Regular physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Making physical activity a priority and encouraging good habits in children from an early age is important and can help them to develop the skills they need to continue being active throughout their lives. Children who are not physically active are more likely to be prone to conditions such as asthma, flat feet and joint sprains due to excessive weight. Long term, being overweight or obese can contribute to conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, Type II Diabetes and liver disease. Recent research has shown that warning signs for these conditions can be present in overweight teenagers as young as fifteen.
Teachers can help maintain good fitness habits by infusing regular fitness activities in the classroom every day. Teachers can encourage children daily so that they can develop a love for health and fitness. The developmental skills children in preschool learn during this time include basic skills are broken into two categories. The first is Locomotor skills, which involve moving the body from one point to another. When children run, gallop, skip, hop, leap, slide, and jump, they are using locomotive skills. The second is Manipulative skills, which involve moving objects with hands and feet. Children use manipulative skills to catch, throw, kick, roll, dribble, and strike or bat. Children need to develop basic competency in fundamental motor skills for games, sports, and lifetime physical activity.
One way to help preschoolers become more physically fit is to get them to pump their muscles. Teachers can make dumbbells using two liter soda bottles and attach to an old broom handle. Teachers can fill them with rice, beans or sand. Using the dumbbells the students can do shoulder presses, lunges and arm lifts. Dumbbells promote muscular strength and endurance.
Another way to help preschoolers become more physically fit is for teachers to set up a motor skill center in the classroom. Motor skills centers encourage children to be active in a fairly small area. With appropriate reinforcement and structure, preschoolers can safely engage in motor activities in the classroom. Children can do activities such as making a people alphabet where children try to make their body into the shape of different letters, by either standing or lying on the floor. Children can also do animal walks, play partner/individual toss-and-catch games with different size foam balls.
“Healthy Kids Learn Better” is a quote that comes from the Action for Healthy Kids website. Evidence shows that kids who eat well and are active are better equipped to do well in school including improved test scores and attention. They come to school on time, focused and ready to learn. This quote represents my view on children’s health and nutrition. Students who are physically active feel better and learn better.
Physical activity promotes healthy child growth and development. Physically activity helps to build strong bones and muscles. It also improves balance and develops skills, maintains and develops flexibility and helps achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
The growth and development of an infant is directly related to nutrition. An infant grows faster during the first year than at any other time of their life. This growth rate is due to the growth patterns of all the internal organs. The only form of food an infant can receive is breast milk or formula that provides necessary nutrients. Good nutrition allows a child to grow, learn and play. The birth weight of a healthy baby will double in the first four months of life, and nutritional needs will change as a child grows and develops (Robertson, 2007).
The transition from infant to toddler is when the child begins to show independence and the need for autonomy. During this period the child wants and needs to be independent, and wants to control their eating. The challenge during this period is to maintain good nutrition while helping the child to establish good food habits with their independence intact. As a child develops a sense of autonomy, it can also lead to frustration and a contest of wills; their will versus the adults will.
Preschool children are ready to learn and are willing to change and try new things when they are together, so they are probably more likely to eat more servings of the basic food groups (Levy&Cooper, 1999). Messages children receive at home from their parents and television have a great deal of influence on their attitude about food. Children in the preschool age are easily influenced by television advertising of food products that are poor nutritional choices. Breakfast is a very important meal for children and has been proven to improve cognitive skills.
The needs of school-aged children, ages five to eleven years, vary greatly. Growth is slower during this period and is not observable as the earlier infant-toddler spurt. The vigorous activity level that most school-aged children experience makes the need for adequate nutrition important. Good nutrition will help the school-aged child maintain resistance to infection and will help ensure adequate stores for the building materials and nutrition needed for the adolescent growth spurt.
Adults can help a child to develop good eating habits by making mealtime significant for the child. When adults model that food can be enjoyable, it helps children to develop a positive attitude about mealtime. The teacher should give the child time, attention, and awareness when meals are served. Sitting and talking with children while they are eating makes this time special. The teacher should reinforce desirable behavior by paying attention and recognizing, and acknowledging good behavior. Another way teachers can teachers can help children develop healthy eating habits by managing the eating environment. Setting limits makes eating more important and worthwhile. When feeding a child a snack or a meal, the teacher must make sure that eating is the only activity going on.
