Featured Resources

Find helpful resources below on these subjects:

  • Starting & Running a Child Care Business
  • Playgrounds
  • Grants & Grant Writing

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Starting & Running a Child Care Business

Department of Education
A federal agency dedicated to promoting educational excellence and ensuring equal access to educational opportunities.

Head Start Associations
Serves the child development needs of preschool children and their low-income families through education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
An advocacy organization that promotes excellence in early childhood care and education through quality standards, accreditation, improved professional practices, and working conditions.

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families
A national nonprofit and multidisciplinary organization that advances their mission by informing, educating, and supporting adults who influence the lives of infants and toddlers.

National Association of Child Care Professionals (NACCP)
National association serving child care directors, owners, and administrators. Offers trainings, information, resources, and a national conference.

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)
Advocates for the family child care profession by collaborating with other local, state, and national organizations that contribute to the family child care field. Increases the awareness about and improves the quality of family child care.

National Child Care Association (NCCA)
A professional trade association focused on serving the needs of licensed, private childhood care and education programs.

Child Care Aware
Connects families to child care information and referrals through local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies. Child Care Aware also provides families with a growing collection of free child care related publications and materials.

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)
Supports early childhood education initiatives by providing independent, research-based advice and technical assistance to educators, policymakers, journalists, and researchers.

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
The largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with "exceptionalities," students with disabilities, and/or the gifted.

National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers (NCCCC)
Promotes the establishment, maintenance and, where appropriate, the expansion of high-quality child care and early education programs to enable parents to further their education and be gainfully employed.

Redleaf Press
Offers several publications that help providers starting or running a child care business with record keeping, contracts, policies, taxes, and more.

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
Is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services

Infant CPR
Offers accredited CPR and Choking relief training for infants. Online training classes can be taken and the training is available for a lifetime. Child and Adult CPR classes are available as well.

SPARK Early Childhood Curriculum Program
Find Free Lesson Downloads from the SPARK Early Childhood Curriculum, which features activities that develop and enhance fine/gross motor and school readiness skills in kids ages 3-5.

Playgrounds

National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS)
A nonprofit organization dedicated to providing training and services to help the public create safe and developmentally appropriate play environments for children.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
An independent federal regulatory agency charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under its jurisdiction.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines for Play Areas
The guidelines include scoping and technical provisions for ground level and elevated play components, accessible routes, ramps and transfer systems, ground surfaces, and soft contained play structures to ensure that play areas meet the requirements of the ADA.

National Recreation and Park Association
Advances parks, recreation, and environmental conservation efforts to enhance the quality of life for all people.

International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA)
Provides third-party product certification services for U.S. and Canadian public play equipment and public play surfacing materials in the U.S.

The organizations and links above are provided for informational purposes only and are not affiliated with nor endorsed by Play with a Purpose. Play with a Purpose is not responsible for any content on external websites.

Grants & Grant Writing

Grants.gov
Grants.gov is a central storehouse for information on over 1,000 grant programs and provides access to approximately $400 billion in annual awards.

Grants Alert
Provides information on available education grants and identifies funding opportunities for organizations, schools, districts, consortia, and state education agencies.

Federal Grants Wire
Supplies resources and information for federal grants, government grants, and loans organized by sponsoring agency, applicant type, and subject area.

Guides for Writing Proposals

U.S. Department of Education Grant Funding Opportunities
Establishes policies on federal financial aid for education, distributes and monitors those funds, collects and disseminates research, focuses national attention on key educational issues, prohibits discrimination and ensures equal access to education.