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Morning DC Moms
Just curious as to what most of you have in your playroom, I have the usual legos, kitchen set, art easel, books, chalk board, etc. but looking to see what "must haves" that you purchased for your play area. It looks on some ads like a lot of people have TONS of toys, almost to many at times....I'd like to purchase a few more items for my daycare but want ones that will inspire children and not be toys that will just get tossed around. Any suggestions??
I decided that all the toys in my playroom would be toys that had to be 'played with' as opposed to watching while a toy did something! No battery operated things here!
Playhouse, slides, balls, big cardboard bricks, dress up box are a few faves!
I have a bunch of toys...they are literally in every spare corner and storage area I have! But I don't have them all out. I think it would be too much, look cluttered and be overwhelming for the kids and myself lol
In the playroom, the kitchen and accessories are always out as well as the library and comfy chairs. I change the books and kitchen accessories often.
In the big open toy bin, there is always some sort of dress up and dolls. Right now, it's a mixture of dolls, cleaning toys (brooms, dustpans etc) and easter bunny headgear. Next month I am doing "princess/prince" theme so it will be the dresses, heels, purses, crowns (reminds me, I need prince outfits), and different dolls.
The toy shelf with individual bins always has a mixture of toys. Things like little people and animals, blocks, tools, phones, cameras, soft toys, barbies, cars, stacking cups/rings, infant toys...these all get changed too so there is variation but the "theme" is always the same. (for example, if I take away a camera I put in a different camera. It keeps them interested I find. )Than I have a few special toys that get rotated out like the music table, rocking toys, ride on toys, car mat, tents, tool bench, etc. These are things I only have 1-3 of and they are the "extras" in the room.
My naproom also has our trampoline, sensory table and traintracks so we will go into that room and play as well for a change of pace. We do our art, water play and playdoh in the kitchen.
I agree with wonderwiper!! I hate battery operated toys but do have a few of them...the cameras, phones, music table, things like that.
I rotate my toys so the kids aren't overwhelmed and to keep things exciting. Every single time I switch toys around it's like Xmas.
I have a young group right now except one 2 1/2yr old so I have emptied lots out to create more space for cruising and also with the cold winter I wanted more room for gross activities. I have removed my play kitchen for now as it is big and only the 2 year old plays with it so it has been removed until the rest of my group are into roll playing. The 2yr old enjoys it but there are plenty of alternatives so its not the end of the world.
I love this Wonderwiper, I think it is very smart. I only have 1 noisy toy which is Thomas the train as everyone loves it but I have a once a year rule for batteries so when its dead that's it for a year. The only other noisy toys are my two activity centres but they are played with not just stared it. I have two of them as I have 3 under 18mths and two of them are cruising too so a great play station for them.Quote:
I decided that all the toys in my playroom would be toys that had to be 'played with' as opposed to watching while a toy did something! No battery operated things here!
My room includes little people, musical instruments, blocks, cars and a car mat, grocery stand including 9 different fruit and veggies in groups of 6 along with 5 grocery baskets. Boxes of board boos too aswell as a reading corner with comfy cushion for storytime....lots more too.
I am also in the process of making a sensory wall. Its a village scene where the kids can manipulate certain components like moving panes in the sky, ducks in the pond etc and it also has different materials and flowers in different textures including noisy crinkly ones. I'm excited and will share it once it is done.
Can I come and play at your house? :) I miss my big daycare space.....My first daycare space, I'm on number 4, was a huge basement 20x20 and I split it in 2 with an XL play yard. One half was set up with slide and ride ons. It was so good to be able to offer gross activities during crummy weather. I miss that so much, it sounds like you have a great setup.Quote:
Originally Posted by 5 Little Monkeys
I have four free standing pantries with doors that I got at Canadian tire and I arranged the toys in the pantries .... Things like play doh that I only want out at certain times I have on the top shelf .... And then I put child locks on the doors and each day I open a different door.... My form of toy rotation and at the end of the day its neat and tidy
I am big on toy rotation. I usually swap a few items out every Wednesday afternoon to keep things fresh. We have a variety of the little people playsets. I have two in the daycare at a time, one on the floor and one on the shelf. I rotate them out regularly.
