Must have daycare toys?!

[DaycareLady]

What are some must have daycare toys/items for playroom? I have TOO MANY toys, even though half of them are away and I rotate them there are still too many out! I have one large room (our main living room) for total use of daycare so I have a few shelves I use to make “areas” (ie- quiet area, kitchen area, carpet/floor toy area) but I am finding it is too crowded! I want to get rid of a few of the shelves and would like to replace them with another item that can serve multiple purposes. Any thoughts? What are toys that you ALWAYS have out in your playroom?

Thanks ladies!

[playfelt]

Can you look at other ways to group the toys based on how they are played with so there is less movement of toys such as animals with blocks.

Try to switch out the large carpet/toy area and make separate play areas there such as fisherprice playsets with little people in one area and on the other side of the divider the blocks and animals.

Watch for play patterns and decide if some of the centres such as playhouse are taking up too much space for the numbers of kids/amount of time spent there and adjust accordingly.

Double up use of some areas such as the quiet time to have books, puzzles, tabletop toys - things you play with all by yourself.

[Spixie33]

I have a book basket out always

A large dollhouse (about 3 ft high)

I have an Ikea rectangular table out and then rotate what I put on the table i.e magentic pom poms and a cookie sheet or some magna doodles etc.

I always have a few large cars out i.e Barbie cars and dump trucks that the kids like to drive around and load up with toys.

A box of dress up clothes

A box of Duplo lego

Then I have the Ikea Trofast storage bins and wooden system so that the kids can take stuff from there and put it back as they wish.

This lady has a good set up http://youtu.be/AVf091gMjXY

Kind of interesting to see what she did for ideas

[JennJubie]

I have a step 2 train table. LOVE it! The kids love it! Unlike the wooden ones, it has a wider plastic track, so hotwheels cars fit on it, too. Plus, it comes with a cover, so it can also double as a table.
http://www.costco.ca/Step2%C2%AE-Del....10289949.html

[ESD]

A light box!! (you can find many DIY projects) my kids LOVE it. We paint on it, build on it (anything transparent really works well), explore water mixing (different coloured water) in clear containers. We use this thing ALL the time.

A sensory bin (all kinds of DIY tables online) with a lid. My kiddos come right in a bee line it for the sensory bin. Yes its messy but drop offs are so QUICK and EASY!

Dress up is another we use daily and will often bring outdoors when the weather is actually warm (grr.. go away winter!)

And blocks .. Blocks are so open ended that the children love them (wooden, hollow, cardboard, foam) but obviously not all at once. The kids like to make ramps with them and drive the cars on them as well as build towers, houses etc.