25 Great Free Online Childcare Training Courses with Certificates

Are you ready to step into the world of nurturing young minds? Get ready because we’ve got something special for you – a comprehensive guide to 25 Great Free Online Childcare Training Courses with Certificates in 2024.

Yes, you heard it right – free online childcare training courses with certificates that can pave the way for your journey into the rewarding realm of childcare.

In this fast-paced digital age, gaining expertise in childcare has never been more accessible, convenient, and affordable. These courses equip you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to provide quality care and support to children.

Whether you’re a parent, an aspiring childcare professional, or simply someone passionate about child development, these courses offer a golden opportunity to enhance your understanding and make a positive impact.

From understanding child psychology and effective communication to learning about health, safety, and early education, these courses cover a wide spectrum of topics crucial for anyone involved in childcare. The best part? You’ll walk away not only with valuable insights but also with certificates that validate your newfound expertise.

So, whether you’re looking to kickstart a fulfilling career or simply want to be better equipped to care for children, these free online childcare training courses with certificates are your stepping stones. Let’s embark on this learning journey together and nurture a brighter future for our little ones.

Shall we begin?

25 Great Free Online Childcare Training Courses with Certificates in 2024

Here’s the list of 25 Great Free Online Childcare Training Courses with Certificates in 2024:

1. Childcare and Early Foundation Year Stage
2. Supporting Children’s Mental Health and Well-being
3. Health and Safety of a Home-based Childcare Center
4. Integrated Healthcare for Children with Developmental Disabilities
5. Introduction to Early Childhood Education
6. Basics of Safeguarding Children
7. Understanding Child Development From Synapses to Society
8. Child Protection by Teachers
9. Childcare Health and Safety
10. Supporting Physical Development in Early Childhood
11. Early Childhood Development: Global Strategies for Implementation
12. Caring for Vulnerable Children
13. Paediatric First Aid
14. Brain Development, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and Abusive Head Trauma: Shaken Baby Syndrome
15. Child Growth and Development from Infancy to School-Age
16. Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Development
17. Child Maltreatment: A Guide for Child Care Professionals
18. Emergency Planning for Child Care Providers
19. Poison Prevention and Safety in Child Care Programs
20. Managing Common Childhood Illnesses in Child Care
21. Medication Administration in Child Care: Ensuring Children’s Safety
22. Injury Prevention and Child Safety in Child Care Settings
23. Infection Control in Child Care Settings
24. Positive Guidance and Discipline
25. Supporting the Establishment of Strong Peer and Adult-Child Relationships in the Inclusive Child Care Environment

#1. Childcare and Early Foundation Year Stage (EFYS)

This course is first on our list of free online childcare training courses with certificates. Allison provides this Childcare Training course, which Edukators London Limited developed. It is a self-paced course with four modules and a course exam.

It takes 1.5 to three hours of your time each week and has over 55,000 students enrolled. This course emphasizes the importance of childcare.

It teaches a variety of lectures, such as the benefits of daycare to a child’s emotional, physical, and mental health in their early years of life, as well as measures to reduce risks in the house.

You will also learn about your obligations as a child caretaker and why certain activities can help or hinder a kid’s development in various ways.

This is just a sample of what you can learn, and your qualifications as a childcare professional will improve due to the CPD certification you will receive at the end of this course. 

Course:  Childcare and Early Foundation Year Stage

#2. Supporting Children’s Mental Health and Well-being

This free online childcare training course with a certificate provides certification at the end. No matter how minor, a human’s mental health is critical.

The Open University provides a free childcare training course through its online learning platform, Open Learning, to teach about a child’s psychology and mental well-being and techniques to help their mental health.

It is an 8-session course with a suggested completion time of 24 hours. 

Course: Supporting Children’s Mental Health and Well-being

#3. Health and Safety of a Home-based Childcare Center

The State University of New York, in collaboration with the learning portal Coursera, offers one of the best free online childcare training courses with certificates designed for future or prospective proprietors of family daycare centers.

In this course, you will study staffing, building a safe atmosphere, nutrition, mental health and wellness, and emergency planning. This course takes in 6 weeks to complete if you study 3 hours per week.

Course:  Health and Safety of a Home-based Childcare Children Center

#4. Integrated Healthcare for Children with Developmental Disabilities

This childcare training program is produced in collaboration with the Ian International Center for Evidence in Disability by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The three-week course requires four hours each week and has a 4.6-star rating. You will learn ways to promote the health and well-being of children with developmental challenges.

