334: The Best Ways to Celebrate Your Childcare Team!

In this episode, Kate and Carrie chat about the real-life ups and downs of showing appreciation to childcare staff, without breaking the bank. They swap clever, heartfelt ideas like handwritten notes, photo keepsakes, and simple thank-yous for everyone from teachers to van drivers. The duo reminds us that genuine recognition, whether it’s a high five or remembering a staff member’s favorite snack, creates a joyful, supportive workplace. 

Their resourceful tips prove you don’t need a big budget to make staff feel valued, and when you do, everyone (especially the kids!) wins. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Childcare Conversations with Kate and Carrie. But as a director, when I hear the word staff appreciation, I immediately go, oh, I don't think that's in my budget. Um, when am I gonna get this done? Um, we need gifts. Um, or or we need something that that's gonna be big.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Or you hear staff appreciation, something else in your head. Go ahead. I mean, there's also why is this something else that I have to do? Who's gonna give me any appreciation? Oh, okay. Well, that's its own podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Directors who feel who don't feel seen is a whole other podcast. I'm gonna write that down.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Directors, owners, just admin staff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Okay, so admin staff appreciation.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

So part of what we want is staff who like being at work. Because if they like being at work, they show up on a regular basis. And then I don't have to rework the lunch schedule and the break schedule and all of that because my people are at work because they want to be there, they appreciate being part of the team. So it is one of the key jobs of being an administrator or being an owner, is making sure that your staff understand that you appreciate them. So if you have had the thought, I do show appreciation. It's called a paycheck. I need you to put that aside because you are not a drill sergeant in the military, right? And the appreciation is I let you stay and keep getting a paycheck. That is not what we're doing here. We want this to be a joyful place for people to be. Because if it's joyful for the staff, it's more likely to be joyful for the children. That's what we want. This is a job where you have access to slides and play-doh on a regular basis. And if people are miserable coming to your workplace that comes equipped with bubbles, slides, and play-doh, then you are doing something wrong. So let's fix it.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Absolutely. Well, personally, you know, play-doh is probably one of my favorite, favorite. Um, uh, can we make that a love language? If you listen to the earlier, the the last episode we did, we talked about catching teachers and other staff, because I think we did talk about that from teachers, but a lot of y'all have other staff. You've got van drivers and cooks and other admin team. Uh, so you know, make sure you're catching all of your staff doing something well. And that really does warrant an appreciation at the time. But when's the last time a parent told you how much they liked a teacher and you remembered to tell the teacher that the parent said something nice to them?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

I mean, I the you're making the point again for us wearing recordable devices at all times, if you're in a state where that's legal. Um, so Kate and I have little necklaces that we can wear that we push a button and it records the conversation and then um it's linked to our phones and then it transcribes it. If you're in a state where one-party recording is allowed, just get yourself one of these necklaces. Um, hi Kate, you just did weird stuff with your your camera. But it's because I'm looking, I'm looking for my little thingy that's right here. So ours is called Fieldie, but there's about 10 different versions. But if you're in a one-party recording state, this is a way that you can they can literally hear or read the actual words that the parents said that were nice things about them. So, I mean, that'd be cool. If you don't live in a one-party recording state or you don't want to be recording all the time, and again, I get my money's worth out of my membership, but I know not everybody does. Um, so I you can still at the end of that conversation write it down on a little note card and say, Susan's dad just wanted to let me know how much he appreciated you helping Susan learn how to put the shoes on the correct feet.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

And you know what? It's those little things. It's really interesting. And we don't really do this much in this industry. So if you know, if you've ever been to um hospitality, restaurants, even hotel, even um hospitals, they often have frequently all over the place. If our staff did something nice, let us know. So they might call them an Apple Award or you know, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

