Indianapolis Lemonade Day

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What a great idea to do with your kids!

Make and Take Workshop

Make and Take Workshop

Ideas and material to take back to your childcare facility or classroom

Where: Day Nursery Lilly Center, 3522 N. Central Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46205

When: Saturday April 10 and 24th, drop by anytime between 9:30am and 12:30pm

Cost: ONLY $5.00

Themes: 4/10-Recycling/Music, 4/24-Recycling/Math

To register: Payment and registration form must be received 72 hours in advance.

Click here for registration form. For additional information or

questions call (317) 636-5727

CEU Renewal Opportunities

Do you need to renew your CDA?
Child Care Answers offers opportunities to receive 2.5 CEU’s

Promoting Social Emotional Competencies
Preschool Session (1.5 CEU’s)
Preschoolers and Challenging Behaviors: These 12 hours will take a look at challenging behaviors in the 3-5 year old classroom. A model of social and emotional competence will be used throughout and many teaching strategies will be shown. Come prepared to learn, listen, share and participate in
rethinking challenging behaviors and making children more successful in your child care setting.
Participants must commit to all nights and complete required assignments in order to obtain the training certificate and CEU’s.
DATES/TIME: May 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th ~ 6pm-9pm
LOCATION: Noblesville Library North Meeting Room One Library Plaza Noblesville 46060
COST: $60 (payment must be received no later than April 26th)

Promoting Social Emotional Competencies
Infant Session (1 CEU)
Participants will be introduced to a teaching pyramid model and actively discuss strategies for handling challenging behaviors with children ages birth to age 3. Practical classroom teaching strategies and discussions will be part of this 9 hour course. Participants must commit to all nights
and complete required assignments in order to obtain the training certificate and CEU’s.
DATES/TIME: June 10, 17,and 24 ~ 6pm-9pm
LOCATION: Day Nursery Lilly, Indianapolis
COST: $50 (payment must be received no later than June 1st )

Graco Recalls Harmony(tm) High Chairs Due to Fall Hazard

Graco Recalls Harmony(tm) High Chairs Due to Fall Hazard

Spring Fling Family Fun Day

Saturday April 17th, 2010
12pm - 3pm
Billericay Park Community Building
12690 Promise Road, Fishers

• Free Fried Chicken and Biscuits
• Free Pony Rides
• Information and exhibitors about Child Abuse prevention
• Bean bag games and carnival games
• Silent Auction

Natural Easter Eggs

When most people think of Easter egg dying, they think about buying an Easter egg dying kit or going to the store and buying food coloring. However, there are simple ways to make natural Easter egg dyes out foods, beverages and spices you have around the house. The following is a look at a few of the things you probably have in your cupboards, or could easily get at your local supermarket, that make great natural Easter egg dyes that are both safe and easy to use.

Teas: A wide variety of teas can be used to dye Easter eggs. You can steep them and then let the egg sit in them overnight. If you add a teaspoon of vinegar to the tea, the dye will last longer and look better.

For lavender Easter egg dye choose Hibiscus tea.
For yellow Easter egg dye choose Chamomile tea or Green tea.
For brown Easter egg dye choose Black tea.
Fruits: Fruits have naturally vibrant colors and those colors make great dyes. Just like they can stain your clothes, they can also stain your Easter eggs.

For red Easter egg dye use canned cherries with juice, pomegranate juice or raspberries.
For lavender Easter egg dye use a small quantity of purple grape juice.
For yellow Easter egg dye use yellow delicious apple peels, or orange or lemon peels. Note: You have to boil them to extract the color.
For pink Easter egg dye use cranberries or their juice, raspberries or red grape juice.
For blue Easter egg dye use canned blueberries or purple grape juice.
Spices: Spices are designed to add flavor to your foods. They are also an excellent source of color for your Easter eggs.

For yellow Easter egg dye choose ground cumin or ground turmeric. Note: You have to boil them to extract the color.
For orange Easter egg dye choose chili powder or paprika.
For brown Easter egg dye choose dill seed.
Vegetables: Vegetables also make a good natural Easter egg dye as they are rich in color; most people keep some on hand.