Recipes
Children should have the opportunity to learn about food, nutrition, and food preparation and how they are linked to health. Letting preschoolers help prepare foods and experiment with new foods helps children develop skills that will widen their food horizons. One healthy recipe that children can help prepare with their family is the Graham Cracker Smacker. The ingredients are:
Graham Crackers
Peanut Butter
Fruit Slices
Spread a graham cracker square with thin layer of peanut butter. On top of the peanut butter, place slices of banana, peach, pear or other soft fruit. Top with another graham cracker square spread with peanut butter. The peanut Butter should be facing inside. This snack can be served with cranberry juice.
Tubby Toast
Whole wheat bread
Cream cheese
Sliced Fresh Fruit
Toast bread (whole wheat or other whole grain variety). Spread low-fat whipped cream cheese on the bread and top it with sliced fresh fruit (choice of bananas, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, kiwi, etc.) Arrange the fruit on the toast in shapes, designs or faces and talk about shapes or textures of the fruit. Or use canned fruit available in animal shapes. Serve /2 slice toasted bread with toppings and 1/2 cup 100% berry Juice.
Peach Pops is a great snack for the summer. The ingredients include:
1 cup orange juice,
4 ripe peaches (about 4 cups chopped) and
1 tsp. sugar
Peel, pit and chop peaches. Then blend all ingredients in blender until pureed. Next, pour 1/2 cup puree into a small paper cup with plastic spoon inserted in center. Finally freeze until firm. This recipe makes about 8 servings.
In order to adequately prepare for a natural disaster, child care professionals need to first do research and find out the history of the weather in the area for the past 100 years. Also they would need to find out the hazards that are typical in that area. This information can be found on the American Red Cross’s website. The next step would require professionals to develop an outline for each hazard found present in the area. The outline should include questions like: how often does the hazard occur, Is it seasonal, how fast might it occur, or where is it likely to happen? The third step would be to put together the information gathered as to risk for each hazard and then look to the child care environment for answers to possible consequences should that hazard occur. The last step would be to think about possible scenarios for the risk that have been found. What would the impact of each hazard be, and how would we deal with it?
Child care professionals should write a comprehensive written plan with procedures to be followed when an internal or external disaster occurs. The first step in writing the plan is assessment of the hazards in the facility and its county, region or metropolitan area. The hazard assessment should include: Evaluation of the building and site, including inspection of the grounds; evaluation of the surrounding area in terms of vegetation, buildings or activities which may be potential hazards; Evaluation of the community and region; Consider how vulnerable the facility is to terrorists or other potential acts of violence. Training and drills are essential to having an effective response in times of an emergency. Pre-emergency training for each staff member with an emergency duty should develop awareness in all staff members of potential hazards and what measures to take to protect life and property.
Scenario 1- Location: Tallahassee, Florida. Tallahassee is known for having severe Thunderstorms during the summer months. Certain areas in Tallahassee flood due to poor drainage systems in the neighborhood. Tiny Tots Day Care is located in the Callen neighborhood. Typically when it rains, there is a high chance of flooding. After four hours of heavy steady rainfall, the entire area is submerged with water making it difficult for anyone to enter the neighborhood. Tiny Tots serves about thirty families. The disaster makes it difficult for parents to be reunited with their children. Most of the children range from ages 0-3. This disaster could pose several threats due to the thunderstorm. The children can drown as a result of the flood. The severe weather could cause a loss of electricity. The loss of electricity can affect air conditioning, and refrigeration of food. The lack of refrigeration could put the food that is stored in the freezer or refrigerator at risk for growing bacteria that could cause illness.
