Health and Safety
What is high-quality childcare?
Besides the obvious reasons, research shows that high-quality childcare is associated with an incredible variety of benefits for children of all ages. In short, quality care really matters! The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development recently did a comprehensive study on what makes quality care, and here's a summary of what they found.Have you tried the Active for Life Build Your Own Lesson Plan tool?
Do you want to build more physical activity into your CNC programming? You can use this Lesson Plan Builder to create custom lesson plans. Simply start by choosing your desired age range, and then click the skills you want to develop and the activities you want to use. When you are finished with your selections, you'll have a lesson plan that you can print out with a simple click of a button!Active Start
From 0-6 years, children need to be engaged in daily active play. Through play and movement, they develop fundamental movement skills and learn how to link them together. At this stage developmentally appropriate activities are important to help children feel competent and comfortable participating in all kinds of fun and challenging play!
CMAS Webinar: Supporting Newcomer Children through Active Play–Teaming up with Active for Life!
Incorporating physical literacy into your daily programming can be easy and inexpensive – and it can bring such a range of benefits for children, ECEs, and families!
When young children engage in physical literacy and active play, they can better cope with stress, build resilience, and start on their path toward a healthy and active life.
Watch this webinar where Dawne Clark, PhD, Early Years Physical Literacy discusses:
- What physical literacy (PL) and active play look like in the early years
- The benefits of PL and active play for children, educators, and families
- “Infusing” PL into everyday activities
- How to get children moving again and active for life after the pandemic
- The Active for Life website, tools and resources
Active Start newsletter for parents
Do you work with parents of young children? Active Start is a monthly newsletter, by our partners at Active for Life, for parents with children under the age of 4. It’s tailored specifically to the age of the child and filled with activities, games, ideas, and tips designed to help children fall in love with physical activity. And it’s all presented in a fun way for parents and children to enjoy together. You can preview the program and parents may subscribe here.
SickKids Research on the Impact of COVID-19 on Children’s Mental and Physical Health
https://www.sickkids.ca/en/news/archive/2021/research-covid-19-pandemic-impact-child-youth-mental-physical-health/#:~:text=Among%202%2C206%20participants%2C%20the%20researchers,depression%20and%20anxiety%20they%20experienced.Active for life resources are available in more than 10 languages!
Physical activity is key to the physical, emotional, and social well-being of our children. That’s why Active for Life offers free resources in more than 10 languages, in addition to English and French, to help get kids active today so they can be active for life. Share these helpful resources with families, communities, and organizations that work with children, and they will thank you!
Let’s team up with Active for Life!
Research shows that the pandemic may have a lasting impact on the physical activity of children - and we need to get kids active! So we’ve teamed up with Active for Life to promote physical literacy in our programs. Active for Life is a privately funded national charitable initiative that helps Canadians raise kids who love to move. At Activeforlife.com parents and educators will find fun activities, engaging articles and free resources to get kids active, healthy, and happy. Get all you need by connecting with Active for Life via their social media channels and subscribe to their parent and “pro” newsletters. Watch for an upcoming webinar as well as Active for Life articles and resources to help you incorporate active play into each day.Child Health Information: Helpful Videos and Infographics
You can use these simple videos and infographics to share and learn about the symptoms of common childhood illnesses (like anaphylaxis, fever, asthma, croup, and more!), how to manage them at home, and when to get help.