Confession!!

[Lou]

I'm having a lazy day. My group and I have been busy all week visiting different parks and playgroups, doing Poppy crafts and everything else...but today? I planted myself on a bean bag chair in the main playroom and we had a morning full of free play. They played beautifully (I watched for signs of boredom), so I just let them play! All morning!!! I'll admit I feel a tinge of guilt...but not that much...they still had fun, ate healthy and were safe and supervised
Anyone else have these days??

[mustbenuts]

I do for sure! We have our busy days where we go to the park and do crafts and lots of activities but some days you just have to sit back and just let them play. You can stick a fancy term on it like facilitation, but basically a big part of our job is to let kids be kids. Some days I have a bunch of stuff planned but then the kids are just playing so well together or have made an elaborate block city that I just don't want to interrupt it to move on to some planned activity. Don't feel guilty at all, free play is just as valid and important as any other activity you do with them.

[mimi]

I think freeplay, watching them use their imaginations (you can actually see when they are in the imagination "zone") and playing out scenarios is HUGE! Don't feel guilty if the kids enjoy spending time this way. I love listening to them chat to each other and hearing them repeat what they hear at home. Ha Ha

[sunnydays]

I don't think you should feel guilty at all..if you are feeling tired of all the rushing around, what about them? They need a lot of time to just play in my opinion. They will get enough rushing and structure at school. I do structured activities and outings, but always try to throw in lots of downtime as well

[Lou]

Oh don't get me wrong, we get lots of free play time every day, but today has been ALL free play

[Momof4]

Um Lou, aren't you just a little bit pregnant? You deserve a day like that! But to answer your question, yes I like to have a freeplay day once in a while too. I call it Imagination Day and make a tent and give them boxes or other things they don't usually have in the toyroom just for fun. This week we had a quiet day on Tuesday like that because I only had 3 children and I had 4 field trips the other 4 days with different parks and tomorrow we are going to the firestation because it's safety week. We work so hard that we should NOT feel guilty going slow once in a while.

[Lou]

28 weeks! But actually i'm feeling pretty good! It's around 5pm when my energy plummets!

[Mamma_Mia]

Um Lou, aren't you just a little bit pregnant?

I was just going to say the same thing! I'm still in my first trimester and Tuesday I couldn't keep my eyes open for the life of me! It was a free play day too. They were fed, clean and no fights broke out - that to me was a good day. And you know what I think they too enjoyed a day without interuptions. I'm not guilty....My body was telling me something and have have to take care of yourself and listen to the cues.

Enjoy!

[kidlove]

absolutely......We sometimes feel like we are under the weight and pressure of the "expectations" of our job.....whatever!!!! !!! we feed them well, make sure they are rested, teach them through play, love them and play with them. If you do that in a day, YOU HAVE DONE YOUR JOB! who says you HAVE TO do all the extra every single day to be a quality provider. I never feel guilty for sitting with the kids, watching them, playing with them, and enjoying them...those are the times I feel I have done my job for the day. I feel more guilty if I have a day with extra housework and not enough "with the kids" time. Good for you. you did your job!!!!