Do you have one? When I had daycare before, I didn't purchase play guns, but if kids pretended I didn't disallow it. I even had some wateguns in the Friday goodie box. Hmm goodie box is another topic LOL. I am thinking now that I may make a weapons policy that even play weapons (like finger guns) are not allowed. My reasoning is that schools are being so tough on this. Just heard tonight a boy got suspended for eating his pop tart into a gun, heard recently about a kindergartner in hot water for a finger gun. If we are to prepare them for school I guess we are to prepare for this also. Kids will be kids, but schools don't allow that. So do you have a policy? Are you strict? Or do you let kids be kids?

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I do have a NO weapons policy, no rough play policy. I do this for my sake of kids getting hurt, but because the schools are also very very strict on it.

I don't make a bid deal out of it, I just say its not allowed. I have had them make guns out of the duplo legos before. I tell them take it apart make something nice.

I will tell the other kids, guns are not toys. We don't play guns. Guns are for adults. THen some will say and policemen. I leave it at that.

I live in an area where in the city a paintball gun is a no no, but a lot of people here are BIG into hunting. I say to each their own, but if it's frowned upon in your community then I would go for it and also implement the no guns policy.

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My dd had play guns that I would only allow him to play with when dcks were not here. He would talk about them and one of my dcgs said the word gun when pointing to an object that was shaped like one and dcm flipped. I told her it's a word and it does get used. I apologized for it but also explained the context in which we use it. My dd thought marshmallows came out of guns, not bullets and had no clue it could harm anyone. I'm sure she thought the same. As my dd gets older I will explain better.
Fast forward.....A few months later he shot a neighbor by mistake in the eye. I packed all his toy guns away for when he is older. Now he knows they can hurt people.

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Excellent discussion with good information supporting both sides of this topic

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69633

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We do not allow any kind of play guns here, even water guns. I believe it is a good rule to have. There is so much controversy on whether or not kids playing with toy guns leads to any actual violence or not and I would rather just remove any possible problems, especially from parents who dont believe in guns. I had one child who decided to bring a nerf gun to daycare and since I dont allow any outside toys anyways, that was a double no-no. His mother was very upset when I made her take it right back with her. I told her sweetly that if it was such a problem to follow my rules, maybe she should take her son as well. They never tried to bring another toy in. LOL

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In the past I've given water guns in goodie bags.
Not anymore.
It's true....schools are cracking down on anything gun related, and considering the reasons, I do understand why.
Don't know exactly when my state decided the same policies for child care, but my licensor during a visit 6 yrs. ago saw my sons water gun outside, and told me that was not allowed to be played with or even left out while child care children were present.

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Boy, I would have a problem with that.

I understand states dictating the safety measures we take with the kids in our home/care but I would not be okay with them dictating what type and/or kind of play/education I allow or don't allow in my home/program.

I am a strong advocate for EDUCATION not ERADICATION of guns and weapon-type play.

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I struggle with this. I am from a hunting family but I never want a kid going home from my home talking about guns. We have a no gun rule. No fingers, lego guns, toy guns etc. Its hard because many of my dcks are alloud to watch action movies and want to act them out. I remind them "guns are only for shooting animals we are going to eat" (my personal beliefs) and then redirect.

When we are outside on the grass, I do allow what we affectionately call puppy wrestling. Where the kids sort of playfully roll on each other and gentle wrestle. The moment there is any hitting, kicking or too rough in general it is over for the day. I allow this play because 2 years ago I had 5 boys and 1 girl. 3 of the boys were exceptionally physical and 2 were irish twins/brothers. They were all trying to play fight all the time and no amount of running/playing outside we curbing their energy. The parents are happy their kids get a safe chance to work out their crazy boy energy. I would also never allow it without a careful discussion with the parents about what they consider appropriate play. They play way better inside knowing they will have a chance to buy crazy outside. My last kid from that original group ages out in January and I will probably not allow it anymore after that. I am license exempt.

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....agreed.
Unfortunately, this licensor was a stickler! And even though I felt her opinion was just that, her opinion, or mood at the time of my renewal visit, I chose to choose my battles with her on this, and put the water gun away. Kwim?
Sometimes we are at the mercy of our licensors.

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My husband is an avid hunter, and a former combat arms instructor in the Air Force. Guns, bows, etc. are a part of our lives, my 7-year-old son has his own bow and bb gun, so any dc kids who come here are going to hear about weapons. They just are. Now the big sticking point here is that my husband believes in EDUCATING our kids about weapons - what they are to be used for, the proper way to handle them, NEVER point a weapon at a person, etc. We do not discuss any of this in the daycare, of course - but if the kids make things into guns I am fine with it as long as they do not point it at people. That is my #1 rule about play guns, is you DO NOT POINT THEM AT PEOPLE. If they point their Lego gun at someone, it gets taken away, and I explain to them that guns are for hunting animals to eat, not for shooting people.

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For the most part I agree with your bolded statement completely. We owned a gun for years, and I will likely get another one. I honestly didn't know for months it had been sold and I wasn't happy. It was kept locked and unloaded, but knowing it was there made me feel safer. I am not against guns for personal protection or hunting and MY kids have been educated. I just think that with schools going so far (to far in my opinion), perhaps I should just teach what the schools will be expecting.

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