Sooo...I just realized that my toy selection is pretty bad. So is my book collection. I just lost a daycare girl leaving me with only 3 kids and no money to get anything new (gently used). I mean literally no money. How can I make my bad toy selection seem more fun and appealing? How can I help the kids make the bwst out of it?

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I rarely ever buy any new toys for the daycare anymore. I go to garage sales andget a lot of stuff from craigslist.

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Try looking on pintrest there are lots of fun things you can make using things you might have around the house. What age group do you have I can send you some ideas and links.

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What stuff do you currently have?

Maybe everyone can give you some ideas on what are absolute MUST-HAVEs and what things you can skip.

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try freecycle.org and tell them you are a daycare looking for new toys for the kids and on a tight budget! I have done this several times and have gotten TONS of stuff for FREE!!!! I had one lady (she was a grandmom) that gave me a whole Step 1 outdoor climbing set and it was in brand new condition, she said her grandkids out grew it and she was ready to send it to goodwill and figured I would get good use out of it. I sit down with the kids and make a list of things they like and place wanted ads on freecycle or craigslist and see if I can find them, the kids LOVE it when they come in Monday and have new (to them) stuff and it's things they asked for. Then we go through the old toys and decide together who to pass the old toys onto and I let them know "Some little boy/girl passed these onto us now we need to decided what to pass on to" they get a kick out of knowing they are sending their old toys to other kids to play with. The parents love it too cause they use the same excuse at home to get rid of some of the older toys. I have a bunch of 2's & 3's and they understand!

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Call appliance stores and see if they have any boxes you could get. Decorate them and make a town. Put a piece of blue fabric on the floor for a lake, make cloth fish for it make some old clothes into costumes. Make a post office with pretend mail, etc. If your kids are over 1 they will have a blast.

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I try to buy something new every week. (Notice the word, "try") Sometimes I have in mind what I am going to buy. Sometimes something catches my eye. I shop at thrift stores and on craigslist mostly. Something fromthe dollar store also counts as my purchase for the week. I recently purchased a $300 Preschool hooked on Phonics kit for less than $20 at the goodwill compete with posters, board games, computer games, and dvds. I try to do a walk through at the thrift store every weekend to catch baragins. Sometimes if I don't have something in mind I just search daycare on craigslist. If I don't have the money I don't purchase anything some weeks. My budget is $30 max, but I usually spend less than $10. I once had the great idea to buy all new playground equipment. I searched craigslist all week, but come Friday all of the parents decided that I wasn't number one priority on their bills that week, so I got mad and decided to stick to a small budget if any. There are very few things that I have bought new. I try to buy quality second hand items. My kids are rarely bored.

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Use stuff around the house. Put out some tupperware containers and cooking utensils (spatulas and wooden spoons). Ask the parents to donated boxes, toilet paper tubes, cans, etc. Cut circles in the plastic lid of a can or plastic container. Give the kids straws or pipe cleaners or pompoms and have them push the items through the holes. Take plastic bottles and toss items like beans, stones and rice to make shakers. A coffee can can become a drum. Turn a plastic strainer upside down and have them thread pipe cleaners or string through the holes. Wrap boxes in white paper, let the kids decorate them and turn them into building blocks. Baby blankets make great dress up clothes. A receiving blanket can be a hat, a skirt, a cape. Adult socks make great puppets. Throw a large blanket over the coffee or kitchen table and pass out a flashlight or two.

There's so much you can do with things around the house!

As for books, thats what the local library is for!

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4, 2, 9 months and I just got a call today for a 4 and 18 month old. I've also gota spot held for a 16 month old.

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awesome idea! 2 of my current kids would love this and have a blast with it!

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Try "repackaging" the toys you have.

Fill a cardboard box or plastic bin with rice, dry cereal, beans or sand - you could also add leaves or twigs. Then add their cars and trucks or plastic dinosaurs.

Fill a plastic tub with some soapy water (maybe use kid-friendly bubble bath) and let them give the baby dolls baths. A shallow pan could make a good car wash for the boys.

Despite a huge collection of bath toys, one of my daughter's favorite water activities is when I drop a colored bath fizzy in an old squirt or spray bottle (usually from bath products so no worries about leftover chemicals) and fill it with water. I give her 2-3 bottles of colord water along with bowls, ice cube trays, muffin tins, funnels, measuring cups, etc. and she mixes colors and makes all kinds of pretend food, drinks and medicine. Could you do something like that outside?

I'm just a mom, not a provider, but I LOVE this lady's website (who is a provider) for cheap, out of the box, secretly educational activities to do with my kidlet http://happyhooligans.ca/

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Use a bin and put beans in it with spoons and cups my daycare kids love this

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I will send out a list of diy ideas for these ages this evening I have lots. Also check out this blog look under tot school post http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/
she has alot of great ideas

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Thanks for the freecycle.org link! I just signed up and there is a lot of stuff on there!

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sometimes its not the toys (I have toys that are 14 yrs old) but its the room. I just redid my rooms and I love it. I didn't buy any new toys (and haven't in a while) but it was the room that needed brightening up.

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It has to be in the air! Clean out of toys and just the feeling of wanting to spruce up.


My advice is this.....simple Clean what you have, and replace it differently.

If I move toys or put them together after a mixing of the pieces- they think they are new and play differently. It gives them a new perspective of play.

I am working on down sizing and getting rid of junk toys. I don't need three big totes of kitchen play. Next will be books,doll house,puzzles, cars and what not I am finding less is more

Another idea to get toys is to ask your parents. If you have any toys your getting rid of because of Christmas let me know. Parents love donating and helping out. Garage sales is a great way to add toys to your daycare.