For red Easter egg dye you’ll need lots of red onion skin. Note: You will need to boil it to extract the color.
For lavender Easter egg dye you’ll need a smaller about of red onion skin, again boiled to extract the color.
For yellow Easter egg dye you’ll need carrot tops or celery seed. Note: You will need to boil them to extract the color.
For blue Easter egg dye you’ll need boiled red cabbage leaves or green spinach leaves.
For orange Easter egg dye you’ll need boiled yellow onion skin, or cooked carrots.
For pink Easter egg dye you’ll need beets or the juice from pickled beets.
To use these, boil the eggs to hard-boil them with the natural dye in the water and let sit in it overnight to enhance color.

Conner Prairie to host autism event

WHEN: Thursday, March 25, 2010 from 1:30 – 4 p.m.
WHERE: Conner Prairie
13400 Allisonville Road
Fishers, IN 46038

WHAT: The seminar will examine Conner Prairie’s efforts to become more autism-friendly, provide guidance on how to audit your site to make it more autism-accessible and focus on the fundamental understanding of how individuals with autism think and behave.
WHO: The training is open to organizational leaders and teachers who have responsibility for implementing programs for individuals with disabilities or those who are interested in expanding their organizations offerings to new communities.

The training seminar is free of charge, but capacity is limited. For more information or to register, contact Tim Crumrin at 317.776.6000 x249 or Crumrin@connerprairie.org. For additional information on autism support and services, please contact Jane Grimes, founder and president of the Hamilton County Autism Support Group, at 317.403.6705 or janegrimes@hcasg.org.

Conner Prairie’s Tim Crumrin and Jessica Medlen will also present on the topic of autism awareness at the Association of Indiana Museums conference in Bloomington, Ind., in August.

Indy Homeless Connect

Indy Homeless Connect
March 23, 2010 9:00 - 4:00pm

Where: The Indiana Convention Center, 100 South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana

Join us for the fifth annual Indy Homeless Connect, an all day event focused on care and outreach for people who do not have permanent housing. The event successfully consolidates a number of available services offered by numerous providers and connects homeless residents to benefits, medical care, mental health counseling and a variety of social services. Getting connected to these services will help lead individuals and families to improved health, self-sufficiency and increased opportunities to find housing.

Some of the services to be made available at the event include: Shelter/Housing information, Behavioral Health Counseling, Medical Care, Employment services, Social Security advocacy, Eye exams/Vision care, Food, Veterans Services, Children's Activities, and Coordinated transportation to and from the Convention Center.

With the help of more than 600 volunteers, Indy Homeless Connect 2009 served more than 900 people, including more than 50 children under the age of five. If you want more information about the 2010 event, please contact Emily Hervey at CHIP at (317) 630-0853, ext 210.

Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Green Thumb"

Sesame Street Live "Elmo's Green Thumb" is coming to the Murat Theater Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, April 25!

Special Kids Matinee! School/Daycare groups of 10+ pay just $11 on Friday, April 23 at 10:30am. For more information or to order group tickets, call (317) 249-2749.

Sunny isn’t just the weather forecast on Sesame Street - it’s also the name of Elmo’s sunflower friend! Join all your favorite friends on an amazing adventure as they help Elmo find a new home for Sunny in the all new Sesame Street Live stage show, "Elmo’s Green Thumb"

Elmo has raised his sunflower, Sunny, from a seed, but his floral friend has outgrown the flower pot. Elmo and friends find Big Bird’s garden the ideal place for Sunny to flourish and grow but they are too excited to wait. Rather than let Sunny follow nature’s course, Abby Cadabby, Sesame Street’s fairy-in-training, casts a spell to make Sunny grow. The spell does just the opposite and, instead of growing, Elmo and all of his friends shrink! While Abby searches for just the right words to reverse the spell, Elmo, Zoe,Telly and friends explore Big Bird’s garden from a smaller perspective and learn some big lessons about patience, overcoming their fears and appreciating the role that each creature plays in our ecosystem – from dancing ladybugs and beautiful butterflies to grouchy beetles that scavenge the garden floor. Will being small help Sunny grow tall? It’s a fresh, original Sesame Street Live from a whole new point of view!

Like television’s Sesame Street, each Sesame Street Live production features timeless lessons for all ages. The universal appeal of each musical Broadway-quality production continues long after preschool. Adults will appreciate the high-tech stagecraft, cleverly written script, and music they’ll recognize and enjoy sharing with children, such as "Ladybug Picnic," "Inch by Inch" and "I Love Trash."

Click Here for ticket information.