Archive: Provider Resources

Play Based Learning

 
As teachers, care providers and parents, you know better than anyone that kids learn best through hands-on or play based learning. Our friends at Kodo Kids know that hands-on play is not only extremely educational, but also the most fun way to learn. That’s why they produce products that promote investigation and exploration.
 

 
As childhood expert Bev Bos would say, “If it’s not in the hand, it’s not in the head.” At Mom Trusted, we agree with Kodo Kids’ learning philosophy. Open-ended play is an important learning style for children of all ages. It helps create a deep understanding of the material introduced to them. This hands-on, play approach is especially important during early education, when children are just starting to discover and create their learning style, along with the world around them.
 

 
Products from Kodo Kids range anywhere from Digger Kits, designed to encourage outdoor play and learning by digging, burying and sifting through sand and soil, to Kodo Clay, an all-natural product meant for art and expression. There’s a magnetic filling kit that teaches kids about magnetism and iron particles. Kodo Kids even has Pump Works, a kit of water tubes that lets children test out their engineering and water pumping skills.
 

 
How do we know Kodo Kids’ products are great? They sent us some and we loved them! With a wide variety of tools, toys and gadgets, any teacher, child care provider, or parent is sure to find something right up their alley that suits their individual teaching or parenting style. Visit Kodo Kids’ products for yourself today to see just how great hands-on learning can be!

What First Aide Necessity is Missing From Your Freezer?

Kids get bumps and bruises faster than you can keep up with. Before you know it, one of your kid’s has slammed their finger in a door, jammed it on a basketball or gotten a nasty rope burn from tug-a-war. That’s why everyone should have at least one Cold Cast available in their freezer at all times.

 
Cold Cast is an ice pack that fits snugly on the injured finger. Children don’t like to sit still long enough to hold an ice pack in place, but the Cold Cast has its own sling so your kids can go on playing while they’re icing. The cast helps treat finger injuries immediately, speeding up the healing process and helping eliminate any complications down the road.

 
The Cold Cast is safe for kids of all ages. It’s soft and easy to strap into place. Plus, it’s latex-free so as to avoid any allergic reactions.

Injury care is essential to ensuring the fastest healing and avoiding any future problems. Cold Cast provides all five features of P.R.I.C.E., the five main principles of injury care. They include: 

• – Protection: Cold Cast cradles tender fingers in a padded cushion.

 

• – Rest: Wearing the handy product works as a constant reminder to the injured child to let the finger heal.

 

• – Ice: Cold Cast’s design will allow it to stay cold for 20 minutes, which is the maximum time recommended to ice injuries. Even when frozen, it remains soft and pliable, making it easy for little ones to keep on playing.

 

• – Compression: The cast can be wrapped around a finger as tightly or as loosely as possible. Wrap it snugly to provide support and compression.

 

• – Elevation: Cold Cast’s wrist strap will ensure it stays in place even on the busiest kid, letting them carry on with their playtime while they heal!

 
At Mom Trusted, we want to make sure that our care providers stay well prepared so we’re offering our users an exclusive discount:

Click here to ORDER NOW and save 25% off the retail price!

Just enter the discount code before you checkout.

Code: Mom Trusted

Buy one before you need one so that you always have at least one Cold Cast on hand!  If you have a few you can get creative when injuries arise.

Ant and Worm Activities for Kids

Mom Trusted put together a few fun ideas for critter-crazy children. These will help them expand their scientific knowledge and have a great time. Here are some bug activities for kids. Some are educational and others are even tasty:

Invest in an ant farm. Your kids will have fun for hours watching the ants dig mazes.

Eat dirt for dessert! Make some chocolate pudding, following the instructions on the box, and pour it into small, plastic cups. Then crumble chocolate cookies on top of the pudding. Stick a few gummy worms in each cup. You can even add green coconut shavings (dyed using a few drops of food coloring) for grass if you want to get extra fancy.

Make a worm hotel. All you need is a big glass or plastic jar and some worms. Fill the jar with dirt, stick a few worms in and watch them wiggle through it. Note: the worms will be happiest if you alternate dirt and sand every few inches. Make sure to return them to their natural habitat after a few days.

Make compost in your own backyard. Gather veggie kitchen scrapes, some leaves or cut grass and place in a large pale with a lid. When it starts to decompose into dirt, add a few worms to help the process along.

Feed the ants and watch how much they can carry. Be sure to do this activity far away from your home! Grab some lunch leftovers and take them out to a field with a few ant hills. Drop the food in large chunks and watch as tiny ants come to take away pieces many times their size.

Sources:

-“Bugs and insect activities for kids” Pinterest

-“Creepy crawly activities for kids who love bugs” education.com

-Photo courtesy of antpkr/freedigitalphotos.net

Teaching Kids About Flowers and Plants

In the final days of spring, it’s the perfect time to start teaching kids about flowers and plants. Here are a few tips that Mom Trusted put together to make the learning process easier and more fun:

Grow a flower

Decorate a simple pot with paint. Try stamping colorful handprints all over it. Then, plant easy to grow flowers in it. Try daisies, since they’re such a hearty flower.

Sprout a bean

Have your kids help you place a bean in a damp paper towel in a plastic bag. Then, place in light and wait for them to sprout.