In my hospital system, it's the Daisy Award.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Yeah. So, you know, we don't do that in our industry. You also told me about a program that I thought was great, but this time I'd like to spin it a little more positive, is they had QR codes all over the building that was, and it was designed for, if you see it, let us know. And it was designed for both positive and I don't really want to call it whistleblowing, but if you saw a staff person do something that you didn't think was quite right, that you could take that QR code, and because it was both positive and not so positive, people were using them all the time um to kind of share what they saw happening in the building. And I think that that also, I mean, you've got tablets probably running around. That could be something that's another option for folks.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Yeah, it's the whole if you see something, say something concept. That's what it was called. I couldn't. Um, so and you know, I think they took it from, you know, the airports, where if you see an abandoned bag, let us know. But in childcare or in, you know, customer service in general, it's let us know what you saw happening with our staff. And in that that school, they were using it also for the staff to shout each other out as well.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Oh, what a great. I mean, that was such a great way to build teamwork and camaraderie. Now, Carrie, what happens with a program that nobody does it? Or the only thing that ever gets shared are the negatives, or it's only ever one person. How do we get everybody on board and everybody like because it's a culture shift? Yeah. How do we get people to shift?

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Here's the thing: you're you could get everybody on board and then it's novel, and people do it, and then three months later nobody's doing it anymore. So you have to have like a routine, a system for going, okay, we need to reinvigorate this. It we've been um doing the having a three-ring uh having a spiral notebook in the bathroom where people write comments, um, say, hey, I really like how the butterfly classroom left the playground. Great job, guys. And um, hey, I had a question. Why do we have seven baseball hats here in the staff bathroom? Whose hats are these? And so you had that version, and then you had, you know, two months later, you do the QR code, and then you have the we're gonna have a bulletin board, and everybody is given 10 Post-it notes. All the teachers, all the parents, everybody's given 10 Post-it notes, and the challenges to write over the course of the month to use your 10 Post-it notes so that we cover the entire bulletin board with great shout-outs for the team. And, you know, having different things over the course of the year so that when the bulletin board becomes passe and all the post-it notes are just fluttering down on the floor and causing a mess, that you have you maybe leave it a week or two where we're not doing some sort of big push like those other ideas I had. But then we have to, we can't leave it a month without there being something that we're doing to show appreciation to the people we're working with. We're in a caring profession, which means our cups are constantly being drained by the care that we're showing to our primary clients, the children. We need to be pouring back into the top of the cup for our staff so that they feel motivated and appreciated.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

Great. I mean, I think that that example is a perfect way to also extend or another way to show appreciation that doesn't cost anything, which is actually asking the teachers for their input. And I think that if you have a either a staff meeting or even one-on-ones where you ask teachers regularly for their input and follow through and implement. But asking the staff, how do you want to be shown the appreciation, right? We've often taught, we we've talked in previous episodes about the five um languages of workplace appreciation. But we also know that anytime you ask somebody for a suggestion and they give you a suggestion and you blow it off, you're a little insulted and you don't understand why you should bother in the future. So I think that things like how do we do the public affirmations, like actually doing public affirmations in a staff meeting, in a parent newsletter, right? I think those are also great ways of using that same content, but using it again. Um, if you see reviews that come through, right? Like if a review comes through on Google or Facebook that mentions a staff person specifically, again, do that as a shout-out. Do those same shout-outs. So you can do that same shout-out in a staff meeting, in private, on social media, right? You can you can share it in multiple places. And some of your staff are going to need that. You are definitely gonna have some staff.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

So let's count up what we've talked about so far. We've talked about having a spiral notebook where the staff are are appreciating each other. We've talked about the bulletin board, we've talked about public shout-outs, we've talked about it.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

We've talked about the parent, telling them when a parent says something like that.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Telling them when a parent says the thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

And reminding them about catching them being good, right? Just catching them.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Okay, so we're at five. But I want to go back to your questions thing, because I think there's even more to the question. One of the ways that people feel appreciated is that you value their input. And so doing a survey of your staff of what is the best things about the school, and what is one thing you think we one system you think we could improve, one piece of equipment that needs some love. Um, you know, asking them three or four questions and then sharing the results of what everybody said and go, okay, guys, based on this, this is my number one priority. This is the first thing we're gonna work on. We'll work on as many of these as we have the time and the budget to do. But based on your feedback, this is the number one issue we're going to address. So that's a way to show appreciation that costs. I mean, it may cost money because maybe what they all say is we need to get rid of maybe you have um sand as your fall surface, and they're like, we need a different fall surface.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

