Play area " too small"

[mom2boys]

Hi,
I'm new here, I'm just starting my home daycare. I have 2 boys age 3 and 16 months.

I had my first meeting with a family, they decided (for a few reasons- mostly because of location it seems) to go with someone else.
One of the "concerns" they had was the size of the play area ( indoors).
Well I can't make the area any bigger, but does anyone have any suggestions on how to make it appear like a large space?
The "play area" is approx 12 x 12, however it's one end of our living room, and we also use the kitchen eating area for some activities ( crafts etc).
The play area has a few "zones"
The toy storage area, the craft area, the reading/book area, and the pretend area ( where we have the kitchen and the dress-up stuff.
We do have a few larger toys- a big firestation (like a big dollhouse) a car garage etc.
Any suggestions would be great. I have another meeting set up for Thursday.

Thanks

[playfelt]

Basically that sounds similar to my upstairs play area which is our diningroom which is 11x13 so about the same. The first thing I would do is spread a few things into the other areas - our books for instance are in the livingroom area - I have one of those wooden book carts with the five levels. The nice thing it is on wheels so I can roll it back to the play room when I want it gone. Take out the craft area and move it to the kitchen area. Maybe not have it out all the time but have one of those organizer towers with drawers that would have the paper, crayons etc in it then you would point it out to parents but it would tuck away in the kitchen. That will open up two more areas in the diningroom. Can you move the playhouse so it is closer to the livingroom area so that you can open up more floorspace. Tuck a bin of dolls and clothes under the coffeetable. Put a blanket over the table and lay the dolls or dishes on the table. Not sure if you have a family room or not but many people who use only their upstairs make their family room the formal part of the house for family only and spread the daycare out into the livingroom area too using the less formal furniture.

It also sounds like you are not set up for very young children and that might be one issue. Is it possible to put a child size table in the kitchen that you could set up with some of your toys or craft supplies during an interview. There are some nice child tables that fold down so easy to put up and down as needed. I actually moved my own eating table to the end of our family room since it is large and we usually end up sitting in there to eat and watch the news anyways - all my kids are grown. Then in the kitchen I have a large child size round table which I set up with toys during interviews.

I found parents were impressed by making areas look child friendly such as hanging some seasonal pictures or a bulletin board in the kitchen for pictures. Make it look like you use more of your house then you really do or at least even though you do use it put something there that shows it.

[mom-in-alberta]

Any chance that you have too many toys out right now? If you remove one or two of the large items, and rotate the toys every couple of weeks, it serves two purposes: a) frees up space and b) the kids get less bored with the toys available if they are switched out.
When it comes to layout, I second playfelt's suggestions. Also, take a look at the furniture surrounding the area. Perhaps it can be rearranged to feel more "open"? Put all the toy stations against the wall, and lay down a large carpet, or use those foam interlocking pieces.
Good luck with your coming interviews!!

[mom2boys]

Thanks for the advise ladies.
We only have the one " livingroom". Actually I think its supposed to be a living/dining room combined....and we have our couch/tv etc in the "dining room" end of it. The play area is the other end.
I've started to move things around. I moved our craft storage tower into the kitchen.
I"m going to keep shifting a few things around to see what the best solution is.
I possibly do have too many toys out.
I'm not planning on taking any kids under 1 anyway....but I guess I forget that although I have a 16 month old....he has always much preferred playing with his big brother's toys, so there aren't many "baby" toys out at this point
The family I met with had 2 boys the same ages as mine, but the next family has a smaller baby girl....so I'll have to bring out some baby toys.
Thanks again!

[Judy Trickett]

That play are is NOT too small. If a parent said that to me it would concern me. I think a lot of parents who let their kids run all over the house wrongly assume that a huge, enormous area is what a child needs. Nope, what a child needs is a well-organized area wherein they understand that it is THEIR area to play and do what they like. An overly large area just causes chaos and lack of adequate management, IMO.

Besides, centre daycare (in Ontario) only requires 35 square feet of indoor space per child. So, five kids in Ontario would equal 175 square feet and that includes eating and washroom and changing areas etc. And my guess is your kid use other parts of your home for eating, washroom etc than just in your playroom.

[Care]

I don't think your playarea is too small either.

[dodge__driver11]

I live in a condo and use my living/dining are as my play area, and my sons room as the nap area...I divide things by using shelving, rugs and tables..I havve only had one parent say it was to small--and she seemed rather snooty anyway..... :P I wouldn't worry about it

[Isawitfirst]

I like to point out to prospective parents that unlike centre-based care we go out to programs in the city (library, E Years, parks, zoo) and so do not spend all our time in my home.

[mom2boys]

Thanks ladies, I mentioned it to a few friends, and my mum ( who all know my home) and they all said the same thing- It's not too small...its HUGE.
The area I'm talking about- its just the play area- we use the kitchen for eating and crafts (most of the time)
Napping happens in the bedroom, and the play area is only 1 end of the room- the play spills over in to the living room end- and sometimes into the kitchen.
Feeling better about it.....
I do plan to take the kids out to other programs and places- right now it's not an option because I don't have a van...but we are in the market for one. But we do have a HUGE backyard- which this family did see- and parks near-by.
Thanks again everyone

[Skysue]

Check out other daycare spaces on kijiji and take your examples from there. You can get some great ideas and inspirations! Your play space is the same size as mine!

[Spixie33]

Good idea Skysue.
One of the coolest spaces where I have seen pics of sample daycare rooms was at http://www.daycareavailable directory.com/ Right on the home page there are some awesome layouts that I can only dream of.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I agree with Judy ... I worked in centre care and a room with TEN children playing in it would only be 350 square feet and in that space would be a counter with cupboards and a sink and changing area, several high chairs and a child size table and chairs, sand/water table and other big 'bulky' daycare style furniture .... so you have a space for FIVE children that is 144 square feet that is comparable to a centre regulations because your space does not also include the 'eating area' and 'changing area' it is JUST the play area .... as you mentioned you also use your kitchen and other areas of the home through out the day, the backyard and so forth.

I would not let a parent discourage you about your space at all - instead take this as a lesson learned in how to SELL that your home offers MORE space than children in a regulated setting would be exposed to ;)

A 12 x 12 space for a home childcare has lots of potential for sure ... one of the best peice of advise I can give is that when choosing materials for that space to make it most functional is to ask yourself 'how many DIFFERENT ways can the children use this piece of furniture or material' and if there are not multiple imaginative ways to use it than it is not ideal in a small space!

I have a small space myself and for example when I started out I had this plastic 'baby cradle' which the children did enjoy - however because of its design it could only be used as a CRADLE and took up a lot of space for just that one purpose - so I sold it and instead when to Canadian Tire and bought some of these collapsible 'crates' .... in the space that the 'cradle' took up I can store 6 of these crates ... which the children use as 'cradles' for the baby by putting pillows and blankets in them ... but because of their design the children can actually SIT in them too and therefore can be used as trains, planes, auto mobiles, Santa's sleigh and so forth - they were a way better investment.

During an interview I will have one set up as a 'cradle' and the remained slide under my craft table out of the way ... but can than explain to parent that the benefit of 'open ended materials' is that while it might not look like there are HORDES of equipment in the room that the 'play themes' are as endless as their imaginations!