In early childhood education centers we rightly stress the importance of early literacy, learning one’s ABCs, exercises for physical development, and promoting other essential experiences that assist children in meeting their developmental milestones, but we often neglect a crucial part of child development: teaching generosity.
Generosity can be defined as, “the act of giving to others freely.” Generosity is both a skill and a habit that once learned and implemented can be a powerful antidote to the negativity we all experience on a daily basis. There is research that promotes the notion that we are biologically hardwired in our brains to have the inclination to act generously, but as early childhood educators we are not doing an effective enough job unleashing that inclination to ensure that every child’s generosity is making the lives of others around them better.
How can we encourage generosity in children?

• Involve children: When they turn an appropriate age, involve them in charitable action. Whether it be volunteering with them, or bringing them along with you as you do something generous with your time or resources.
• Encourage empathetic questioning: At ages 3 and 4 a child’s ability to perceive the feelings of others are enhanced, which enhances one’s ability to be empathetic. Encourage this development by asking questions to spur empathy. Examples are included below.
  • How do you think your actions affect your friends? Why do you think your friend is sad? What could you do to help make your friend happy?
• Give children an emotion vocabulary: Teaching children to identify and label emotions is linked to showing greater concern for others.  Next time your reading a book to a child, ask questions about how the characters are feeling, or how the book makes them feel. One study shows that toddlers whose mothers have encouraged emotional labeling are more likely to show concern for others in distress.
• Model generosity: Children learn by imitating and observing.  If the adults playing a prominent role in their life are acting generous and going out of their way to help and give to others, then children will be inclined to follow suit by modeling that behavior themselves.
• Discuss often the importance of generosity: Children need to be informed that generosity isn’t just a few actions they partake in every couple of weeks, it is a way of living. Generosity when converted into a lifestyle becomes a part of one’s daily routine way of seeing the world.

What are the positive effects of generosity?

• Better Health: Children are inundated with presentations, lessons, and discussions about the importance of a nutritious diet, the need for daily exercise, and adequate sleep, but the current research conveys that “giving” might be just as much a boost to one’s health.
• A better world: When children are taught to be generous, they grow up to exemplify generosity. Who doesn’t want to live in a world in which the vast majority of people are willing to be generous with their time and resources?
• Increased happiness: A lifestyle of sustained generosity has been linked to increased happiness in multiple studies.
• Enhanced connectivity with others: Individuals who make generosity a priority report feeling more connected to the people around them.
• It is contagious: Generosity is socially contagious, meaning that when another individual witnesses or hears about you completing an act of generosity, they are more likely to engage in one themselves.

​If you were to walk into one of our centers (Discovery Days I, II, and III and Kids Connection I and II) you might see that the children spend 80% of their waking hours engaging in play.  On a surface level, this might cause the casual observer to be skeptical or to think that the curriculum isn’t very rigorous; however, nothing could be further from the truth.
Our educational philosophy is very simple: children learn best through explorative play in which they are engaging with their environment and other children, with the help of a facilitating teacher.  You may be thinking, what constitutes “play?” “Play” is only “play” according to a group of early childhood experts, if it meets three of the following expectations listed below, each of which is taken directly fromscholarly work (Krasnor&Pepler, 1980; Rubin, Fein, & Vandenberg, 1983, depicted in the “Power of Play” publication):
PLAY IS PLEASURABLE. Children must enjoy the activity or it is not play.
PLAY IS INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED. Children engage in play simply for the satisfaction the behavior itself brings. It has no extrinsically motivated function or goal.
PLAY IS PROCESS ORIENTED. When children play, the means are more important than the ends.
PLAY IS FREELY CHOSEN. It is spontaneous and voluntary. If a child is pressured, she will likely not think of the activity as play.
PLAY IS ACTIVELY ENGAGED. Players must be physically and/or mentally involved in the activity.
PLAY IS NON-LITERAL. It involves make-believe
What does the research say?

