Child Care Chronicles

Oklahoma Edition

💙 Celebrate National Friends Day! 💙

Growing Friendships One Smile at a Time

National Friends Day is Monday, July 20, and there's no better time to celebrate kindness, teamwork, and the special friendships children build every day in child care. Strong friendships help children develop communication skills, empathy, confidence, and emotional resilience.



This week, we're sharing friendship-themed classroom activities, social-emotional learning resources, and professional development to help create caring classroom communities.

🤝 Friendship Fun Activity Corner 🤝

💌 Friendship Bracelet Station

Children create colorful friendship bracelets while practicing fine motor skills, creativity, and sharing with classmates.

🎨 Friendship Handprint Mural

Invite children to add painted handprints to a classroom friendship mural while discussing kindness, cooperation, and celebrating everyone's unique qualities.

📖 Friendship Story Time

Read books that encourage kindness, inclusion, and empathy, then discuss how children can be good friends every day.

Recommended Titles

• The Rainbow Fish
• Should I Share My Ice Cream?
• A Sick Day for Amos McGee

🧩 Teamwork Challenge

Build towers with blocks, complete group puzzles, or work together on STEM challenges that encourage communication and cooperation.

❤️ Friendship Tips for Child Care Providers ❤️

😊 Model Kindness

Children learn by watching adults. Use respectful language, encouragement, and patience throughout the day.

🗣️ Teach Problem-Solving

Help children practice using phrases like:

• "Can I play with you?"
• "Let's take turns."
• "How can we solve this together?"

🌈 Celebrate Inclusion

Create opportunities for children to work with different classmates through partner games and small-group activities.

👏 Recognize Kindness

Highlight acts of kindness with compliments, classroom shout-outs, or a "Friend of the Day" recognition.

💙 Friendship Savings 💙

Continue growing professionally while saving this summer.

Save on Director Credential Courses

Prepare for leadership with exclusive seasonal discounts.

💡 Friendship Focus: In the Know 💡

🌎 Recursos en Español 🌎

🤝 Actividades de la Amistad

Ideas divertidas para enseñar amabilidad, cooperación y trabajo en equipo mediante juegos, arte y actividades para el aula.

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📚 Cursos en Español

Complete su capacitación completamente en español.

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⭐ 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 Oklahoma child care programs cover staff breaks and always stay in ratio?

Running a safe, licensed child care program in Oklahoma means juggling schedules, breaks, and supervision without ever falling out of ratio. This guide gives directors and lead teachers a practical, inspection-ready staffing plan you can implement today. It blends Oklahoma-specific rules, proven routines, and simple documentation tools so you cover breaks, protect children, and support staff. Throughout, you’ll find short numbered steps, quick tools, and links to helpful resources — including Oklahoma-focused guidance from ChildCareEd and the OKDHS licensing page Licensing Requirements. Remember: state requirements vary - check your state licensing agency.

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.