Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Angeles® Sinks Are So Versatile!

I’m Judy Short, an education consultant in the state of Georgia for Discount School Supply®. I’ve been with Discount School Supply® for 13 years and taught preschool for about 10 years before that. It’s important to me to keep current on child care rules and regulations and industry standards.

I recently attended a child care licensing orientation meeting in Atlanta, GA. The 35 attendees were there to learn about opening a child care center. And although it was not an in-depth meeting about rules and regulations, some rules were touched on briefly.

One that stood out in my mind was the rule about washing hands. Although the rule had not changed, it was a bit different. When I taught many years ago, washing hands was important in my preschool class before and after art, eating a snack or playing outside. Soap and water was used, however, there was no hot water allowed in the classroom. And of course we all are familiar with the rule about how long to wash hands; to the tune of "Happy Birthday" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." The difference in the rule is the requirement for hot water.

One of my customers is a preschool classroom, which is a lab school in a high school setting. Washing with warm soapy water is required immediately before entering the lunch room. For those preschoolers in a high school environment, the lunch room is down long halls and through many doors. And of course a child-sized sink in a high school bathroom is unthinkable!

Another modification to the rules is with infants. No longer are towlettes or hand wipes acceptable for washing the infant’s hands after a diaper change. Warm soapy water is required.

Many facilities such as older schools, smaller churches are not equipped with hot water or even sinks in the classrooms. Expensive plumbing is not an option in most cases.

New products are introduced daily in the early childhood industry. The newest product available to help make the required rules accessible to your facility is the Angeles® Lil' Portable Hot Water Sink (LILPREM).
Angeles® makes a variety of portable sinks to fit the need of any child care facility. There are teacher-sized sinks, child-sized sinks, double sinks, each with its own fresh water supply and waste water tank. There’s even a Portable Hygienic Changing Table (KIDDIE). All of these products have scald free hot and cold running water and best of all they come assembled! No expensive plumbing is required. Accessories include Slip Resistant Risers (LILSTEP) and EZ Flow™ Water Sensor (SENSOR) for hands-free washing.

There’s also an EZ Fill-N-Roll™ Kit (ROLLDOLLT)which makes refilling and transferring water easier. No heavy lifting with the adaptable hose and easy-to-roll dolly.

The preschool inside the high school facility I mentioned earlier installed a single preschool hot water sink(LILPREM) with an ABS Top and Basin right next to the cafeteria. And by installing, I mean they took it out of the box and plugged it in! Now they meet the requirements for washing hands immediately before lunch. And don’t forget the sinks are portable. If you need to change the location, just unplug and roll to the next location!

Watch our video for more information!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Brilliant Glittery Glitter Dough!

Hi my name is Cyndi Williams and I am the Product Development Manager for Excelligence Learning Corporation. I really enjoy playing and creating new projects with our Colorations® Glitter Dough (GLITTDO). We offer six brilliant colors in a set, all non-toxic to little ones. Our Glitter Dough adds sparkle to any play table and is fun and easy to work with. It can be a learning tool by using it to cut out numbers, shapes, and letters of the alphabet. It is good for learning about textures, and Glitter Dough can be used with raised patterns or embossed surfaces. Also, our Glitter Dough does not contain latex, dairy, casein, eggs, peanut or tree nuts. This is fantastic information for children with allergies.
I have a set of Glitter Dough in my home. When my nephew Kraemer comes over to visit, he always asks to play with it. We set it up on my kitchen table and play for hours. We create our own superheroes, creatures, blobs, bad guys, and even buildings. We pretend the superheroes are saving people, and sometimes, in the process, our buildings get knocked down or destroyed. Our Glitter Dough makes it easy to rebuild so our superheroes can go on to fight the bad guys another day! It is so much fun!

Sometimes, Kraemer likes to use my cookie cutters with the Glitter Dough, and we practice learning different shapes by cutting them out in different colors. Our Glitter Dough cleans up easily with soap and water. It never seems to crumble, and with the re-sealable tub, it lasts a long time!

Due to the nature of my job, I visit preschools frequently. I see children playing at the art station and they often have Glitter Dough. It makes me happy to see our product being used, but even more so, I love the fact that children are enjoying themselves and creating things with our Glitter Dough. It’s fun for children because it stimulates their imagination and allows them to create something great! The possibilities with Glitter Dough are endless.

Check out our video for more information!