In order to respond adequately to flooding caused by severe thunderstorms, child care professionals should monitor the weather by using a weather radio or a local radio/TV station for public warnings when weather conditions indicate. The onset of most floods is a relatively slow process with the buildup taking several days. All staff should know safe evacuation routes to official shelters. During a severe thunderstorm warning, or during periods of particularly high winds, keep children away from glass. Every facility should also establish a manually operated backup warning system. During the watch, store portable equipment and outdoor furniture inside the facility away from shelter areas. Selected staff members should be trained as severe weather watchers and know how to use the facility's warning and communication system.
If a flood warning has been issued, the proper response would be to evacuate children to shelters, and shut off water so contaminated water will not back up into facility supplies. Transportation for all children and staff will be needed to the shelter. All parents should be informed of the relocation to the shelter. Accountability procedures should be established to ensure that all children and staff are safe at the relocation facility. All children need to be supervised until their parents can come to the new location for them.
Scenario 2- The Growing Room is a day care facility that provides day care services for college students who are parents. The Growing Room makes it possible for students to finish their education without having to worry about childcare. The Growing Room is located on the first floor of the education building at a local University. During the morning hours, the daycare cook left the kitchen without checking to make sure that the oven is completely turned off. A small towel left on the stove catches fire and burns quickly. The fire begins to spread quickly. The building has six floors. This type of emergency calls for quick response in order to protect the lives of children, students and faculty.
To prepare for this disaster child care professionals should ensure that the alarm system is in good working order. Staff members and children should be familiar with the location and operation of alarms and extinguishers. All equipment including extinguishers, sprinkler systems, and fire doors should be regularly maintained in accordance with State and municipal ordinances. All staff should be thoroughly trained in the differences in the types of fires such as electrical, oil, and chemical. They should also be aware of the various materials and equipment available to combat each type of fire, including commonly available substances and materials such as baking soda, sand, water soaked blankets. Evacuation plans should be designed to evacuate the facility as quickly and safely as possible. Evacuation plans should be given to all new staff members when hired; it should be displayed by fire exits; and be provided to parents on facility tours. The teacher should provide written information to parents that explains about evacuation procedures, a safe place to meet, and how the early education environment will respond to emergencies.
When a fire is discovered, an alarm should be sounded immediately, and then staff should gather the children in an orderly fashion and proceed to evacuate the building immediately, using the building evacuation plan. Evacuation should be conducted in orderly lines; no running and quietly with no talking to minimize confusion and allow for changes in orders to be heard. After occupants are safe, the fire department should be notified without delay. Staff should have a list of every student in their care, a roll call should be given before evacuation and after in order to make sure that every child is accounted for.
References
Day Care Facilities Emergency Planning Guide. (n.d.).
Robertson, C. (2007). Safety, Nutirtion & Health in Early Education (3rd ed.). Delmar Cengage Learning.
The ultimate goal for any parent should be to make sure that their child is healthy, safe, and happy. The purpose of this blog is to identify potentially hazardous safety threats that affect infants and toddlers in both early education and home environments, and what families can do to reduce the risk and prevent these threats from happening at home. The five hazardous threats I focus on are SIDS, Falls, Choking/Suffocation, Poisoning and Drowning.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) describes the sudden death of an infant younger than one year of age that cannot be explained even after thorough investigation by medical and police authorities (Stubbs-Wynn etal, 2004). SIDS claims more child deaths between the ages of one month and one year than cancer, child maltreatment, AIDS, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and heart diseases combined. It is estimated that there are as many as 2500 deaths per year from SIDS (SIDS Network, 1996). Twenty percent of SIDS deaths occur in the care outside the home. The hour’s children are in early education programs or facilities are the hours when SIDS strikes most commonly.
In order to reduce risk of SIDS, babies should be put to sleep on their backs. Since 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that all babies be put down to sleep on their backs. The “family bed” should not be shared with infants. Several recent studies have found that bed sharing increases risk in infants under 11 weeks of age. This risk is increased if there are multiple bed sharers, a smoker who shares the bed, or a bed sharer that had alcohol before going to bed. Babies should not be exposed to cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke is considered to be the second greatest risk factor for SIDS. An infant exposed to cigarette smoke may be at 200% increased risk for SIDS (Wisborgetal, 2000).
