Being a director for a morning and aftercare program is no easy task. The children always have a ton of energy and it is the responsibility of you and your staff to keep them engaged in activities from the moment they arrive to your program to the moment they leave; sounds easy but it most certainly is not.

There are a number of factors that come into play when planning activities for the children at your program. First you need to consider the age groups and how many students will be in attendance for that day. Second you need to consider the space available to your program. And finally you need to make sure you are changing the activities for the children often because they will get bored and tired of a game very quickly if played too often.

I have been a program director for a number of years and over the course of time I have found resources that were extremely helpful to me and my program. In my opinion, the best resources for activities are the ones who break down their information into categories. So I can easily click on activities that are grade specific, category specific and group size specific.

I will post weekly and share my favorite and most useful resources that I use to help plan my program. I will break down each resource to explain why it is helpful and share my personal favorite activities to do with my students.

Amanda White is currently the Program Director for the North Branford Family Resource Center. She has been with the North Branford FRC for five years and is currently a Master Student at Sacred Heart University in the Communications.