• “Play is not frivolous: it enhances brain structure and function and promotes executive function (i.e., the process of learning, rather than the content), which allow us to pursue goals and ignore distractions.” -American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Report, 2018
• "Stressing formal learning can turn off preschoolers, many of whom aren't physically ready to hold a pencil or sit still and complete worksheets." Lorayne Carbon, director of the Early Childhood Center at Sarah Lawrence College
• “The University of North Florida, studied 343 children who had attended a preschool class that was “academically oriented,” one that encouraged “child initiated” learning, or one in between. She looked at the students’ performance several years later, in third and fourth grade, and found that by the end of the fourth grade those who had received more didactic instruction earned significantly lower grades than those who had been allowed more opportunities to learn through play.”-New York Times
• "We're recommending that health care providers write a prescription for play because it's so important."- Dr. Michael Yogman, lead author of the American Academy of Pediatrics report

Why a play-based philosophy of learning?

• Play is the most natural form of learning for children, especially children under the age of 5. Play occurs spontaneously, and helps develop a child emotionally, socially, cognitively, and physically.
• Play encourages children to explore, test their limits, and solve problems.
• Playing teaches vital life skills such as sharing, verbal and non-verbal communication, and empathy.
• Play helps develop a child’s small and large motor skills.
• The limits to play are endless, resulting in children exploring new frontiers each day.

We have all seen children throw temper tantrums, and we can all likely agree that they are not much fun to witness. We have been in the room as a child has punched an adult or anotherchild, or when they’ve said harsh swear words they have no business knowing.  Each of these scenarios conveys a universal emotion: Anger.  It’s a common emotion, many of us deal with on a daily basis regardless of age.  What many probably don’t remember is that when we were children, we were likely taught how to manage anger and try to deal with it in a healthy way. Children who act on their anger in unproductive ways, such as with violence or screaming, have not been taught how to manage their anger in a healthy manner.
This blog has been crafted for the purpose of providing information on the topic of childhood anger, and how we as educators and parents can teach children to handle their anger.  Anger plagues humans for their entire life, therefore becoming essential that children are taught from a young age what are appropriate responses to this difficult to handle emotion.
What does a child have to be angry about?

• Failure: Children fail just like adults. It may not be on the same scale as adults, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t frustrate and anger them just as much. Failing at tying one’s shoes, failing to be able finish writing their name, or failing to color in-between the lines; to a child these feel like failures.
• Trauma: Sometimes unfair things happen to children. Through no fault of their own they may experience incredibly difficult circumstances.  As a result of these difficult circumstances, anger is often a common reaction.
• Physical needs not being met: Hungry, tired, or thirsty? When our primal needs are not met, it’s natural to become angry.  Children can get “hangry” just like adults!
• Over-stimulation: During times of over-stimulation, children may become frustrated.  When too much is occurring at once, irritability is a common response, which often manifests itself in anger.
• Lack of Attention: Like adults, children need a social network that provides them support. This comes in the form of teachers, adults, child friends, and extended family.  When a lack of attention is felt, children may become angry. Their lack of understanding why this attention is being withheld often angers them.
• Poor communication skills: Children lack the ability to express the way they feel. Often they are misunderstood.  Anger manifests when they can’t communicate their desired message.

How to Help Children Cope with Anger:

• Seek understanding: It is very difficult to help a child cope with anger if you are unsure what they are angry about. If the child is old enough to talk, ask why they are angry, and what they need.  It is up to the adult to decide whether or not supplying that need is in the child’s best interest long-term.
• Let them remain angry (sometimes): Sometimes it’s best to let a child work through their anger on their own. If a child never tries to self-soothes on their own, they will never develop the skills needed to do so.
• Remain solution oriented: Most things that anger us can be solved. The solution the child wants may not be possible, but there is always an alternative.  Encourage angry children to seek solutions, and help them brainstorm solutions.
• Establish Anger Rules: Firm behavior expectations should be enforced at all times. By having rules, children get used to expectations, and understand what is an appropriate response to their anger. For example: hitting or treating others with contempt is never permitted.
• Teach children how to label their feelings: Children experience a variety of emotions.  Children need to be taught that emotions are separate from actions.  Just because they are angry that is not reason to act a certain way that is otherwise unacceptable.
• Talk about your feelings: Children need to know that they are not the only ones that deal with anger, or other feelings for that matter. Talk about your feelings and how you are dealing with them positively. Just make sure to keep it appropriate.
• Reinforce positive responses to anger: When a child handles anger in a healthy way, applaud and reward that behavior; by doing so we effectively reinforce it.