Plant a vegetable garden

Plant seeds to a veggie garden. Try out tomatoes, potatoes, peas, beans and carrots. Watch as they grow and munch on them when they’re ready! Nothing tastes better than homegrown veggies.

Sort seeds

Sort different flower and plant seeds. Use simple ones like pumpkin, sunflower and tulip bulbs.

Visit a florist

Take a fieldtrip to a local florist. Look at all the different kinds of plants and flowers and buy a bouquet so that you can give each little one a flower to hang onto.

Smell the roses

Blindfold your kids and have them take turns smelling different types of flowers. Older children can also turn it into a guessing game and try to name the flowers they’re smelling.

Sources:

-“How to teach your child about flowers” Yahoo! Voices

-“Interactive plant biology: a kid’s guide to the life cycle of a flower” Pro Flowers

-“Teaching children with flowers” BorBer

-Photo courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/freedigitalphotos.net

Fun Carpets and Rugs Made Just For Kids

Whether you’re looking to carpet your daycare or shopping for play rugs at school, our pals at KidCarpet.com offer a variety of options at shockingly low costs.

Kid Carpet offers a wide variety of colors and patterns to choose from. From colorful ABC, sitting rugs to rugs with educational number patterns, there’s something for every care provider and teacher. Check out states, countries and continents with map rugs. Learn new languages with bilingual rugs.

Kid Carpet is the only place where care centers and schools can purchase carpet and rugs directly from the factory, cutting back on any unnecessary costs from the middle men.

And because we know just how much you’d love Kid Carpet’s products, we want to make their low prices even lower by offering you this special deal:

Save $10 on your order when you enter “Mom Trusted” at checkout.

Offer expires October 31, 2013. Offer good for one order.

To top it off, you’re even spreading a little love when you buy from Kid Carpet. A portion of every single purchase goes to Cooperative of Education so order your rugs from KidCarpet.com today!

Looking for a way to make naptime easier?

Happi-Nappi provides naptime necessities to make snooze time simple for children, care providers and parents with quality products. At Mom Trusted, we know how stressful childcare can be and we’re here to make it easier for you. We’ve found that Happi-Nappi’s cot sheets, mat sheets and nap bags will do just that!

Most states require each child to have both top and bottom sheets covering the cot or mat. Providing two separate pieces for every single child makes washing a hassle. Plus storing and keeping up with the covers becomes a mess. Happi-Nappi offers one unit instead of two. It saves lots of time because the entire lightweight naptime sheets or nap bags can be thrown in the wash for a quick cleaning. It makes the center look clean and crisp with matching sheets or nap bags. The children love the security of the attached pieces when they’re snuggling in for their afternoon naps.

The cute sheets and bags come in a variety of colors and patterns. The sheets are made with high quality USA sheeting materials. The nap bag is made with soft, quilted material. Each item is sewn closed on one side to make for easy opening and simple naptime. You will not find scratchy Velcro, inexpensive elastic or paper thin fabric used in any of our products. Every item is sewn with reinforced seams. Happi-Nappi offers high-quality products that are made right here in the U.S. and will stay in great shape for years to come.

Since the sheets and bags are nice and light, they’ll fold up easily to be stored on a shelf or in a cubby. They fold to the volume of a folded beach towel. It is much easier to store than a bulky sleeping bag or towels.

The sheets and nap bags even come with a sewn-in, oversized nametag for quick and easy identification. Order your Happi-Nappi’s today! When ordering, make sure you use the code “MT” to receive a discount of 15% off!

http://www.happinappi.com/

Build Your Childcare Resume

Putting together a resume can be overwhelming and challenging, but Mom Trusted is here to help. If you’re looking for the best way to build your childcare resume, we’ve got a few tips to help make the process easier and help your resume stand out:

Include the basic stuff

List your name, address, number, education and dates and locations with everything listed.

List only relevant experience

If you’re building a resume geared toward childcare, list any previous jobs or activities related to daycare, preschool, teaching and even camp counseling or nannying. Interested parties are likely to be interested in only former jobs related to children.

Don’t forget to explain

List two or three examples of tasks you were responsible for under each job. Be descriptive, but brief.

Ages are important

On childcare resumes, it’s important to include (often in the description lines listed above) the ages you worked with in each position.

Make your skills known

Do you know CPR? Are you a trained lifeguard? List any certifications related to health and safety. These are especially important to parents and care centers looking to hire.

References are key

Especially in a profession that deals with children. Childcare centers and parents want to take extra precautions to make sure their children are in good hands. If you have three to four references who will vouch for your responsibility and skills, list them right on the resume. Just make sure to give them a heads up before you do!

Why do you love kids?

Write a clever, but brief cover letter in which you describe why you want to work with kids. Be honest and open.

Have someone edit for you

Sometimes a second set of eyes makes all the difference. Have a friend or family member read through your resume and cover letter for any typos, grammatical errors and just to make sure everything is clear.

Once you have your resume completed, be sure to post all your information in MomTrusted so parents can learn more about your services and hire you! Get started here: http://momtrusted.com/getstarted

Sources:

“Cover Letters and Resume Samples.” Childcare Worker Resume Sample

“Sample Child Care Worker/Social Services.” About

“Childcare Resume Writing. What Should It be About?” Resume Writing Tips

Photo courtesy of Ambro/freedigitalphotos.net