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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Activities And Advice For Room Arrangement For Toddlers
Preschool/daycare teacher 09:08 AM 09-07-2013
Hi, I'm working for a church daycare ministry now. I have 2 year olds mainly, and sometimes a 19 month old comes. There seems to be very very very little for them to do, toy wise. There's several big plastic bins I can get out for them, but each bin just has random toys in it, and most require batteries, which don't work. Plus I have to bring them into a supply closet with me in order to get a toy bin out, which means I have to grab one and go fast. I have my CDA and the last daycare I was at had everything all set up and the room arrangement was according to the way the CDA wants us to do it. It worked great for us there. But here there's NO toys in the classroom for them. Just a huge wide open room with a large rug, two rockers, two child sized tables, and four child sized chairs to set at the tables. Oh and a TV with lots of videos and DVDs So the only toys they get are the ones I get from the supply closet out in the hallway from the big plastic bins. I need ideas for our classroom. I'm not sure what the church allows us to do either though, since the room is used for Sunday mornings also.
Also, if anyone has any art/craft ideas or game ideas for mainly 2 year olds, please let me know! Most of the time I don't have an assistant or anything, so they need to be simple with EASY clean up.
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Leanna 09:27 AM 09-07-2013
Is this place licensed? If so, you need to report it so the administration is held responsible for providing the necessary staff, toys, and materials.

If it is legally unlicensed I'd say make the most of what you do have. Set up the tables and arrange them in a way (as best you can) to reduce the wide open space (to discourage running).

Go through the bins and salvage what you can. Get rid of the rest.

Ask whoever is in charge for some $$ for materials. There must be some money for toys & art supplies. If so, stretch it as far as you can. Shop these back to school sales for crayons, markers, construction paper, glue, etc.
Go to Goodwill and look for toys that are in good shape. Go to the dollar store and get puzzles, balls, and bins or baskets.

Also, as part of a church I am sure the parishioners would be happy to donate items for the program. Ask for gently used dolls, stuffed animals, blocks, and table toys. You will have to check everything for safety and clean all items, but it will be free and worth it.

Set up the room so that there is an area for dolls, and one for cars, one for blocks, etc. You may have to store the materials in bins because of Sunday school, but separate the toys into categories so you can have interest areas.
Get there 10-15 min. before the kids if you can and quickly pull out the bins & get out any other materials you need for the day.

Some simple, low mess art activities for toddlers:
-drawing with washable markers and crayons
-fingerpainting in a large plastic ziploc bag taped to the table
-sticking feathers, tissue paper scraps, & other items to a large piece of clear contact paper
-watercolor painting (way less messy than tempera)
Cover the tables with newspaper before you start and that will cut down in how much you have to clean up.

Some simple games for toddlers:
-ring-around-the-rosy
-duck duck goose
-tossing bean bags (can home make) into a large coffee can
-have a simple story time where you read a book and sing songs & do fingerplays

Hope this helps!
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Starburst 09:31 AM 09-07-2013
Honesly, I would get rid of the toys that require or do need batteries because they aren't really that educational for young children. The best thing you can invest in is blocks (and other forms of manipulative).

You can always look up toddler art ideas on Pinterest. 'In Loo of Preschool' might have some ideas for toddlers too.
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Laurel 11:06 AM 09-07-2013
Originally Posted by Preschool/daycare teacher:
Hi, I'm working for a church daycare ministry now. I have 2 year olds mainly, and sometimes a 19 month old comes. There seems to be very very very little for them to do, toy wise. There's several big plastic bins I can get out for them, but each bin just has random toys in it, and most require batteries, which don't work. Plus I have to bring them into a supply closet with me in order to get a toy bin out, which means I have to grab one and go fast. I have my CDA and the last daycare I was at had everything all set up and the room arrangement was according to the way the CDA wants us to do it. It worked great for us there. But here there's NO toys in the classroom for them. Just a huge wide open room with a large rug, two rockers, two child sized tables, and four child sized chairs to set at the tables. Oh and a TV with lots of videos and DVDs So the only toys they get are the ones I get from the supply closet out in the hallway from the big plastic bins. I need ideas for our classroom. I'm not sure what the church allows us to do either though, since the room is used for Sunday mornings also.
Also, if anyone has any art/craft ideas or game ideas for mainly 2 year olds, please let me know! Most of the time I don't have an assistant or anything, so they need to be simple with EASY clean up.
Are the children there all day or only a few hours while their parents are attending the church services?

Do you have some kind of budget for toys/equipment?

Laurel
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cheerfuldom 01:52 PM 09-07-2013
Why cant you set up the room each Monday morning and tear down on Friday at the end of the day?

You have to be able provide a good environment for these kids and an empty room with a TV is just down right shameful. A few bins of random toy castoffs is not good either. You obviously have a lot of experience and determination to make this work so for that I applaud you.

I would focus on cleaning out those toys. I am assuming they are also used for Sunday nursery though so perhaps you cant really throw anything away. What you can do is create a storage system where the Sunday items are clearly marked for Sunday use and your daycare items are hopefully, separated from Sunday stuff and preferably not even accessable to church members.

I am assuming you have already done this but I would create a schedule that includes a lot of outdoor time (I am hoping they have an outdoor play area at least!) and circle/group activities since you dont have the option for a lot of free play. Then i would create a bin system to rotate toys for free play and just keep the bare minimum of toys and only those that are tried and true, love by all. I personally would not include anything battery operated.

Here are some toys I would suggest!
*stacking, nesting and sorting toys, shape sorters, pounding toys
*textured balls, rubber balls, and cloth balls, bean bags, ball pit balls
*chunky cars of all sizes, trains and other vehicles
*Little People collection
*blocks! duplos, megablocks, cardboard, wooden
*magna doodles
*doctor kit items
*baby dolls stuff, dollhouse
*animal figurines
*play food and dishes
*dress up
*books

Is there any room to add any sturdy play items permanently to the space? an indoor climber, play kitchen, push/pull/ride on toys, train table? Even one or two of these options would be great!

Is it possible to do some yard saling and thrift store shopping? Can you post a list of needed items to parents and church members to donate? Can you create an easy fundraiser?

For instance, my daughters school posted a huge paper tree in the hallway with apples. Parents could pull off an apple and either provide the item listed or provide the money to buy it. It was all optional though.

Good luck! I know church daycares are run by a different set of rules sometimes versus centers so this is definitely not going to be easy.
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Tags:toddler activities, toddler curriculum
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