While I am not a fan of musical/button toys my group is very young (12-16months) and I found that the noises really helped to engage the children. They lose interest in the toy but then hear it and keep playing. I actually went out and bought more of these toys or put the batteries back in the ones I had removed the batteries (the little people sets all play music). I too thought I preferred no noise but until they are that little bit older the noises are what keep things calm here!
The balls and cars and stacking type toys are the most used. In addition to the kitchen and slide/climber which get daily use by all. That and the chairs...I have chairries with seatbelts. They all love standing at them trying to do up the buckles and trying to get on and off.
I go buy a few new toys each week (only been open 3months). I have more than enough but I like to find really good prices on kijiji and buy new things that they will soon be ready for. In time I will just have anything and everything I need in storage here (lucky to have tons of storage in back rooms off daycare), but right now I slowly add when the price is right and based on what I see them ready for.
I also use the ikea expedit shelving (2 squares high and 4 across) I have a few and they work as room dividers and are the perfect height for the young ones to stand at and play and are sturdy enough to pull up on.
LITTLE PEOPLE!!!!!
jungle set is a hit here. the planes and busses and farms are amazing and very well palyed. i have a ridiculous amount but they are ALL PLAYED WITH. little people and animals are a must have
I agree with the little people! I have a huge selection. 2 totes full of stuff, 1 box full of just people and a whole shelf and a half of little people houses, trains, barns, busses, planes, car ramps - you name it I have most of it. lol
A big favorite here is play food. I also have a large tote full of that. My playroom is jam packed with toys from one end to the other.
Thanks Bright Sparks! I'm proud of my daycare space and always get lots of compliments on it. However, since I'm in it everyday I don't always think it's as great as it could be lol.
You would be surprised though....it's not a large area! It is the whole basement but I think just under 900sq ft. Our basement is set up like a suite so it has a full kitchen and bathroom, living room (turned dc playroom), bedroom (turned dc naproom/storage/extra playroom) and a laundry room that is also daycare storage and also two large closets and space under the stairs which come in handy. I would LOVE if the kitchen and bathroom were smaller and the play room was bigger. I am very organized and am constantly re-arranging the storage areas to make the play space as big as possible so that they have lots of room to play. I was able to remove some playpens and put in folding cots so I turned the nap room into a mini play area that we can go and do the trampoline, trains and sensory table. It has really helped and made me feel like the dc is bigger than what it really is haha.
Sounds great !!! I'm envious of the kitchen downstairs !!!! I have downstairs dayhome too !! I have abit under 1200 sq ft . Almost all floored with those colourful matts !!! My dd loved to do things instead of play so we have an indoor playground lol !! They love the climb on fort with slide , a cube with slide and play area under it , fisher price carousel ( it sits two kids and spins ) play house , slide into ball pit !!! So there's lots to do to move around !!! We also have shelves with fisher price zoo , race track ect ! There's a train table and room for chalk and push cars !!
Ikea kitchen set up like a little house ! I also do not like toys that do all of the interacting !!! But do not mind toys that make noise !
I love my dayhome space !!! It's not overly crowded ! Has lots of room to run and I get a lot if good feedbacks from parents !!
I wish I could see some of the ones described !!! They sound so much fun !! Sometimes I look on kijiji just to check other dayhome pics of their playrooms !!!
secondtimearound...i sn't it funny how we usually want what we don't have!! I am envious of your room and being able to have the climbers and slides!! I used to have an indoor slide (just a small one) but found it took up too much room so it's now outdoors.
I do really like having a full kitchen down there but it could be a bit smaller. We spend much more time in the playroom than the kitchen so I wish the playroom was bigger. I also start and end my day with one or two kids upstairs, which they love!! I only have a few toys upstairs but for some reason they are always asking when we can go upstairs and some will cry and fuss if they get picked up early! haha