2024 Research

Looking to add more training options? Expand your topic areas by adding trainings on physical activity! The Physical Activity Learning Sessions (PALS) was created based on the recommended practices from Caring for Our Children and developed by Nemours Children’s Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Explore the free PALS curriculum and consider the steps to bring PALS to your trainers.   

Nutritious food is ineffective if made unsafely. The Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) designed the Family Child Care Food Safety Kits with input from family child care stakeholders to create a tangible resource to help providers adopt food safety behaviors. Since 2021, ICN has distributed over 17,000 kits to 53 states and territories. Discover the effectiveness of the kits for family care care providers.

There’s never been a better time to add more plant-based options to your program’s menu! The Forward Food Collaborative has been supporting institutions around the country in creating healthier, more sustainable plant-forward menus by offering culinary trainings, educational webinars, greenhouse gas assessments, marketing materials, and more. Learn how you can use these tools to support your program.

It takes a village to feed young children, but where do we find them? Discover how to find Cooperative Extension resources to improve the dietary quality of young children. Get strategies for building successful partnerships and learn how Cooperative Extension can support your CACFP team and maintain your bottom line.

Sesame Workshop is supporting the emotional well-being of young children and families through research-based resources and engaging content designed for the whole family. Our approach offers strategies to support all families – from celebrating joyful everyday moments, teaching children the essential skills they need to understand and manage their feelings, and helping parents and community providers recognize the signs of more serious mental health challenges.

Let’s talk about natural outdoor learning environments! What are they and how can trainers support early care and education (ECE) programs to take a natural approach to their outdoor play spaces? Discover how these spaces encourage active play and healthy eating habits. Learn about different approaches and practical examples to work with ECE programs to create these environments.

Child care is an important space where state agencies can mitigate food insecurity by providing healthy and nutritious food choices for children. Figuring out how and where to target those supports can be a challenge. Explore Child Care Aware of America’s CACFP mapping project, what they did, stakeholders they engaged, and a demonstration of the types of GIS map dashboards and story maps created.