Healthy & Active Preschoolers
A nutrition learning center for child care professionals that offers a variety of online courses and resources to improve the nutrition and physical activity environment in child care programs.The Healthy & Active Preschoolers (Outside Source) nutrition learning center, a collaborative effort with Fresno City College, California Professional Nutrition Education and Training (Cal-Pro-NET) Center, presents current and reliable nutrition and physical activity information to the child care community.
Features
Learning Center
The heart of the Healthy & Active Preschoolers center contains a Nutrition Learning Center that houses four free online courses: (1) Nutrition Fundamentals; (2) Preschool Nutrition and Active Play; (3) Mealtime Environment; and (4) Food Safety. These interactive courses provide information and tips that will help you become more knowledgeable about nutrition and improve the nutrition and physical activity environment in the child care setting. You may choose to take the courses in any order. For example, if you are interested in providing more enjoyable mealtimes for children, then first select the Mealtime Environment course. The courses are self-paced and vary in length from one and a half to three hours.
Activities
This section includes a list of children’s storybooks with nutrition and physical activity themes. There are also a variety of songs that teachers and providers can use to teach healthy habits through music.
Resources
A plethora of resources including curricula for nutrition education, gardens, physical activity, parent nutrition fact sheets, and other classroom teacher resources and tools are available.
Calendar of Events and Monthly Features
The calendar offers a listing of meetings and conferences that may be of interest to child care professionals. Also, look for new monthly postings in the Hot Topics and the Family Connection sections.
Target Audience
The Healthy & Active Preschoolers center targets child care staff including administrators, directors, mentor teachers, lead teachers, teachers, family day care home providers, and child nutrition staff. We invite you to use the center to obtain information and resources that will be helpful in improving the nutrition and physical activity environment. Parents may also find information offered on the center beneficial.
Using Healthy & Active Preschoolers
Before you begin using the Healthy & Active Preschoolers center, visit the Healthy & Active Preschoolers Tour (Outside Source) and take a tour. The center is user friendly and you can utilize it in many different ways. For example, you can obtain professional growth hours by completing a course or strategically look for information on a specific topic by using the search engine. You may also use the center as an instructional tool to teach a class or group on a module or an entire course. Contact Cal-Pro-NET Center staff by e-mail at fcc.calpronet@fresnocitycollege.edu for technical assistance.
Accessing Healthy & Active Preschoolers
No username or password is required.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Lynette Haynes, Nutrition Education Consultant, by phone at 916-323-2474 or 800-952-5609 or by e-mail at lhaynes@cde.ca.gov.
You may also contact the Fresno City College, Cal-Pro-NET Center by phone at 559-442-4600 extensions, 2376, 2377, 2378, 2379, 2380, or 2381.