MILWAUKEE - What would be the best prize ever if you were a child burglar? How about milk, Popsicles, paper, crayons and Play-Doh? That's what police say a pair of boys took during two break-ins at a day care on the city's south side.

An 8-year-old and 10-year-old broke into Day Care Services for Children, Inc. on Sunday. That burglary followed one last week that also included a 9-year-old, police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said Monday.

"The kids did confess," she said. "A stepfather was helpful in getting the boys to own up for what they had done."

A witness photographed the 8- and 10-year-old boys breaking a window and leaving with two large bags around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Schwartz said. The boys also set off the day care's alarm, she said.

They allegedly grabbed paper, crayons and Play-Doh on Sunday. The stash last week was milk and popsicles.

Messages left for Day Care Services for Children were not immediately returned Monday.

Police canvassed the neighborhood, eventually ending up at the home of the 8- and 9-year-old boys, Schwartz said. She didn't know their relationship.

The children were released to their parents, Schwartz said. The case hadn't been turned over the Milwaukee County Children's Court on Monday. She didn't know if it would.

Donald S. Jackson, assistant district attorney for Milwaukee County Children's Court, said children under age 10 cannot be charged as delinquents and sent to a state Department of Corrections facility.

They can be charged as juveniles in need of protection and referred for services, including counseling or sent to a residential treatment center or a group home.

The site is one of six the day care has in the city, according to its Web site. The location offers infant and toddler care, preschool day care, a head start program for children 3 to 5 years old and a day care summer program for children 6 to 12 years old, the Web site said.

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