Video: What Children Can Teach Us About Dealing With Anger, Oprah Winfrey Network
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Every weekday children are dropped off at early childhood centers to be cared for and assisted in their development for anywhere from one hour to 12 hours. Children spend a significant number of their 24-hour day in the care of early childcare professional, yet as educators we tend not to think too deeply about their life outside of the center. When they are misbehaving, we tend to blame it on a child’s natural demeanor, rather than think systematically about their familial, social, and community life outside of the center and how those factors may be influencing their actions.This blog post focuses on conveying how childcare providers can more successfully assist in a child’s development by viewing children in their care in the context of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
What is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological theory developed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 which argues that humans have different levels of needs. The needs are tiered as displayed in the image below. At the base of the pyramid are basic human needs (food, water, clothing, etc.), and at the top is self-actualization (the finding of purpose). A picture of the pyramid can be found below. Each intermediary level builds upon the level below it. In other words, in order for a child’s safety and security needs to be met, their basic human needs need to first have been met. Once basic human needs are met, then relationship needs be met, then once relationship needs are met, than achievement needs can be met, and finally once all other needs are met, then the need for self-actualization can be met.
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (picture credit: Mendix.com)
How does this apply to early childhood education?
As educators we need a comprehensive understanding of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, because it provides us with a larger context to relate their behaviors and actions. We often view the way a child behaves as singular rather than as a part of their broader life. Are they hungry? Is their home safe? Have they had access to water in the last few hours? By thinking about these questions it forces us as educators to ponder whether or not there may be other reasons for a child’s behavior than the events that have just occurred.  When more immediate needs are not met such as one’s needs for food and safety, it becomes increasingly unlikely that a child will be able to behave, learn, and listen to the best of their ability.
Overview of each each of Maslow’s Needs:
Basic Human Needs: These needs are at the core of what is needed to function as a human being. They are essential to our survival. They include but are not limited too: food, water, shelter, and clothing.
Safety and Security: To thrive and live healthy lives humans need a sense of safety and security. The Mandt System (development tool) asserts that safety and security can be summarized as “consistency and predictability.” Humans, and especially kids thrive in routine, and in an environment in which they are comfortable.
Healthy Relationships: A life without healthy relationships is not a healthy life. Children rapidly develop, and a caring adult can make all the difference. Healthy relationships can be defined as relationships that are emotionally, physically, psychologically or spiritually appropriated.
Achievement: We think of achievement as something that adults seek out, but not kids. This is not true. Kids need to achieve just as much as adults do, but their achievements are different and developmentally appropriate. For example an achievement for a five year old may be coloring a picture “within the lines,” which often provides a feeling best characterized by the phrase, “I did it!”
Self Actualization: This sometimes confusing phrase can be thought of as a child’s ability to rise, to act creatively, to dream, to act without fear, and to find purpose.
Additional Resources:

• What IS: Maslow’s Pyramid-The Hierarchy of Needs (happiness.com)
• Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in Our Classrooms- (changekidslives.org)
• TED Radio Hour- What do we really need? 6 Speakers explore Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (NPR.com)

The next blog post will focus how to utilize the information conveyed in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to provide the best early childhood education possible to all children in our care.

JUNE 27, 2018 / TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTChildren struggle with self-control, it’s a fact of life. Humans are not born with the self-control needed to live healthy and successful lives. Self-control must be cultivated, practiced, and valued. This blog post’s purpose is to illustrate the connection between cultivating self-control in children and success later in life. In addition, this post is a continuation on a series of posts on the topic of turning children into successful adults, inspired by my reading of Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed.
“The Marshmallow Study”
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel completed a study that offered children a choice between eating a marshmallow immediately, or receiving a greater reward if they waited a short period of time. The study was designed to measure self-control among children, and determine whether or not their ability to delay immediate gratification was correlated with better life outcomes as they age (e.g., higher educational attainment, SAT scores, healthy body mass index, etc.). The study found that children who possessed enough self-control to wait the short period of time for the increased rewards tended to have better life outcomes, demonstrating that children who possess higher self-control are more likely to experience better life outcomes. A video displaying how the study was done can be found in the “Additional Resources” section of this blog post.
Why is self-control a character trait?
Self-control is the ability to resist the temptation to live a life that places supreme value on current pleasures, and instead work for the possibility of greater rewards in the future. Self-control helps a child to avoid the temptation to skip homework due tomorrow in favor of playing outside, bringing greater satisfaction in the present time, but will not better the child’s life overall. Self-control is what stops one from stealing, even though it produces immediate results.  People who have a strong character have the ability to hold themselves accountable for their actions, to resist temptation. Self-control is an act of cautiousness, that is, skeptical of immediacy.
What are the long-term benefits of teaching a child self-discipline? (Information comes from “Research every teacher should know” published by The Guardian: self-control and learning):

• Learning outcomes are better due to a child’s ability to maintain focus and handle distractions;
• Children who learn self-control are more attentive adults, possessing the skills maintain focus on the subject being dealt with;
• Stronger verbal skills;
• Better academic results (e.g., academic grades);
• Greater social competence;
• Better ability to handle stress, where individuals with self-control know what’s important and are able to maintain their focus on what they place value on.

