Why are they not playing toys............advi ce

[5 Little Monkeys]

I agree with Amanda and jodaycare. I have also seen a huge change in the way children play over the last 10 years IME. Some parents keep their children so occupied that the child doesn't learn how to play or how to interact with people their own age. Other parents are starting to introduce technology so early on and than when they go to daycare they are totally lost as many daycares don't have that kind of stuff.

When I first started I had a very young group. 2 under a year old and 2 just 2 year olds and I found that if I had less toys available to play with, it went better. I feel that kids get overwhelmed when too many toys are out and instead of playing they just dump them all over the place. For myself, my own OCD kicks in when the play room is a disaster and it really bugs me when toys get broken because the kids don't have room to play so they are stepping on toys and books.

Right now I have an older group and I find that they are okay with more toys being out. Their imagination allows them to use the blocks and little people to pretend play instead of just dumping them everywhere. If I find though that dumping of toys is happening, I decrease the amount I have readily available to them.