Child Care Aware® of Missouri continues to partner with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to support child care programs with strategies and tools to increase children's physical activity and nutrition. It is a small project that does not require much time but can produce significant results for the children and families in your program. Statewide, over a hundred licensed and license-exempt child care programs have participated in this project to increase children's health and nutrition.
We utilize the online self-assessment tool the University of North Carolina created, the NAPSACC (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment Child Care). It looks at best practices for nutrition and physical activity for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
The NAPSACC has seven areas focusing on young children's health and nutrition. As part of the project, we ask you to complete only one area module, starting with completing a self-assessment that takes about 10-15 minutes. Once you have completed the self-assessment, the website suggests possible goals based on your strengths and areas of growth discovered through the self-assessment. With the support of your TA Specialist, you set goals for your program that you can personalize. The website is packed with resources and ideas to achieve your goals, including new ideas and easy recipes to energize your snack and meal menus! Once you have achieved two goals in one module, you will receive a $75.00 Kaplan gift card.
You will not be working on this project alone. Each program is assigned a knowledgeable Technical Assistance Specialist that will provide one-on-one support through FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, or a similar platform to help you achieve your goals.
Shannon Boone, Owner/Director of Wee Care Day Care in Montgomery City, who participated in NAPSACC, stated, "I love the resources! The website provides great ideas to get the children moving and engaged in physical activity." Shannon also discovered new recipes to serve more dark green, orange, red, and deep yellow vegetables to the children. "I am proud of our success in learning more about nutrition, implementing new ideas, and sharing that information with our families."
For Additional Information
To join NAPSACC, please contact Lauri Choate, Director of Wellness Initiatives at lauri@mochildcareaware.org or 314-754-1603.
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