How is self-control increased in children?

• Modeling: Children learn from the adults in their life. If they witness their teachers and parents struggle with impulse control, they will likely struggle as well. If they see their role models practicing patience and avoiding impulsive actions, they will likely practice these same skills.
• Practicing patience: Self-control is like a muscle, it must be exercised in order for it to become strong. Self-control exercises can be found here.
• Reward it: When a child has practiced self-control, reward them with positive affirmations for their effort. Rewards can be material as well, but should be within reason.
• Turn practice into a game: Children enjoy games. Learning self-control can be difficult, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Check out these ideas!
• Re-frame self-control failures: Children are going to fail as they continue on their journey to become more self-disciplined. That’s okay, and it is normal. Every failure brings a child closer to future success.

Create an Environment that Promotes Self-Control:
Arguably the most effective way to promote self-control in children is to manipulate their environment to work towards their advantage. Every child has triggers that cause them to have lapses in self control. For example, some children may be so distracted by technology in the classroom that all their focus is placed on it, and they cannot control their behaviors otherwise. In this case, teachers can manipulate the environment (i.e., remove technology from the classroom momentarily, or place it out of sight), so that the children who struggle to focus with technology present are able to as a result. Manipulation of the environment gives kids who struggle with self-control a fighting chance to focus, and practice their self-control skills.
Additional Reading Resources: 

• “The Marshmallow Test”
• “Helping Your Grade-Schooler Gain Self-Control”
• “Self-Control: Teaching Students about their Greatest Inner Strength”

We want all children in our care to grow up to become successful and productive citizens. We assume our kids will be successful, and why wouldn’t we? Most kids are nice as young children and developmentally on-track. However, not all children do grow up to become successful (to achieve their goals and live a healthy and happy life).  Why is that? Is it a lack of intelligence? Poor Schools? Or, maybe even poor nurturing by parents or teachers? Paul Tough, renowned Canadian journalist utilized his book How Children Succeed to introduce readers to the argument that success has little to do with intelligence, but rather with character: exemplified through grit (perseverance), self-control, and optimism.  I will dedicate the next three blog posts to discuss each one of these skills in depth, and how we can cultivate the skills in children who are in our care.

Does IQ lead to Success?
Contrary to popular belief, high IQ children are not guaranteed to experience success later in life. Parents and educators put such an emphasis on teaching literacy early, and shaping a child’s ability to reason logically, and while these are important to teach, they are just one part of helping children grow up to attain success.  ABC News reports that IQ is a good predictor of school success, but not necessarily for life. Unfortunately, IQ is difficult to change.  The good news is that character is much more malleable. Children can be taught character skills like grit, self-control, and optimism and our schools should teach them. In other words, it’s easier to teach someone skills rather than to “be smart.”

What is “grit?”
Grit refers to one’s ability to possess the courage and perseverance necessary to continue working toward one’s goals despite confrontation with difficulties along the way. In short, it’s one’s ability to persist, to keep moving towards a goal, even in the face of resistance.

What does a person with “grit” do differently than one without?
A person with grit sets goals and takes the steps necessary to achieve those goals. A person with grit can fail to achieve their goal, but don’t give up. Failure is not an option to the gritty person. When resistance is faced individuals with grit alter directions, modify their thinking to their advantage, train harder, or breakdown their tasks so that they are more manageable. Gritty people don’t give up on goals they care deeply about.

How to foster grit in children?
Have standards and enforce them: Children lack self-discipline.  Like grit, self-discipline is a skill that is learned. By having standards and enforcing them, children become accustomed to working to meet their goals (achieving the standard). For example, teachers can enforce the standard “toys must be cleaned up before a child moves onto the next activity.” To meet this standard, children must persist through forms of resistance: negative emotions having to do with not wanting to clean-up as well as distractions.  Achieving the standard despite resistance helps children obtain grit.

