Designated Play Areas

Do you all have designated play areas? Is your dayhome set up in sections for art area, dramatic play area, etc.? I'm in the process of organizing my dayhome in such a way and would love some inspiration. Any tips or pictures would be super helpful.

Mine is all in one area. I do have kitchen and workshop areas that the kids set up around the room, then I have a reading area, a table for crafts and then also a large amount of floor space for free play.

My pics aren't coming up for some reason :(((

I use my main floor living area as the playroom. One corner is the reading nook, it is enclosed with a couple of low bookcases, contains some soft kiddie chairs, pillows, basket with stuffed animals and a fish tank. In another corner is the kitchen area with a play stove/sink and a little mini table with shopping carts, mini stroller/ dolls / dress up bin. Near the kitchen area I have another bookcase that is the building area, it has all different types of blocks, legos, cubes etc...to build with. Then I have another shelf area with various toys.

I do all my crafts at our kitchen table as well as lunch and snack there. It's right next to our playroom.

To create these "centers" in your playroom, all I did was use my pieces of furniture to enclose my little reading area. I turned the kitchen sideways, instead of flat against the wall and it provides another little enclosed area. Kids like these little spots for them and it's easy to do with low bookcases etc...I'll take some pics and try to upload shortly.

Mostly we have areas so that there is some control over the toy mess. In other words what is kitchen stuff stays in the kitchen area and trucks stay in the trucks and blocks, etc. That makes it fair for others who go to the barn and expect to be able to find the animals there too. Doesn't look like I can add an image unless it is from a website. Mine are just jpegs on my computer.

My dining room is where all the toys are, but we use the whole main floor as the daycare, which includes my living room and my kitchen. Naps are in our family bedrooms.

So no....lol. I don't have a contained mess. I find myself cleaning up as we go, though.

Because I use all of my main living area for daycare, it is all mushed into one giant livingroom/daycare space.
I have my diningroom with a playhouse, kids table and chairs, book cases, other toys, and in my livingroom, we have another bookcase, drawers FULL of more toys, other toddlers toys, foam chairs etc.
If we had a 'playroom' or 'rec room' designated solely for daycare space, i would revamp it to look like this:
-Dress up corner, trunk, mirror, coat rack, clothes, purses, shoes etc
-Reading Nook, chairs, bookcases
-Music Section, cassette player, kids toys, stools
-craft corner, kids table and chairs, smocks, easles, art hanging on wall
and of course, a wide open space for floor games, ride on toys, tumbling etc

this is of course all in my dreams. in the mean time, i step over toys to walk around the house ;)

Our entire main level is completely off-limits to any dayhome related stuff because I use my basement for the dayhome. My basement has a kitchennette, bathroom, nap room, and two big play areas.

I've been planning and I think I'll it up like this:
-Reading nook in one corner, with comfy chairs or bean bags, puppets
-Dramatic play area with a play kitchen, rack with aprons and chefts hat, dolls and their dress up clothes, a chalkboard for playing teacher, costumes, etc.
-Manipulatives/Blocks area with train sets, blocks, puzzles, etc.
-Water/Sensory table in a corner
-Art area-I'd use the child's table I use for eating but have a storage compartment with all the crafts/art stuff like papers, coloring books, paint brushes, paint, smocks, etc.
-Free play area with ride on/push toys, and other random toys

Do you have any ideas what I could use as a neat way to display the children's art?

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Originally Posted by CountryMommy

Do you have any ideas what I could use as a neat way to display the children's art?

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Used to do this at one daycare center that I worked at: Take a rope and nail each end into the wall, the it hang like a clothesline, and then hang the art work with clothesline clips (for some reason I can think of the name of them). It's a great way to hang to dry as well.

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing! But since I wanted something eye-level for the kids, I'm worried the little ones might pull on the papers, rip them, and make everything messy if the papers haven't dried yet. Should I just not worry about the eye-level thing and just hang the papers up higher?

I don't worry about the eye level thing. When a child sits in the room and looks around they notice the floor, the ceiling, the shelves, walls etc and they will see the work and appreciate that it is where no one can rip it. I have some shelves that are 24 inches deep they kids have toys on and I put seasonal pictures, etc. on those walls which they can stand and look at but not reach.

One option if you want a child level display is to get a piece of plexiglass so it is unbreakable and then use mirror clips to put it in place, you would remove the glass, post the pictures and then cover in the plexiglass. The mirror clips screw into the wall and you can get it all at any hardware store.

Eeew on the grossness of fast food play areas.....

I have a block centre upstairs where children play around drop off and pick up times, and while I'm making lunch or cleaning up after.

My downstairs playroom, where we spend most of the day, is divided into four main areas - the art/messy play area (near the bathroom for the sink and easy cleanup); the quiet corner with a couch, pillows, books, soft toys, a table with puzzles; the dramatic play area (with the play kitchen, dolls, dressup, car garage and other toys I rotate); and active play area, with foam mats, riding toys, bouncing toys, cd player, musical instruments, yoga mats, balls, hula hoops, etc.

I can change the sizes of the areas - right now I have older children who love art so the art area is huge. When winter weather keeps us from going outside, I'll shrink the art area and expand the active play area so we have maximum room to get some exercise.