7 More Resources for Physical Activity in Child Care

Looking to start, expand, or freshen up your physical activity or health education program in the new year? We’ve rounded up 7 toolkits and curriculum resources for you to explore.

Animal Trackers

Animal Trackers is a complete motor skills and physical activity curriculum developed by the nation’s leading specialists in health and education. A program for preschool children ages 3-6, Animal Trackers features over 60 activities spread out over 10 units filled with colorful characters, games, songs, and stories. Creep and crawl like Lenny the Lizard, or gallop like Harry the Horse. Fee required to access program materials.

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Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Early Childhood Coordination Kit

CATCH Early Childhood is designed to nurture a love of physical activity, provide an introduction to classroom-based gardening and nutrition, and encourage healthy eating in children ages 3-5. Little ones are motivated to walk, run, jump, dance, and move their whole bodies while playing and having fun.

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Choosy Kids

Choosy Kids helps teachers, parents, and health professionals promote healthy habits in young children and families. Opportunities for professional development and training, as well as award-winning music, printables, and other resources are available. Includes many resources in both English and Spanish, as well as some free and some fee-based materials.

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Color Me Healthy

Color Me Healthy is a program developed to reach children ages four and five with fun, interactive learning opportunities on physical activity and healthy eating. It is designed to stimulate all the senses: touch, smell, sight, sound, and, of course, taste. The Color Me Healthy Kit includes a teacher’s guide, food picture cards, posters, music, hand stamp, parent newsletters, and Spanish language add-ons. Program includes some free and some fee-based materials.

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Eat Well Play Hard in Child Care Settings

Eat Well Play Hard in Child care Settings (EWPHCCS) is designed to increase young children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables, encourage consumption of low-fat or fat-free dairy products, increase time young children are physically active, and decrease the amount of time young children spend watching television.

The EWPHCCS curriculum contains 10 lesson plans tailored to preschoolers and 10 complementary lessons for their parents/caretakers. Lessons are about nutrition, cooking, mealtime behavior, and increasing physical activity among children.  Activities, food preparation demonstrations, recipes, and take-home materials reinforce the learning objectives for each lesson.

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Growing, Moving, Learning—Infant Toddler Toolkit

Growing, Moving, Learning – Infant Toddler Toolkit was developed to provide opportunities for early care and education providers to practice and teach healthy patterns of physical activity and nutrition with the youngest children in their care. The Toolkit provides developmentally appropriate activities that meet the need for helpful, fun, and meaningful experiences to support healthy eating, physical activity, and health awareness for the youngest children in early care and education settings. It is a three volume series: Birth through 12 Months, 12-24 Months, and 24-36 Months. Each volume has classroom and family activities which work together to focus on a particular area of development, skill or concept.

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I Am Moving, I Am Learning

The I Am Moving, I Am Learning (IMIL) tool is filled with quick and easy ideas for integrating movement, nutrition, and healthy habits into everyday life. Classroom teachers and caregivers may explore a virtual classroom or playground to find ways to add more movement into their daily schedule. They will also learn how to enhance nutrition concept activities in group or circle time.

The tool allows teachers to choose an environment (e.g., lunch tables, outdoor play equipment, etc.) and then select an object to learn various ways to add movement and language that supports healthy habits. It is meant to be used as a quick, easy way to gain new ideas and can be referenced over and over again.

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You might also like: 
6 Resources for Physical Activity and Learning in Child Care, Preschool
Child Care Program Introduces Health Education with Ready-to-Use Kits

Ready for More?

Jump IN’s robust Resource Hub features even more toolkits, staff training materials, family handouts, school newsletter messages, and policy-making guides to support you in your efforts to encourage healthy eating and physical activity. You can tailor your search by audience, resource type, goal, or keyword.

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