This three-week childcare training course is intended to improve your knowledge of children with developmental disabilities and to assist you in improving healthcare provision for a vulnerable group by collaborating with families and essential services organizations like education or social care providers.

This advanced-level training is designed for childcare providers who want to advance their careers.

Course: Integrated Healthcare for Children with Developmental Disabilities

#5. Introduction to Early Childhood Education

Coursera and the State University of New York both offer this course. It is a beginner-friendly course that requires no prior expertise. It takes about 10 hours to complete, and the certificate is shareable.

You will discover the principles of early childhood development and the role of play and family in early education. The course has a 4.9-star rating, and over 4,000 students registered.

This training is designed for those who want to create a new family daycare center. One component of the family policy handbook is included in this course outline, while the other two sections are added to other Coursera home-based childcare series.

Creativity, caregiving, and decision-making are skills you will acquire in this course. So, once you know you’ve decided, all it takes is a simple click to begin this adventure.

Course: Introduction to Early Childhood Education

#6. Basics of Safeguarding Children

Basics of Child Safety is a free childcare training course that is completely online. The primary goal of this course is to teach parents, teachers, and caregivers about the significance of safeguarding children from trauma.

Because children are the most common abuse victims, this course focuses on lowering the rate of child abuse by training parents and other caregivers on how to interact with children.

This is a brief course with only two modules that teaches about the significance of protecting children, the laws enacted to stop sexual abuse in the UK, and the child protection concept.

Learn about the most frequent types of child and sexual molestation, the indications and consequences of child abuse, and preventive measures to protect minors.

Allison offers this fantastic course, which Training Express produces. This course is required reading for all parents, teachers, carers, and anybody who cares about children and society in general. 

Course: Basics of Safeguarding Children

#7. Understanding Child Development From Synapses to Society

Utrecht University in the Netherlands offers this free online childcare training course with certification through the learning platform Coursera.

This course has a 4.6-star rating, and over 60,000 students have enrolled. This course will teach you about the complexities of child development and how many factors influence it.

You will see that development can be explored from numerous perspectives and degrees of comprehension, as well as from diverse angles and disciplines.

The most intriguing aspect of this is that you will learn to comprehend the many processes at various stages of development.

This is an interdisciplinary course that will help you comprehend the many processes.

Course: Understanding Child Development From Synapses to Society

#8. Child Protection by Teachers

The Queensland University of Technology and the learning platform Future Learn provide this childcare training course.

It has a 4.7-star rating and over 23,000 students enrolled, and it only takes two weeks to complete with 1 hour of weekly study.

This brief course will teach you how to safeguard children from abuse and the indications and indicators of child abuse and neglect.

Because you are also childcare professionals as instructors, your job will include child protection, and this childcare training course will be required for efficient work as a childcare professional and a teacher to aid your students’ mental and physical well-being. 

Course: Child Protection by Teachers

#9. Childcare Health and Safety

Childcare Health and Safety is a free online childcare training course with certificates. This course is available on Allison and is produced by Edukators London Ltd. Over 15,000 people have already participated in this self-paced childcare training course. This Childcare Training course is more concerned with child development and welfare.

The course investigated children’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development while considering the natural and environmental elements that influence child development.

It is essential to highlight the struggles and battles of children born with exceptional disorders such as cognitive disease and children who have experienced childhood traumas.

This free online childcare training course emphasizes the value of play and creativity in children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development.

This course provides lectures with clear and easy explanations of challenges experienced by childcare providers and parents, as well as solutions.

You will receive a CPD-accredited certificate at the end of this course, which will help you strengthen your career as a childcare worker. Why bother? 

Course: Childcare Health and Safety

#10. Supporting Physical Development in Early Childhood

This 6-week course involves 3 hours of your time each week and has a rating of 4.7/5, so you can expect a lot from this free online childcare training course with a certificate. The training is intended for adults who care for or educate newborns and young children.

The UK Health Security Agency created the course. You will study the physical and mental development of young children and babies.

You will also learn how to encourage physical development through indoor and outdoor activities and the relationship between physical development and other areas of development. 

Course: Supporting Physical Development in Early Childhood.

#11. Early Childhood Development: Global Strategies for Implementation

Harvard University’s Early Childhood Development course is available on edX. It is a 7-week self-paced course that works around your hectic schedule.

This course is there to teach youngsters who are growing up with little access to early childhood development practices. The courses teach this youngster how to receive high-quality early childhood development.

