Child Care Training, Resources and Networking
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Useful Childcare Tips

10 Tips for Sucessful Child Care Training Workshops

  1. Have all your materials organized in advance.
  2. Take time before hand to check all the little things are in order such as enough chairs, who to contact if there is a problem, how to control the lighting etc.,
  3. Actively involve participants whenever possible.
  4. Show how content is applicable to the workplace and day to day practice.
  5. Let your enthusiasm for the topic shine through.
  6. Check for understanding and questions thought out the training.
  7. Have clearly stated objectives.
  8. Use visual aids when possible.
  9. Speak slowly and clear.
  10. Make eye contact with participants.

6 Books for Further Reading

  1. The Trainers's Tool Kit by Cy Charney and Kathy Conway
  2. 101 Ways to Make Training Active by M. Silberman and K. Lawson
  3. Team-Building Activities for Every Group by Alanna Jones
  4. The Big Book of Team Building Games : Trust-Building Activities, Team Spirit Exercises, and Other Fun Things to Do by Edward Scannell
  5. Indoor/Outdoor Team Building Games For Trainers by Harrison Snow
  6. 201 Icebreakers by Edie West

Ice Breakers and Warm-up Games

These activities can be useful as getting to know you activites, breaking through participation shyness or develop teams and groups.

Look Close
Participants partner up. Ask them to turn back-to-back and change 3 things about their appearance, Partners turn around when ready and try to guess the 3 things that have been changed.

To Tell the Truth
Each person writes three unknown facts about themselves. Two statements are true and one is false. Leader gathers and reads the cards aloud. Group guesses who wrote the card and which item is a lie.

Ideas for Forming a Team
Give each person a card with a body part written or illustrated (head, leg. Etc.). They must find others to form a body. OR Give each person a card with a character on it that matches a show or book. Teams could be Winnie the Pooh characters, Peanuts etc.,

Descriptive Introductions
Participants sit in circle. The first person introduces themselves and a descriptive tem that starts with the same letter. Example: Jolly Joni, Patient Patty, etc., You may wish to ask each person to list all the names that came before them.

Human Twister
Give each person two differently colored note cards and some tape. Use only a total of 5-7 different colors. Each person is to tape the card to two places on their bodies. When everyone has taped on the cards, challenge the group to line up, matching (and touching) their card to someone else’s of the same color.

Logos
Give each person an index card or name tag and marker. Ask them to design a picture or logo to represent themselves. A logo should reflect their personality, their interests, major or any thing they would like other people to know about them. Allow time for sharing.

Color Basket
Place colored cards in a basket. Each person removes a card and shares something with the group according to what color they picked out.
Red-tell us something that makes you angry
Orange-tell us something that motivates you
Yellow-tell us something that always cheers you up
Green- tell us what you would do if you won a lot of money
Blue-tell us a dream or fantasy for your future
Purple-tell us what you would change if you were the president

Me Too
Give each person 10 pennies or candies Ask participants to sit in a circle and give one person a paper bag. That person is first. They will state something they have done or a skill they have. (traveled overseas, plays piano) Anyone and all that can also make this statement add a penny to the bag. Everyone who has done this puts another penny in the center. Pass the bag around until someone has used all of his or her pennies.