Overheating is another important factor. Too much bedding, clothing that is too heavy and an environment that is too warm can contribute to SIDS. Sleeping materials should be firm. Babies should sleep on firm, flat mattresses to lessen the risk of entrapment or heavy covering side sleeping (putting a child to bed on its side) is no longer acceptable, and pacifiers should be used at naptime and bedtime for the first year of life except for a breastfeeding child, who needs to establish the breastfeeding routine. The use of a pacifier for those babies is recommended at one month (AAP, 2005).
Falls are the most common injuries related to indoor equipment. A tiny baby can wiggle and move and push. An older baby can roll over, crawl and creep. Infants if left alone in a bed or a table can fall. If teacher is using a changing table, it should have safety straps around it that discourages a child from rolling off the changing table. Toddlers can climb to get to places where formerly inaccessible. One way to prevent the risk of falls with toddlers is to discourage climbing on furniture and other equipment. When High chairs are used, they should have a safety strap that goes between the legs and around the waist. The legs should have a wide enough base so the high chair will not tip over.
Choking and Suffocation are major hazards to every young child who puts things in their mouth such as toys, foods, and small objects in their environment. Infants and Toddlers need to be carefully watched and provided with a safe environment free of small toys and objects. Ensuring that small toys and other objects are too large for mouthing is important to prevent choking and suffocation hazards. In the early education environment, the teacher should check the environment for the age appropriateness of toys, because different developmental levels affect the way children play with toys.
Consumer awareness and Age appropriateness are imperative for parents to prevent choking and suffocation inside the home environment. Age appropriateness is one of the most important tools for removing hazardous toys from the environment. Age appropriate toys for infants up to six months include squeeze toys, colorful mobiles, large pictures of faces and non-breakable mirrors.
Cleaning supplies are a risk to children whether or not they are poisonous or not. Cleaning supplies can cause serious burns, rashes and other serious problems. All cleaning supplies or chemicals should be kept at a level where children cannot reach them. Anything that might be poisonous should be kept at a high level in a locked cabinet. These items should be well labeled with the poison sign. Parents should post the Poison Control number by the phone in case poison is ingested.
Drowning can occur in a small amount of water, such as a bucket of standing water that someone forgot to clean up and put away. A curious infant or toddler could look into the bucket, fall in, and drown. Toilets, tubs, and sinks also pose risk for drowning. Toilet lids should always be closed. In the home the bathroom door should be kept closed when not in use. Jingle bells can be placed on the doors of bathrooms so that it is hard for young children to open and close. Bathtubs pose the biggest drowning hazard to infants, and swimming pools are the greatest drowning hazard to toddlers (Zavitkovsky &Thompson, 2000). Parents should never leave standing water unattended. Infants and Toddlers should never be left unattended in a tub or other device used to bathe a child.
Teachers should use observation, supervision and education to provide a safe indoor environment for young children. Teachers and families can work together to promote and practice safe behaviors in the classroom as well as in the home.
References
Robertson, C. (2007). Safety, Nutirtion & Health in Early Education (3rd ed.). Delmar Cengage Learning.
Hello, My name is Erika Ferrell also known as Dr. INFO. I enjoy living life to the fullest and helping others. I am a recent Cancer survivor and I healed my Cancer completely using natural methods. I truly am thankful to be alive. I am also the Mother of a beautiful three month old little girl. I am originally from Tallahassee, Florida. I have ten plus years of experience working with children ages three-five. I am a preschool teacher at a wonderful Preschool. I have a passion for young people and I enjoy watching children learn, grow and develop. I truly believe that children are a gift from God. I have been blessed to work with some wonderful children, and I am thankful for the experience that I have had with each of them. I am currently pursuing a degree in Child Development @ Walden University. When I complete my education, I would love to open and run my own day care facility. The purpose for this blog is to share the importance of child health, safety, and nutrition in the preschool environment. It is important that families are aware of possible safety hazards, nutrition and health in the early childhood environment. Parents can also practice these tips in the home.