So it may cost you some money, but it may not be the input didn't cost anything. Right. The input didn't cost anything. But you could take that even asking questions. I think even with that, taking that, because that's on a larger scale, you could even do that because again, I'm thinking about that one teacher who um sometimes doesn't feel seen and they feel like you know their solution to everything is to bring the problem to you. So, you know, if they keep bringing you the one kid that seems to just not be settling in, you know, ask them, what do you think might help this child during transitions? Even if you know the answer or you've got ideas of your own, asking the teacher, they're a professional, especially if you've got teachers who've been around for a long time. Um, and teaching the teachers how to ask each other.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

I think that would be another great way for the those words of affirmation people that helps with those words of affirmation, um, where the ask what you think needs to be improved, that would be the deeds of service, right? Okay. So we're now at like seven. But here's one of my favorite things that doesn't cost you a dime. Have a conversation with each staff member once a month. And it can be in their classroom, it can be in the office, it can be on the playground, but have an actual conversation with them. So so we're talking to them about like their work stuff, right? No. Outside of the work stuff, like you can go, hey, I really see that that you and Josiah have been working on getting his spitting under control. So good job on that. Um, so what made you think to to say that he wouldn't be able to spit like that as a football player? Like what what what got you that thought? And she was like, and then she can go on this whole rant about what it was like being a parent of a kid in pee-wee football, and this kid is really obsessed with football. And then you can have an actual conversation about that teacher's knowledge and expertise and life outside the center. So once a month, have a real conversation with everybody who is a direct report to you. And if you're a school of 200, you may not be able to have a conversation with every teacher, but you should be able to have a real conversation with everybody who is a direct report to you. And it doesn't cost any money. No, and if you have to make a list and because I did the same thing with photos, it helps you to avoid that thing you didn't want to do today, anyway. So that's a twofer.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Absolutely. But if you don't have a list of all the staff who you need to be observing them catching in the good in the act, having those meetings, taking regular photos, like the other thing that I know is that, and again, if you have staff who are very clear they don't want their photo on your social media or in a parent app or in the parent newsletter, respect that, but periodically check in with them. But you can also take the photos and just have them for yourself or put them in their file of them doing really cool things. Um, but don't forget, when we talked about questions earlier, one question to ask is how can I support you? In other words, what can I do to make your day a little easier? Because listening is a very cheap way to show appreciation. Have real conversations where you're paying attention, you're not looking at your social media or your phone or responding to anybody else. I don't know, it could almost be tiger time. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

I want to go back to the pictures again because my brain did some more thinking after you said it. And I think printing out physical photos of them and of the kids in their class. And again, you're not using this for marketing purposes. You are giving them pictures of their class and of themselves because a lot of times we don't have pictures of ourselves doing this job. And you don't take a picture of yourself in the class. That'd be weird trying to do a selfie in the classroom while you're making a paper mache pig. Like you, but having a member of your admin team coming through and taking a picture, and you're covered head to toe in, you know, the mixing supplies for that paper mache pig, you don't want anybody else to see that picture, but that memory is gonna be great for that educator. And you just give them those photos. And yes, you can get it for free. You have to pay shipping. But if you have the Shutterfly app on your phone, you can order photos for free. You just pay for the shipping. And at least once a month, either Walgreens or CVS has some sort of deal where you get some number of photos for free. So you can do it for free. I have two photos sitting in my car right now for Kate that I got on the last free photo day. Um, so that again is a way that you can show appreciation and it does not cost you anything.

