Frequently Asked Questions

A Cozy, Calming Corner is a comfortable space away from active areas of the classroom where children can go to feel safe, to calm down, or to solve problems. To learn more about Cozy, Calming Corners, read the Nebraska Association of Infant Mental Health's flyer by clicking on this question.

Thanks to a grant received by Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, early childhood professionals can receive a Cozy, Calming Corner kit (based on type of childcare and meeting qualifying criteria) free of charge.

You must complete the Nebraska Department of Education training and complete an 8-question demographics questionnaire. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Resources and Nebraska Children will make eligibility decisions based on equal distributions to rural, urban, center, home, preschools, and tribal centers.

Nebraska Department of Education will provide Nebraska Children a bi-weekly list of those participants who have completed the training. Nebraska Children will then send a follow-up email to obtain the necessary information (name, physical address, license type, children enrolled, capacity, county and if program is tribal).

Yes, there are a limited supply of kits that are available to preschools with a limit of one per school.

If you have completed the 1-hour Nebraska Department of Education Cozy Corner Training, you can receive the following, based on the type of childcare provider you are:

a. Family Home 1 or Family Home 2 providers will receive the Calming Corner Bundle.

b. Center-based providers will receive the Calming Corner Instant Learning Space.

The Calming Corner Bundle is a kit to start your own or build on an existing Cozy, Calming Corner. The Bundle is provided to Family 1 and Family 2 providers and is valued at $789. To see what is included in the bundle click on this question.

The Calming Corner Instant Learning Space is a kit to start your own or build on an existing Cozy, Calming Corner. The Learning Space is provided to center-based programs and is valued $1,499. To see what is included in the bundle click on this question.

To receive a Cozy Calming Corner kit, you must first complete a 1-hour Cozy Corner training, for which you will receive one in-service hour. At the end of each month Nebraska Children and the Nebraska Department of Education will check the Canvas site to find qualifying providers who have completed the training and will notify Lakeshore to send the kit to the address you provided during training. To register for the training you can click on this question.

Do not order your Cozy, Calming Corner kit directly from Lakeshore. The appropriate bundle will be shipped directly to your location after you have completed the Nebraska Department of Education training. You will then be contacted by Nebraska Children verifying your completion and asking you to complete an 8-question demographic questionnaire. Upon completion of the questionnaire, your information will be sent by Nebraska Children to Lakeshore so that processing and shipment of your kit can begin.

If you have completed the 1-hour NDE Cozy Corner training, at the end of each month, Nebraska Children will provide Lakeshore with the list of eligible recipients. Once your order has been entered at Lakeshore and processed, you will receive a notification that the order has shipped.

At the end of each month, Lakeshore will receive a list of eligible providers from Nebraska Children and will process these orders for shipping. You will receive an email from Lakeshore when the kit has shipped.

Your Calming Corner kit will be shipped from Lakeshore to the address you provided in the NDE training course and will arrive in several boxes. Some items will require assembly, which you will be required to do.

Your items will ship to the address you provided when you signed up for training. No changes are permitted after completing the training.

Due to the grant parameters, there are no returns nor exchanges of any items (kit nor items in the kits).

Due to the grant parameters and the training provided, this incentive is intended to help each provider establish a cozy corner. The kit size and contents were pre-selected to accommodate the objectives of the training and cannot be exchanged.

NDE and NCFF will utilize their reporting from CANVAS to collect those that completed the training each month. They will send this list to Lakeshore so that orders are entered and processed. There is no additional action needed on your part.

Questions concerning Calming Corner kits or Cozy Corner training completion should be directed to Stephanni Renn at Nebraska Children-- srenn@nebraskachildren.org or by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

Kits were selected based on your provider size and center size and with consideration of the equal distribution to rural, urban, center, home, preschool, and tribal centers. These were pre-determined by Nebraska Children and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. If you have questions, you can reach out to Stephanni Renn at Nebraska Children-- srenn@nebraskachildren.org or click on the contact link at the bottom of this page.

This project is made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act funding received through Grant Number 2101NECDC6, of the USDHHS-Administration for Children and Families and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. If you have additional questions about the grant, you may contact Stephanni Renn at srenn@nebraskachildren.org.

To access training for Cozy, Calming Corners, see the links below:

-Nebraska Department of Education training in English--https://canvas.education.ne.gov/browse/earlychildhood/courses/cozy-corner English

-Nebraska Department of Education Training in Spanish--https://canvas.education.ne.gov/browse/earlychildhood/courses/capacitacin-sobre- espacios-seguros Spanish

-Supplemental Lakeshore training--https://www.nebraskachildren.org/what-we-do/calming-corners/lakeshore-supplemental-training.html

All center-based programs will receive one Cozy, Calming Corner initially. However, if products remain, additional Corners will be distributed based on rural, urban, and tribal regions.