Avoid providing the answers to all a child’s questions: Kids ask a lot of questions.  While answering regularly is developmentally appropriate, sometimes it’s best not to provide an answer, and encourage a child to find out for themselves.  Figuring out the answer serves as the child’s goal, and they must be gritty to achieve the objective.

Focus praise on effort, rather than results: Grit is learned while confronting resistance. If the goal of educators is to help children become gritty, we should praise effort exerted confronting resistance, rather than results.

Allow children to fail: Watching children fail makes adults sad, and it remains uncomfortable.  If we can take that sadness away by altering a situation so a child doesn’t fail, we often do it.  However, this isn’t helpful.  If a child learns that every time they are about to fail someone will swoop in to make things better, they will likely never learn to persist towards a goal despite resistance.

Recommended Video: 
“Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance”- TED Talk by Angela Lee Duckworth
This video discusses what separates high achievers from their average counterparts, and the role that grit plays.  Angela Lee Duckworth is a teacher turned Psychologist, and she brings an interesting perspective to the topic of grit.
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Recommended Readings:
“Grit: The Key Ingredient to Your Child’s Success,” Washington Post, Judy Holland 
“12 Ways to Raise a Competent, Confident Child with Grit,” Psychology Today, Laura Markham Ph.d

We live in an imperfect world, characterized by pain, suffering and turmoil. Although we don’t like to think about it, often children are the victims of horrific circumstances through no fault of their own.  We call these circumstances and experiences “childhood trauma(s).” This blog post is aimed at providing parents and teachers with information and additional resources to help children through traumatic experiences and their aftermath.
What qualifies as “childhood trauma?”
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies defines “childhood trauma” as “negative events that are emotionally painful and that overwhelm a person’s ability to cope.” The society notes that childhood trauma is most disastrous in its negative effects when it is inflicted by another person, intentionally.
What are some of the types of childhood trauma?

• Physical: Trauma that inflicts physical pain or distress on a child (example: shaking an infant).
• Emotional/Psychological: Trauma that causes long-lasting emotional harm to a child and is degrading in its effects (example: consistent hurtful name-calling by a parent).
• Sexual: Trauma that is the result of sexually abusive behavior by another individual (example: inappropriate touching by an adult).
• Neglect: Trauma inflicted due to adult abandonment of a child’s developmental needs (example: a parent neglecting to feed their child).
• Grief or Separation: Trauma produced by losing a loved one (example: father dying when a child is young).
• Re-traumatization from the system: Trauma inflicted when the system that should be helping a traumatized child, uses their power to further exacerbate and add to the trauma (example: a therapist using their power to inflict psychological pain on the traumatized child).

What are the on adults who experienced childhood trauma?
Adults who suffered childhood trauma face many consequences. As stated earlier, trauma “overwhelms a person’s ability cope.” Psychology Today reports that people who experienced childhood trauma often experience these four consequences:

1. Presentation of a false self: The victims of childhood trauma often present themselves falsely to the world as adults. This is likely a coping mechanism that allows them to seemingly protect themselves from experiencing painful emotions related to their past.
2. View themselves as Victims: Often individuals who are victims in children feel they are victims for the rest of their life. They are not. They are strong individuals who went through a tough time.  They are not victims as adults. They are strong, powerful, and resilient individuals who should see themselves that way.
3. Passive Aggressiveness: Forced to hold in their emotions as a child, adults often struggle with expressing anger effectively.  As children they may have experienced an adult in their life who utilized anger to inflict trauma on them. Inability to express anger in a healthy way often manifests itself as passive aggressiveness.
4. Passivity: When a child has suffered abandonment or neglect, they likely fear it will happen again. To protect themselves from this, they compensate by abandoning themselves. They suppress their emotions and remain passive.

Does childhood trauma affect an individual’s physical health?
Yes! Check out this TED Talk by Nadine Burke Harris, M.D.
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What are some signs a child may have experienced something traumatic?

• Constant thinking of death: a traumatic event can cause a child a to become obsessed with their own safety and mortality.
• Problems with sleeping, eating, anger, and attention: The Child Mind Institute reports that symptoms of trauma “can mimic depression.”
• Sensitive to triggers: Children who have experienced trauma often react to certain triggers (people, places, things) that result in them having post-traumatic stress (Example: a child who was physically abused, seeing his abuser outside of school, resulting in them getting very scared).
• Irritable/difficult to soothe: Those who have experienced trauma are often easily agitated and struggle to calm themselves.
• These are just a few of the many trauma signs and symptoms. For a compromised list, check out what the Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation has to offer.

