Child Care Chronicles

Michigan Edition

🍦 Scoop Up the Fun This National Ice Cream Day! 🍦

National Ice Cream Day is almost here! On Sunday, July 19, we're celebrating one of summer's sweetest traditions with fun classroom activities, creative learning opportunities, and cool professional development resources.

Stars & Stripes June $100 Giveaway

ChildCareEd's Gift Card Giveaway is back!  Seeing your overwhelming response to our Teacher Appreciation Giveaway, we want to give you another chance at winning a gift card!

Teachers, educators, child care providers, and early childhood educators. Enter the June $100 Giveaway in two easy steps for a chance to win a $100 gift card + FREE training for ALL! (Choose from CDA Introduction or Working Together: Teachers and Preschoolers)

The giveaway is open now through July 6, 2026. The winner will be announced on July 7, 2026 on our social channels.

🍦 Cool Classroom Activities 🍦

🍧 Ice Cream Cone Name Match

Children match the letters in their names to colorful ice cream scoops while practicing letter recognition and fine motor skills.

🎨 Puffy Paint Ice Cream Art

Create colorful "ice cream" using shaving cream and glue for a sensory-rich art project that encourages creativity.

🔢 Counting Scoops Math Game

Practice counting, sorting, colors, and one-to-one correspondence with printable ice cream scoop activities.

🍦 Sweet Summer Savings 🍦

🌞 Summer Resources for Educators 🌞

🍉 Healthy Frozen Snack Ideas

Discover simple, child-friendly frozen treats perfect for hot summer days.

🧊 Ice Cream Dramatic Play Printables

Printable menus, order forms, play money, and signs to transform your dramatic play center into an ice cream shop.

📖 Summer Lesson Plans

Weekly lesson plans featuring ice cream, sunshine, and outdoor exploration.

🍧 In the Know 🍧

🌎 Recursos en Español 🌎

🍦 Actividades del Día Nacional del Helado

Ideas sencillas para celebrar con los niños mientras desarrollan habilidades de lenguaje, matemáticas y creatividad.

📚 Cursos en Español

Complete su capacitación en línea completamente en español.

⭐ Director's Corner ⭐

This feature is designed for child care owners, directors, managers, franchise operators, regional managers, school districts, and organizations that manage training across more than one child care location.

Request Onsite or Virtual Training

Select group trainings may also have Spanish-language support available. 💬

RESOURCES

Check out this helpful resource for your convenience!

Article of the Week:

How can Michigan child care providers celebrate National Ice Cream Day safely and with learning?

National Ice Cream Day is a sweet chance for your center to make summer fun, build skills, and bring families together. In this guide you’ll find easy steps, kid-friendly activities, and ways Michigan providers can use ChildCareEd resources to save time and money. Remember: state requirements vary - check your state licensing agency. This post is written for directors and #Providers who want simple, safe, and playful plans for their #Michigan programs. You’ll also see ways to include all kids and where to look for training or grants to help pay for supplies.

Continue Reading - Click Here

🚀 Keep Learning All Summer Long! 🚀

Explore our growing library of online training, live classes, classroom resources, and professional development designed to help educators succeed all year.