and perform the Heimlich maneuver. You do this by standing behind the child and making a fist just below their chest. With your other hand, you grab the fist and push upward to until the object they are choking on is dislodged.  The child’s parents should also be contacted, and a teacher should remain with the child until the paramedics and parents arrive. (Bringham and Women’s Hospital)

Scenario #2: It is the middle of the afternoon and all of your students are spread around the room playing. You look over to the playhouse and one of your two year old girls laying down. Suspecting that something is not right, you walk over to and find her unconscious. It is important to remain calm, but also quickly try to help her. You should call for help, and have someone watch the other children. Another person should call the paramedics and then the child’s parents. . You should then “assess the child with a head-to-toe check” (Robertson, 2013, p. 179). After tapping her shoulder and loudly calling her name, you determine that she is unresponsive. You should then place the child on a firm surface and prepare to administer CPR.  

There are several things adults can do to prevent and be better prepared for in the cases of the types of scenarios I described as well as many other kinds of similar emergencies. Most importantly, adults working with children should be trained in first aid and CPR. Teachers should also know the steps of how to respond to these types of emergencies and know when to call for help. Having the knowledge of what to do in scenarios like these and being trained in first aid and CPR cannot only resolve emergencies but it could possibly save lives. It can also teach them to take the proper precautions to prevent things like this from happening.

Aside from having staff properly trained, child care facilities should have their own set of procedures of how to act in these types of emergencies. There should be a written procedure plan posted as a reminder for staff to remember. They should also have an emergency contact list for each child and a first aid kit that are easy to access in any emergency situation. Overall, anything that could help adults be better prepared for emergency situations involving children could prevent further harm to the child and even save their lives.

  References:         

Brigham and Women’s Hospital. (2012) How to Help a Choking Child.  Retrieved from

            http://healthlibrary.brighamandwomens.org/RelatedItems/1,197

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5th ed.). Belmont, CA:

            Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

Emergency Preparedness: Natural and Human-Generated Disasters

 No matter where we are located, there is always risk for crisis situations. Whether it is a natural disaster that may occur or a human-generated disaster, it is important for early childhood education facilities to be properly trained and prepared in order to keep themselves and the students safe. In this blog, I will discuss two potential scenarios that can affect a childcare facility and what professionals should do to prepare for a possible event and how they should respond if the event actually did occur.

The first scenario I will discuss a fire outbreak in a back storage room of a child care facility. It is the middle of the afternoon, and all three classrooms are filled with a total of twenty-five children and ten staff members. As an employee of the center and caregiver to the young children, it is your job to get them to safety before they are harmed. Another potential hazard of a fire is the possibility of smoke inhalation. You want to make sure the children are out of the building and in clear, clean air as soon as possible to avoid the dangers of this.

It is highly important for the facility to have a plan beforehand, in case a fire does occur. Training should be done with both the staff and the children. They should all know the layout of the building and how and where they would exit during this type of disaster. It would be helpful to have a map posted in each room, so that they are constantly reminded. The director of the facility should also make sure that all fire alarms and any sprinkler systems and extinguishers are always in working order. A separate alarm should be in the plan, such as a cowbell or whistle, should be used to warn everyone in the building of a fire in case the fire alarm does not go off. Additionally, “all staff should be thoroughly trained in the differences in the types of fires (electrical, oil, chemical, etc.) and the various materials and equipment available to combat each type of fire, including commonly available substances and materials (baking soda, sand, water soaked blankets, etc.)” (Bureau of Plans: Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, 2003, p. 13).

Aside from training all of the staff and children, it is important to involve the families of the students so that they are also aware of facility’s plan in case of this type of emergency. The teachers can talk with the parents about how they can discuss fire safety with their own children and possibly have them practice a fire drill at home. They should also considering having the emergency safety plan posted in the parent information area and a map of the building with directions of how to exit just in case a parent is ever in the building when a disaster occurs to just to make them feel more at ease knowing the childcare facility has a plan to keep their children out of harm’s way.

During the fire disaster, there are additional steps the staff needs to take in order to ensure the safety of the children. They should remain calm and follow through with the plan that was previously established in order to exit the building safely. They should be sure to grab all emergency information and files for the children so that they can contact their families and a first aid kit in case any gets injured while exiting the building. It would be wise to have these things in a designated spot at all times, so that when an emergency does happen, they are easy to grab on the way out. “After occupants are safe, the fire department should be notified without delay” ((Bureau of Plans: Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, 2003, p. 13).

 The second potential disaster that can strike an early childcare facility is a human-generated disaster. Unfortunately, this is something our country is beginning to know all too well, and as we all saw with the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, it can happen in places we would never even expect. Here is the scenario. You are in your classroom in the childcare facility reading a story to your ten students and another teacher comes into the room and tells you that some unauthorized is in the building and a potential harm to the children. How would you react and keep your students safe?

It is an unfortunate reality that these disasters do happen spontaneously so there are not always warning signs. However, there are a few measures the facility’s staff can take to be prepared. There should always be someone near the entrance to the facility enforcing security and making sure that only authorized individuals are entering. Many childcare centers check identification cards and student files if they are not familiar with the person entering the center. It may also be helpful to have a signal to alert the rest of the facility in case someone does get past the entrance and they are not supposed to, such as a whistle, intercom signal, or separate alarm aside from those used for fire or other emergencies. Staff and children should also be trained and have a plan of how they would respond if this type of disaster ever does happen.