This course examines best practices in child and family policies, financing, advocacy, and scaling up. You will also learn how to build an innovative, scalable intervention strategy to improve early childhood development.

This course will allow professionals involved in early childhood development programs to examine and evaluate their organizations by analyzing real-world case successes and a new global perspective from other learners.

You will leave the workshop with new strategies and ideas to implement within your program. Harvard, Unicef, and edX collaborated to create a flawless plan to enable children in third-world nations to receive high-quality early childhood development for free.

To capitalize on this chance and enroll in this course.

Course:  Early Childhood Development: Global Strategies for Implementation.

#12. Caring for Vulnerable Children

The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow offers this childcare training course through the learning platform Futurelearn.

This course has a 4.8-star rating and provides a certificate of completion at the end. It is a 6-week course that demands 4 hours of your time each week.

It is a self-paced course that allows you ultimate control. You will be given a set of assignments to track your progress, and you will be a part of a global classroom where you can find solutions and work on a world-class project.

The training was created for individuals who want to begin a career as a childcare progressional with no prior knowledge or experience.

This course’s participants will better understand the characteristics of various childcare techniques and possible treatments.

You will examine risk and vulnerability definitions, good enough parenting, child development, and developing meaningful interactions and attachments in the context of budget cuts and rising child poverty.

This is only a small portion of what you will be learning, so begin now and become a childcare provider with this certification.

Course: Caring for Vulnerable Children

#13. Paediatric First Aid

This free online childcare training course with certificate is available on the Allison learning platform and is published by Janets UK. This training is required for everyone who works with children, including childcare providers, teachers, and adults.

This childcare training course teaches you all you need to know about the function of first responders and some of the typical equipment and procedures you’ll need as a first responder.

Investigate the CPR process for children and infants, common injury treatments, and the impacts of acute illness and psychological first aid treatment for children. 

Course: Pediatric First Aid

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#14. Brain Development, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and Abusive Head Trauma: Shaken Baby Syndrome

Early experiences of infants alter the brain’s physical structures, paving the way for patterns of thought and behavior that will last a child’s entire life.

SIDS, known in full as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is the greatest cause of death in babies aged one month to one year.

Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a combination of signs and symptoms encountered by very young children who have been shaken. The victim’s injuries will turn fatal in 25% of SBS cases. SBS is entirely avoidable.

This 1-hour training course covers key areas connected to caring for the youngest and most vulnerable demographic of children, babies, and toddlers. Childcare providers will learn how to maximize development while limiting risk to the kids who are in their care.

With assistance from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ Child Care Licensing Division. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System developed and produced this online course with financial help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Couse: Brain Development, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and Abusive Head Trauma: Shaken Baby Syndrome

#15. Child Growth and Development from Infancy to School-Age

You must understand the developmental phases that kids go through in their early years if you work as a childcare provider. The cornerstone for providing the best treatment possible is this understanding.

You will learn about the stages and milestones kids experience from birth until the start of school during this two-hour online course.

This course was created and delivered by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System in association with the Child Care Licensing Division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and with funding provided by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Child Growth and Development from Infancy to School-Age

#16. Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Development

Many experts feel that healthy social-emotional development provides the foundation for children to develop the abilities necessary for success in life. This includes learning to pay attention, cooperate, and work well with others.

This one-hour free online childcare training course with certificate will teach you more about preschool children’s social-emotional development. This course will give you a general overview of the issue and some practical ideas on effectively supporting children’s growth in these crucial areas.

The Texas Department of State Health Services’ Office of Title V and Family Health funds this course through Title V Maternal and Child Block Grant funds.

Course: Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Development

#17. Child Maltreatment: A Guide for Child Care Professionals

Nearly a million incidences of child maltreatment, including abuse and neglect, are substantiated yearly, with many more likely going undetected. Maltreatment has a long-term impact on the abused kid and has significant consequences for families, communities, and society.

This 2-hour online course is meant to equip childcare workers, such as caregivers and administrators, with the skills and knowledge to recognise and prevent and report child abuse and neglect among the children in their care.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System designed and produced this course in collaboration with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Child Care Licensing Division, and with money granted by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Child Maltreatment: A Guide for Child Care Professionals

#18. Emergency Planning for Child Care Providers

This two-hour free online childcare training course with certification is designed to help childcare providers understand the process of preparing for emergencies that may affect their program, thereby fulfilling one of the most important tasks of any childcare provider: providing a healthy & safe environment for the children under your custody.

The AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System designed and produced this course in collaboration with the Child Care Licensing Division, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and with money granted by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Emergency Planning for Child Care Providers

#19. Poison Prevention and Safety in Child Care Programs

Knowing the dangers of poisoning, taking precautions to reduce them, and having a strategy in place to respond in case there is a poison emergency is crucial to keeping the commitment to providing a safe environment for all children.

During this 2-hour online training, you will gain an understanding of poison hazards as well as protocols for preventing and reacting to poison crises in childcare settings.

The AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System designed and produced this course in collaboration with the Protective Services Child Care Licensing Division, Texas Department of Family, and Child Care Licensing Division, and with money granted by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Poison Prevention and Safety in Child Care Programs

#20. Managing Common Childhood Illnesses in Child Care

A 2-hour course in a series of online training sessions titled “Management of Common Childhood Illnesses, Including Food Intolerances and Allergies” will assist you in implementing the most recent, evidence-based best practices in the childcare environments you work and supervise.

This course teaches you how to treat allergies, food intolerance, and typical childhood diseases.
The A&M AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System created and published this course with assistance from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Child Care Licensing Division and funding from the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Managing Common Childhood Illnesses in Child Care

#21. Medication Administration in Child Care: Ensuring Children’s Safety

Medication Administration in Child Care: Ensuring Children’s Safety is a 2-hour online course part of a series meant to assist you, as child care providers and directors, in adopting current, research-based best practices in your child care facilities.

This course is intended to give you information that will assist you in administering drugs to children in your childcare program in a safe manner.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System designed and published this training course in collaboration with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Child Care Licensing Division, and with money granted by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Medication Administration in Child Care: Ensuring Children’s Safety

#22. Injury Prevention and Child Safety in Child Care Settings

Injuries pose a major threat to children’s health and well-being. Young children are especially vulnerable to injuries resulting in impairment or death.

This one-hour online course will assist childcare providers in better understanding the topic on the safety of the child and how to prevent injuries to the children in their care.

The Texas Department of State Health Services’ Office of Title V and Family Health funds this course through Title V Maternal and Child Block Grant funds.

Course: Injury Prevention and Child Safety in Child Care Settings

#23. Infection Control in Child Care Settings

Infection Control in Child Care Settings is a 2-hour online training course that is part of a series meant to assist you, as child care providers and directors, in implementing current, research-based best practices in your child care environments.

This training will teach you how to combat germs in your childcare facility, limit infection among children and employees, and use basic infection control techniques.

The A&M AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System designed and produced this course in collaboration with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Child Care Licensing Division, and with money granted by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Infection Control in Child Care Settings

#24. Positive Guidance and Discipline 

One of the most difficult components of child care is determining a suitable, effective punishment style in each child’s best interests. Students will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of various disciplinary techniques and strategies for defining and enforcing appropriate boundaries.

Course: Positive Guidance and Discipline 

#25. Supporting the Establishment of Strong Peer and Adult-Child Relationships in the Inclusive Child Care Environment

Regardless of aptitude, all children benefit from programs that develop pleasant interactions with classmates and caregivers.

This 2-hour online course will teach you how to develop effective social connections among all children, including those with disabilities and other special needs.

We will discuss the benefits of positive peer and caregiver connections throughout this workshop, focusing on steps you can take to educate and promote the skills children need to create healthy relationships.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service of the Texas A&M University System designed and published this training course in collaboration with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Child Care Licensing Division, and with money granted by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Course: Supporting the Establishment of Strong Peer and Adult-Child Relationships in the Inclusive Child Care Environment.

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FAQ

Conclusion

These courses offer valuable insights and skills for individuals interested in childcare, whether they’re parents, aspiring professionals, or passionate about child development.

The write-up introduces the convenience and accessibility of online courses in the digital age, highlighting the wide range of topics covered, from child psychology and health to safety and education.

The courses mentioned include offerings from reputable institutions, covering various aspects of childcare, including mental health, child protection, developmental disabilities, and emergency planning.

Each course description emphasizes its key content and benefits, such as understanding child development, supporting emotional growth, and preventing child abuse. Additionally, the FAQ section clarifies common questions about course certification, content coverage, and legality.

This write-up serves as a comprehensive guide to free online childcare training courses, showcasing their importance in enhancing knowledge and skills for individuals involved in childcare.

It encourages readers to consider these courses a valuable resource for professional development and personal enrichment in childcare.

References

• childcare.tamu.edu – Texas Annual Training

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