Quote Originally Posted by mickyc View Post
I have approx. 1000sq ft of space for my daycare. It is my whole basement (minus the laundry room but I do have 2 playpens in there for the not so good sleepers). I have a kitchenette down here and do all my cooking down here. For myself I prefer a large space and I know everyone who interviews with me comments about how wonderful my space is. I also have 1 acre of yard for the kids to play in outside.

I have seen many small daycares and they seem to work well. It wouldn't be for me and I don't think I would want my child spending their day playing in a small space.
I have always had a large play space but I know enough as a parent and with my experience that a daycare provider with a large space does not trump a provider with a smaller space. The number one thing that all parents should prioritize is the safety and wellbeing of their child and that can't possibly be determined based on the size of my space. And quite frankly, if ever anyone told me they had decided not to send them to me based on the size of my space, then I would be happy not to get into any kind of relationship with them if that is how they base judgements on the care I provide. There is small and then there is to small. My room appears small in my mind because I am going from a large space to a smaller space and I am my biggest critic so get worried abut how it will be received.

As many helpful posters have put, its about placement and explaining that on a typical day we are in different areas outside of the room such as the kitchen/dining area to eat and do arts and crafts. Also included in our day are walks out in the stroller and lots of outdoor time in my impressively large yard for my area which is notorious for small lots. I love your thinking Playfelt about using the smaller space to the advantage when teaching the kids to settle and focus on one activity rather than running around, which is a problem a lot of kids encounter at a certain age, and also discouraged the dreaded dumping of toy bins.

I sure do prefer a large space, but for years I have always put my daycare preferences ahead of my families in the home and now it has been my choice to finish a much smaller space for daycare versus my original plan of finishing the basement so that I may be better of financially and that if the financial investment to do such a reno was a choice I made in the future, it would be for family use, not daycare. The industry has become so competitive, preventing me from the ability to be priced competitively while covering the annual inflation of costs and I can not justify spending 20-30K on a basement reno when I could not possibly offset the cost on daily rates charged for daycare.