This can be a very scary kind of disaster for the children, so it is important for teachers and families to work together to teach the students about this. Parents can explain to the children that this is a rare type of disaster, but they still need to be prepared and know how to react. They should go over the facility’s safety plan with their own children and also explain to them that their teachers are there to keep them safe so they need to follow their directions during this type of occurrence.

If someone is may be violent or armed enters the facility, it is important for the teacher’s to try and remain calm for the sake of the children. If not already done so, the rest of the facility should be warned and the police need to be called immediately. If they are not able to get the children out the building quickly through a back door or such, teachers should lock their classroom door immediately and turn off the lights. Next, they should have the children stay quiet, away from door and windows, and hidden to where they cannot be seen from the outside. At no point should any of the center’s staff try to confront or take down the intruder. “Don’t endanger yourself or any of the other children by trying some sort of rescue” (Bureau of Plans: Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, 2003, p. 21). Staff should not open the locked doors for anyone unless they know for a fact that it is a police officer, but when authorities do arrive, staff and children should follow their directions.

Sadly, many other types of disasters aside from the two I described can affect a childcare facility at any time. However, with proper training and preparation, teachers, children, and families, can be ready and knowledgeable of how they should react in the cases of any natural or human-generated disaster.

 

References:

Bureau of Plans: Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. (2003) Daycare Facilities Emergency

Planning Guide. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201350_03/BS_BSCD/EDUC_1005/Week%202/Application/Week%202%20Assignment/embedded/day_care_facilities_planning_guide.pdf

 

 

Safety Practices and Policies

There tends to be many risk factors concerning safety and well-being when it comes to caring for infants. Whether it is in a child care facility or in the home, there are many precautions caregivers must take in order to prevent harm. In this blog post, I will discuss five potential hazardous situations that are common among infants. For each safety threat, I will incorporate the safety policies that are in place to help prevent each situation and further action can be taken to reduce the risk.

One of the major risks involving infants is SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. There is no known exact cause for SIDS, but there are precautions adults can take to reduce the infant’s risk. The American Academy of Pediatrics has special recommendations to do this such as having the infant sleep on the back, using a pacifier at nap time, and having a firm crib mattress to sleep on. (Robertson, 2013, p. 70) These are things that can be done at both the early childhood education center by teachers as well as at home by parents to reduce the risk of SIDS. It is also highly recommended that parents to do not sleep in the same bed as the infants because there have been cases where the adult has rolled over on the baby or the infant has suffocated from the blankets on top of them.
 

A second potential occurrence would be an infant falling, whether it is off of a changing table, bed, highchair, or out of a crib. Section 101429 of California safety regulations states that, “each infant shall be constantly supervised and under direct visual observation and supervision by a staff person at all times.  Under no circumstances shall ANY infant be left unattended” (California Regulations). It is very easy for an infant to roll of the edge of a high piece of furniture if left unattended for even a second. Child care centers can take precaution of this by making sure they are with the infant at all times and never leave them alone. Parents can take the exact precautions in the home to prevent this safety threat.

Another potential hazard for infants is choking on small objects. Most states have a regulation stating that “toys shall be safe, and shall not have sharp points or edges or splinters, or be made of small parts that can be pulled off and swallowed” (California Regulations). Infants and young children are curious about their surroundings, and the way they learn is by putting objects into their mouth. It is important for child care centers to only provide the infants with toys that are appropriate for their age level, are not broken, and do not have small pieces they can be detached. Parents can also take this precaution in the home to keep their child safe. Many homes have more than one child, and some older children may have toys with small parts lying around, so parents should make sure that the infants are not getting a hold of these.
 

Another risk that is not only among infants, but everyone, is the spreading of bacteria and germs from one person to another. Luckily, there are regulations that child care centers have based on sanitation. One regulation states that, “each caregiver shall wash his/her hands with soap and water before each feeding and after each diaper change” (California Regulations). This is important for teachers to do when caring for multiple infants, but also a precaution parents can take in the home after using the restroom, before preparing food, or being outside. There are many viruses and diseases that are common in child care centers so everyone sanitizing hands and objects, we can eliminate some of those risks of developing an illness.

 The last safety hazard that is present to infants that I will discuss deals with the malfunction of equipment that infants commonly use. Another regulation set my many states is that “swings, playpens and all such equipment and furniture shall be assembled or installed according to the manufacturer's instructions, and shall be maintained in good repair and safe condition” (California Regulation). There have been cases of children being injured by equipment that failed or that was not put together properly. With so many children using these objects in a child care center, it is important for the center to make sure they are constantly checking the equipment for any hazards. Parents can also make sure that the equipment is properly put together before placing their child in them and making sure it is safe before each use.
 

In conclusion, there are many potential safety threats and hazards that can be present to infants on a daily basis. With following safety regulations and policies set out by the government and with communicating with parents about this safety, child care centers can reduce the risk and even prevent many of these threats that I previously discussed.

 

References:

 

“California Regulations”. National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early

            Education. Retrieved from http://nrckids.org.

 

Robertson, C. (2013). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (5th ed.). Belmont, CA:

            Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.