When choosing a child-care facility it is just as important to visit the outside spaces as it is to tour the classrooms. Playing outdoors provides the opportunity for young children to use and develop their large muscles and cognitive abilities.

One of the most important roles parents and caregivers serve is to ensure that the children entrusted to them thrive in healthy and safe environments.

A supportive, nurturing, inviting environment for preschool age children is extremely important in encouraging them to explore and learn. Children learn through their own experiences of trial and error, repetition and imitation. Adults may encourage learning by ensuring that the classroom or day-care environment is appropriate and supports an array of experiences and choices.

Most injuries to young children in school or child-care environments occur outdoors, so playground safety definitely should be a concern in a child-care setting. Approximately 40 percent of the outdoor injuries to children are due to poor adult supervision," says LSU AgCenter child-care associate Cheri Gioe. "That means supervision is an essential component of playground safety."

Temper tantrums aren’t uncommon in young children. The key for adults is learning how to deal with them, says LSU AgCenter child-care associate Cheri Gioe.

What do you look for in choosing child care? This article provides a checklist to help parents choose child care, considering issues related to quality care for your child.

Some 13 million children in the United States live in homes with limited access to a sufficient food supply. A new generation of research demonstrates a direct link between inadequate food supply and a poorer overall health status among U.S. children, according to LSU AgCenter food and nutrition expert Dr. Annrose Guarino.

Hurricanes have brought crisis into the living rooms of all Americans. Once again, the trauma of such events has struck at the heart of America. Dealing with natural disasters is difficult enough for all to comprehend. The lives of all will be changed forever. It is incredibly more difficult when young people and children are involved and are the victims.

(Distributed 09/07/08) A child may continue to be fearful following a hurricane because of the uncertainty of the future. “A child can mix up real fear and make-believe fear. This is OK, and a parent or other care-giver can help in many ways,” says LSU AgCenter family and consumer sciences specialist Becky White.

Typically, providers require that children be kept from care for a minimum of 24 hours or until symptoms disappear.