Thank you for all the great ideas! I guess I am where I should be, because I do all of those things. I get into the rut of feeling like I am not doing enough for these kiddo's. I know I am. I also have a parent that ask everyday, "So, what did so and so do today?" I want to scream PLAY. I get caught up in that feeling of not doing enough compared to .............. (fill in the blank) I went from in home care, to a center and back into childcare but separate from my home. Every time I do extra I feel like parents expect more and more. They are all little and by the time we get outside, they are crying to come back in. They are hot from snowsuits, gear is falling off, outside is hard right now, but I still try to go out when possible. Today I brought outside in- snow in the sensory table. Put mittens on and towels on the floor.

Love the peekaboo blocks, but I find they like to throw, or bang. Anything hard they like to throw-

Favorite thing to do is take everything off the toy shelves and climb in them.

I too want, to do just as you said with a piece of board on my fence and using the chalk board paint-? How do you keep the board from warping due to rain,dew and outside elements? If anyone has implemented this and has pictures I would love to see.

Nan- What does your baby zone look like? I do have one. Curious as to what you have available out for them to play with at all times.

My kiddo's are 20mb, 17mb, 13mb, add a 5b year old and a 3g year old once in a while to the mix, and a 14g year old. The under two crowd are all very close in ability and keep up with each other nicely. The 13m is the leader. All boys except the 3 year old. Smart kids- all of them.

I do coloring, markers, paint, playdough, sensory tables-rice sand- anything I can think of- we did snow today, tons of different types of blocks, puzzles, etc..

Music- all the time. I would like to update my collection of the same old same old cd's. What are everyones favorites? Favorite station or other ideas?

The end of the day I feel like all I have said is NO.
Nan, and others- What do you do besides redirect at these ages. I have one that test me over and over. Climbs on everything. 13M is climbing out of pack and play.

Again thank you for all the ideas and words of encouragement. Think its that time of year that we all just want to be outside more and open the windows. Plus the pressure of doing more for early learning. Early learning guidelines etc.. the push to be better then the next daycare,center, etc... or fear of losing kids to the bigger corporations that are showing up on every block. I stand on play at this age, and learn through play, not pound the info in.



If you have made it this far- I sound winey and miserable in this job. I am not. I have just come across a few hiccups along the way. I want to improve my days and be the best provider I can be. I look up to a lot of you here-even when I don't always agree 100%

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