Additional Resources:

• Look Through Their Eyes
• The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma
• How Childhood Trauma Could Be Mistaken for ADHD
• The Demographics of Childhood Trauma​

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

​American children are in the grips of an overwhelming obesity epidemic that is sweeping the nation and showing no sign of slowing down.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, since the 1970’s, rates of childhood obesity have tripled. In 2015 and 2016, research determined that roughly 20% of children (ages 6-19) were obese. For context, obesity is simply having “excess body fat” (which varies in amount by age).
For a child who experiences obesity, the immediate consequences include decreased social and emotional health, as well as an increased chance they will experience the following conditions later in life: fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, Type 2 diabetes, asthma, heart disease, high cholesterol, and orthopedic problems.
As parents, educators and community members, we can make a difference in stymieing the tide of childhood obesity. This blog post will discuss how to do just that.
What are the causes of childhood obesity:

1.  Lack of Exercise and Physical Activity: With the increased utilization of video games and television, many children are forgoing physical activity and outdoor play. Kidshealth.org reports that older kids and teens need 60 minutes of vigorous exercise daily, while children ages 2 to 5 years old should play actively multiple times a day.
2. Genetics: Some children are genetically predisposed to obesity.  Their body’s metabolism may be slower than the norm or they may process fat differently.  Genetics cannot be changed altogether, but they can be worked around. Lifestyle habits are passed down one generation to the next.
3. Poor Nutrition: Too much processed food, sugary beverages, unhealthy simple carbohydrates, as well as bad fats make up a large portion of the American child’s diet.  For children between the ages of 5 and 10, the top five sources of their caloric intake include “whole and chocolate milk, pizza, soft drinks, low-fat milk and cold cereal” (source: eurekalert.org).  A healthier diet for children can be found on the Mayo Clinic Website.  Recommended caloric intake varies by age, but the bulk of the diet for all ages should be fruits, vegetables, and grain.

How can adults promote healthy living to children?

1. Lead by Example: Research conveys that children imitate adults. They look to them as an example, especially those whom they admire. As a parent or educator, we need to use our valuable time with children in our care to ensure that the habits children are imitating are positive ones. Positive habits include but are not limited to: eating nutritious food, avoiding junk food, making exercise a priority, drinking plenty of water, and practicing good hygiene and self-care.
2. Shun the idea of a Diet: The word “diet” is largely a negative word in the United States because it makes people think about eating boring food, restricting ones’ self, and overall temporary suffering for the sake of achieving a desired weight.  Once that weight is achieved, the diet is then usually ended.  Children should be taught about lifestyle wellness rather than diets.  Diets are short term and not permanent, while wellness is long term and never ending. Diets are eating and exercise-centered, while wellness encompasses physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and environmental health. Wellness is big-picture and provide kids a larger view of heath.
3. Make Exercise Fun: Children naturally like to play. At Discovery Days/Kids Connection Childcare Centers we believe in play so much that it is the basis of our education philosophy (play-based learning). Building a fort outside, four-square, racing, and playing soccer are just a few ways you can play with children in your care.  Exercise doesn’t have to be painful, nor should it be!
4. Be Realistic: Drastic and immediate changes are not needed. Be realistic about the changes you make for yourself and children in your care. There’s no reason to jump to extremes. Be realistic about the possible changes in your life and the children you care for. What can you do now to begin promoting a healthier lifestyle? It may be incorporating more vegetables into lunch and dinner or cutting out desert 4 times a week.  Take small steps towards your goals, they are much more sustainable that way.
5. Teach your Child How to Manage Stress: Children have stress too, though we often forget this fact.  When both children and adults are stressed, they tend eat unhealthier than usual, and become less active. It’s important that as adults we teach skills associated with managing stress, to ensure the rest of their wellness doesn’t suffer.

