Better Kid Care

Better Kid Care Better Kid Care is a place to find researched-based, online training for those caring for children.

Better Kid Care program operates under The Pennsylvania State University, College of Agricultural Sciences, as part of Penn State Extension

Resource: School Readiness tip sheet 🍎📚Support the children in your program by boosting their learning and development w...
08/15/2026

Resource: School Readiness tip sheet 🍎📚

Support the children in your program by boosting their learning and development with positive, caring, and nurturing interactions. Read and share this resource from Better Kid Care for ideas on how to foster children’s social-emotional, cognitive, language and literacy, and physical development.

[Link: https://bkc-od-media.vmhost.psu.edu/documents/TIPS1703.pdf]

What does kindness look like? Todd Parr shares examples of kindness using relatable ideas in The Kindness Book. Extend y...
08/12/2026

What does kindness look like?

Todd Parr shares examples of kindness using relatable ideas in The Kindness Book. Extend your book conversations by talking with children about the examples in the book. Ask children about ways that they show kindness to others in their classroom and at home.

Kindness and compassion go together 🫶PBS KIDS offers resources for families on ways to support children’s kind and carin...
08/12/2026

Kindness and compassion go together 🫶

PBS KIDS offers resources for families on ways to support children’s kind and caring behaviors! Explore this PBS Kids resource and share these ideas with the families in your program:

[Link: https://www.pbs.org/parents/being-kind]

National Wellness Month: Caregiver Wellness Challenge 🏆This month, choose one mental health habit to practice each day t...
08/09/2026

National Wellness Month: Caregiver Wellness Challenge 🏆

This month, choose one mental health habit to practice each day to help reduce stress:

- Take three deep breaths before entering your classroom
- Drink enough water throughout the day
- Step outside for 5 minutes of fresh air
- Write down one win from your day
- Connect with a supportive coworker
- Stretch during breaks
- Give yourself grace

Children benefit when caregivers are healthy, supported, and use positive stress management techniques. What's one wellness habit you'll focus on this month?

For more steps on how to reduce stress, check out the Better Kid Care On Demand course, Reclaiming Your Well-Being! 🌸

Nutrition: Eat Like You Teach 🥕You fuel young minds every day. How are you fueling yours? Child care providers often spe...
08/07/2026

Nutrition: Eat Like You Teach 🥕

You fuel young minds every day. How are you fueling yours?

Child care providers often spend so much time caring for children that they forget to prioritize their own nutrition. Skipping meals can lead to fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and increased stress.

🥪 Pack a balanced lunch
🥚 Include protein with snacks
💧 Keep a reusable water bottle nearby
☕ Avoid relying solely on caffeine for energy

Healthy caregivers are better equipped to support healthy children.

August is recognized as National Wellness Month, making it a great time to focus on healthy habits for both children and...
08/05/2026

August is recognized as National Wellness Month, making it a great time to focus on healthy habits for both children and caregivers. Follow along for thoughts and ideas to improve your health and build ongoing habits.
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Caregiver Wellness Tip: Color Your Stress Away 🎨🖌

August 2 was National Coloring Book Day! Taking just 10 minutes to color can help caregivers slow down, practice mindfulness, and reduce stress after a busy day with children. Self-care doesn't have to be complicated.

Try keeping a few coloring pages in the staff room for a quick mental reset during breaks.

💡 Wellness Challenge: Spend 10 minutes today doing a creative activity just for you.

For more steps on reducing stress, check out the Better Kid Care On Demand course, Reclaiming Your Well-Being.

Learn To Play - Ithute Go Tshameka Priyanka, Founder of Learn to Play, shared this story from a Dukwi Refugee Camp, “ab...
07/31/2026

Learn To Play - Ithute Go Tshameka Priyanka, Founder of Learn to Play, shared this story from a Dukwi Refugee Camp, “about children who arrive speaking different languages, carrying different experiences, and yet within days, begin playing together. Singing together. Laughing together. Long before they share a common vocabulary, they find a common language. Play does that. It creates belonging before words can.” [Link] https://learntoplay.org/blog/details/?id=20

When you allow play to flourish, you can create a sense of welcome and belonging before there are words to thank you. What a lovely reality that children can connect across, even in spite of, barriers that our society puts in place. A smile, a hug, a gesture can invite a child in, and then the magic of childhood unfolds. What can you do today to make your space a place where children play with abandon, in community with one another? How can you create a space where every child, every staff member, every family senses in their innermost being “THESE are my people. I belong here.”?

Recently the BKC team has been brainstorming about some course design improvements. What things are you discussing with ...
07/29/2026

Recently the BKC team has been brainstorming about some course design improvements. What things are you discussing with your team at work? Trying to solve problems? Trying to think through challenges? Many people know the pattern of describing
“What” (has happened/been observed),
“So what?” (what are the implications, meaning behind this, feelings the circumstance),
“Now what?” (what needs to happen going forward?)
Want to spark more imagination and creativity, maybe positive, divergent thinking? Between the So what? and Now what? stages of reflection and planning, insert a “What If?” question. “What if we could increase the number of completions?” “What if we could insert a pop-up window if a person starts to close out before taking the assessment?” “What if we had access to running water on the playground?” “What if we could stay with our primary group from enrollment through graduation?” “What if we tried taking books outside?” “What if the bathroom were inside our space, how would that change our ability to supervise?”

This line of questioning develops ideas for experiments. Record answers at each stage and look for relationships between them.

The natural world is FASCINATING! Did you know swifts are almost never seen perching. They spend most of their lives fly...
07/27/2026

The natural world is FASCINATING! Did you know swifts are almost never seen perching. They spend most of their lives flying – even sleeping, eating and drinking on the wing – only ever landing to nest.

[Link] https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/swallows-swift-martins-and-nightjar/swift

They feast on small flying insects by catching them in flight. Insects collect in a special pouch at the back of the swift's throat, where they are bound together by saliva until they form a kind of pellet known as a bolus, which can be regurgitated and fed to chicks. One single bolus can contain over 300 insects, with some holding over 1,000! How can you encourage children to marvel at the natural world? Who around you might be fascinated by this “swift fact”?

's Promise for Children and their 2026 Summer Learning & Literacy Road Trip features a recommended list of 8 engaging bo...
07/24/2026

's Promise for Children and their 2026 Summer Learning & Literacy Road Trip features a recommended list of 8 engaging books all about rocks—perfect for curious young learners! Visit your local library to find these books and others about rocks!

[Link]https://papromiseforchildren.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/8-Books-About-Rocks.pdf

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