SPEAKER_02 17:50

Yeah, and and it take it, take the extra two minutes and write a note on the back. Make sure you say, you know, it was so much fun watching you paper mache the pig. And as you can tell, Josiah really had a great time March 2026. Because I think one of the things that's also hard for those of us who sometimes don't really want to do the math and realize how long we've been in the field is that we do forget that. And we forget that even with our own. I mean, again, let's be realistic. About probably over two-thirds of you listening probably do a really bad job of this, even with your own holidays. And if you do, you've got one child who loves to have their picture taken. So you have lots of that one child. And then you got the child who never wants their picture taken, or maybe you're that parent who never wants to be in the picture or is never in the picture because you're always taking the pictures. You know, have that conversation. And just because somebody said some sometime, no, I don't want my picture taken, make sure you tell them why you're taking the picture. Because if they personally are self-conscious or they don't want people to remember, remind them that this is for them and that you want to do this because you want them to remember these precious moments that they're having with this particular year's class because they obviously are bringing them joy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Reinforce the joy, reinforce the play, reinforce that you value them, I think is is the point here. And again, it takes you out of the grind of responding to complaints and dealing with a licensing issue and all of that. It's the oh my gosh, this is such a magical moment that is happening at the um in the classroom right now. And we want to do that. And, you know, is that photo a deed of service? Is it a gift? Is it words of affirmation? The answer can be yes. It can be all three of those. Um another thing I think we don't do often enough is literally give people high fives and a pat on the back.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

You know, like well, and with that goes thank you. You know, like I mean, really, when's the last? I mean, I I've walked through programs and have been in programs for whole days where you don't hear anybody just say thank you. Because again, it's that I pay you to do that. That's the expectation for your job. I mean, you know, that's why they often say, you know, some of the best leaders are those who know the people who other people think of as invisible, right? So do you know the janitor? Do you know the cook? Do you know the bus driver? Right? These are often those people. And remember that staff appreciation is not about how much money you can spend, it's about genuinely caring and I think being intentional.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Yeah. And remembering those things from those conversations you had and going, aha, this teacher has a child who is super into football. What is something that might be a way to make sure that I'm giving them some recognition? And it could be something like asking, hey, what team does your child play on? And then you use your own time to go find out when that team is playing, and you show up at that football game. That is going to give you a very inexpensive night out and is going to show your staff that you actually see them as whole people, not just as a warm body.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

I I got an even better one. If you want to spend the 15 or 20 bucks, bring extra snacks for the kids on that team because every parent hates that job. I'm just telling you, as a person with four kids who did these things, nobody ever likes to be the snack mom. So be Get the bonus snack ant. And, you know, if you decide that you want to do that, you know, it's not going to hurt you anything to check with that staff person and go, hey, I wanted to bring something for your kids team. Does anybody have food allergies? Is there anything I need to know? Um, because there might be some places where, you know, it can't be fresh cut fruit because like nobody wants nobody'll eat that. But if you bring, you know, apples that aren't cut or you bring A, B, or C that's still nutritious and healthy, they'll eat it. But for some reason, nobody ever eats the cut-up oranges, but they always eat the grapes or the bags of apples.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

But well, but that and that can take us into you know, other things that that do cost money, which is sponsoring the activities of the children of your employees. So now that's it, now that's the thing, you know, the if you got t ball team and you know, your fours teacher has a kid on a t-ball team, well, most people who are on t ball are in the appropriate age to be at your school. And you mark it's a good way to market. And you could be like, hey, if I buy the snacks for the school for the t-ball team all year, would you be willing to deliver them and then I get a banner?

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Or can you just deliver them wearing your shirt if you're an appropriate parent? We both know parents who should never wear somebody's shirt because they're that parent.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Yeah. If you're the I think he's got a birthday today, anyway. So I think that that is not on our, you know, 10 free ways to show staff appreciation, but it is a reasonable thing to do. You know, is there a way to do that? We wrote it down for another episode. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Well, thank you so much for listening today. We've got three more episodes on staff appreciation because we are so excited to share this series with you. And the rest of the month, all of our guests will also be sharing their top uh staff appreciation moments, stories, tips. And so hopefully, you guys will be so prepared with all kinds of ideas that you have so many that you'll be able to do it in more than the month of May.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

Okay, guys, so make sure you're subscribed to the show and maybe even the newsletter, and we will talk to you in a few days.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Thanks for tuning in. We love bringing you real talk and fresh insight from the world of early childhood education. Be sure to follow us on social media to stay connected and catch all of the latest episodes. And if you're planning a conference, training, or special event, Kate and Carrie would love to speak to your audience. You can learn more about their keynote sessions and workshops at kateandcary.com. If you learned something today, share the show and leave us a review below. We'll see you next time on Childcare Conversations.