Additional Resources:

• The American Health Association’s Recommendation’s for Physical Activity in Children.
• 5 Do’s and Don’ts for Teaching Good Eating Habits (Cleveland Clinic)
• Daily Exercise Guide (Build Healthy Kids)

Questions to Think About:

• What are some habits you can change in your own life to be a better healthy role model for the child(ren) in your care?
• What physical activities would the child(ren) in your care benefit from?
• What physical activities would the child(ren) in your care enjoy trying?
• What healthy foods do the child(ren) in your care enjoy, and how can you increase their intake?

This blog post is focused on providing parents and educators with information relevant to the benefits of incorporating nature into child development, as well as practical ways to accomplish just that.
What are the benefits of incorporating nature into a child’s learning experiences?
The research is clear, incorporating nature in a child’s learning experiences is extremely beneficial for their development. According to the Natural Learning Initiative, outdoor learning experiences benefit children in the following ways:

• Support Multiple Development Domains: Playing and learning in nature develops children intellectually, emotionally, socially, spiritually and physically.
• Increases physical activity: Being outside provides children with the opportunity to move around and be active, which is much harder to do indoors.  Physical activity improves cognitive function while also helping children stay healthy and maintain a normal weight. The United States finds itself in a childhood obesity epidemic. The good news is that this can be lessened in severity by incorporating more outdoor play and learning for all children.
• Reduce Stress: Children are increasingly facing stress, which can come in various forms and manifest itself in various ways. Too much stress negatively affects child development and can lessen their happiness. Outdoor play and learning reduces stress. Green plants, natural landscapes, and water all produce a calming effect in children.
• Enhances problem solving skills: Research shows that children engage in more creative forms of play outdoors, which leads to increased usage of problem solving skills. In a complex and ever-evolving world, problem solving skills will always be necessary skills to develop.

Why is it important to teach a love of nature?
Children and adults interact with the natural world every day.  It is where we make our lives, and it contains the water we drink, the land on which we plant our feet, and the air we breath.  Teaching children to love nature will as a result teach them to value it. To value nature is to take steps to conserve it, something society increasingly needs.
According to the National Wildlife Federation: “Cornell University found that children who spend significant amounts of time immersed in nature and the outdoors such as camping, hiking, or other nature activities in their younger years are more incline to be conservationists or at least be conservation-minded as adults.”
What if going outside isn’t a readily available option due to weather or other circumstances?
While it is encouraged that children get outside to play and learn, it is not always an option. Wisconsin winters and wet springs can make outdoor play next to impossible.  Here are some resources for how you can incorporate nature indoors.

• Bring nature inside, by putting outdoor materials (leaves, pine cones, dirt, sticks, wood chips, etc.) into a sensory bin.  Let the children explore these materials.
• Utilize natural materials in art projects. Check out some ideas on Pinterest.
• Work with children to grow small plants. The act of tending to a growing plant and watching it grow will foster an appreciation of nature in children. Also, the plant will make nearby air cleaner.
• Use rocks and other natural materials to create bugs!
• Incorporate the usage of real (washed) fresh foods into the the Kitchen Play Domain Area. Make sure to compost or otherwise use the food. Allowing children to play with real food, especially healthy food will strengthen their connection to it, and associate positive feelings towards it.

What are some of the misconceptions about incorporating nature into education?

• Teachers need to be “nature-loving hippies”: For children to receive the ample benefits of interacting with nature, their teachers neither need to be outdoors experts, or tree-huggers. All they must simply do is embrace the outdoors, and provide children with the opportunities to do the same. No additional experience is necessary.
• Kids need to be outside all day to receive the benefits of nature interaction: The American Heart Association recommends that children above the age of two years old get 60 minutes of physical activity per day. For the sake of their health, it is best to get them outdoors! In our day and age, it is unrealistic for most kids to spend entire days outside; there are other priorities in our lives.  If 60 minutes at one time seems daunting as a parent or educator, go outside for ten minutes at a time. By doing this you are allowing a child to burn off energy, and interact with the natural world.
• Outdoor learning is expensive and requires travel: Outdoor learning is free. To receive the benefits of engaging with the natural world, all we have to do is step outside, onto our playgrounds and backgrounds. When we visualize engaging with nature we think about mountains, oceans, and forests, which brings up the idea of travel. We don’t need to travel, the natural world is all around us. Embrace it.

Additional Resources:

• “Why Kids Need to Spend Time in Nature” (Child Mind Institute)
• “32 Tips to Get Your Kids Back Outdoors” (The Guardian)
• “Every Child Wild”(The Wildlife Trusts)
• “Get Outside” (Ecokids)