Best-

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for the babies, make discovery bottles. Use empty water bottles, put beads/misc. in them, fill with water, add a few drops of food color and glue the caps on. You can also do this without water, use rice, beans etc and make music instruments.

use coffee cans (or any cans with plastic lids) decorate the outside, put fabric strips inside, cut a slit in the lid, pull one piece of fabric part way through (like tissue) The little ones love to pull out all of the fabric and put it back in. The fabric also ends up used for other stuff.

make blocks.....wrap boxes in shipping (or even wrapping) paper

go on a nature walk with the children and collect stuff you find outdoors....acorns, pinecones, pieces of driftwood/small branches, etc. Add to the block or science area for props in play with blocks or add a couple of magnifying glasses for investgation.

go through your closet and use any old dresses, jackets, shoes, etc. in your dramatic play space

if you have old stuffed animals that don't get used, cut a slit in the back of the necks, remove all of the stuffing and you have puppets!

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Just an FYI, but if you use red kidney beans, please stop.

They can be toxic if ingested and handled when raw. I can't find my article about sensory bins and kidney beans but just google it.

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I bought 4 yards of silky fabirc at JoAnns after Halloween when it was on clearance and then I hemed around the edges. The kids love them. They use them for capes, doll blankets, games on the floor, and just about everything else.

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toys..... not toys needed to have a fun and exciting day

here is what we are doing this week and it wont cost you a dime...


pine cone hunt

stick hunt and then will sort by size shape and color

building a bears den and igloo out of cardboard boxes

we are also building a fort this week too...


Every march, we will have an inventors week and will not allow any store bought toys into our daycare..

I think that you could get really really creative if you just put your mind to it...


dramatic play really does not need a lot of toys either...


as for stories, have the kids help you write your own and then read them to them...

sorry, hope I did not repeat what everyone else said.....

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Older kids love discovery bottles too! I have had kids put them in strollers and push them around like they were babies! I also second cardboard boxes.

I just opened and people keep calling to give me stuff! I hadn't asked for any donations but they fell out of the sky! After Christmas many people are looking to downsize toys. I'd let people know you are looking for some donations. You might be surprised how many people have toys to give away! I had a friend give me large box of books in perfect shape a few weeks ago and another friend called and also said she had a large box of books.

It has gotten to the point that I had to give some things to Goodwill!

Good luck!

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This is usually my go to place when looking for something specific! People seem to love helping when they know it's going to a good cause and not going to be resold! I have people on there that I've gotten stuff from that still shoot me emails and let me know they are getting rid of............blah blah blah! And there are people on there getting rid of craft stuff all the time too!

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same here....love freecycle

I once scored an entire classroom of stuff from a retired kinder teacher....I almost cried when she gave it to me.

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Do you have a local resource and referral program near you? Ours has toys that they lend out.

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What great suggestions you have received!

I would also suggest rotating toys, pack up a few of the things you have and put them out of sight for awhile. When the kids haven't seen things for a week or two it's amazing how they flock to them.

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I actually do do this every once in a while. They love it. Lol.

I actually do have a freecycle and have posted for things but never get any hits. The freecycle in my area is pretty dead usually. I posted on craigslist a couple of days ago and haven't received 1 email.

I intend to try a couple of these ideas and a couple that I came up with based on the ideas. And I have a couple of little helpers! I'm excited!

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Also, is it possibly to budget $1.00 or $2,00 a week for a new toy? I know you said $$$ was tight. Do you have a second hand thrift store in your area?

I just opened and about once a week I would stop in at our thrift store in town. Now to the untrained eye it looks like a pile of craptastic toys also! But I scan carefully and usually find at least one decent toy if not more. I spend anywhere from 50 cents to $3.00. If you found something each week, it wouldn't be long before your selection would be upgraded.

I have had people say, How do you find anything there....you have such good luck. It just looks like a pile of junk to me. I love the thrill of the hunt and sometimes I don't find much, but I always find something even if it's a small item.
Even with it being somewhat crappy I think their prices are higher than rummage sales, but I don't have to use gas and time running all over. Also, I live in a cold state....no rummage sales after Sept.

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Our county has a sale page on FaceBook. I posted a request for free or cost effective child's toys & got tons of free GOOD stuff!

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This is actually a very good idea! There are quite a few thrift stores around here. I've never looked at the toys they've got but I think I will Saturday.


Thanks for all the great ideas! You guys rock!

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Almost all my past and current families call me first when they are downsizing or cleaning out their kids' toys. I have scored some awesome things from them!

Last year a family I had had through all 3 of their child who are now all in school, gave me a GIANT rubbermaid tote full of Fisher Price Imaginex dinosaurs which are super expensive! There were over 30 dinosaurs WITH accessories in the tote.

The year before a family gave me a Little Tike Cozy Coupe and a Little Tikes Pick-up truck.

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My families (past & present) and friends and even neighbours I don't know bring me whatever their kids have outgrown. I take everything offered, sort through and take out what I can use then pass on the rest. A few times I've not been able to use something but can sell it on our local buy & sell groups. I return the money to whoever gave me the item. Sometimes they insist I keep the money which I use towards something new-to-us that we can use.

I have three girls in my care that stairstep in age and size. They pass clothes down to each other as they grow and I love that none of them have to spend a fortune to clothe their children.

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I have clothes swappers too! I think it is awesome when they can share too!

It's funny to see the same winter coat on several different kids throughout the years when we look at old photos.

I have a big bulletin board in the entry way and parents will post things they are looking for and have to give away or sell. All my parents participate.

Last year, pne of my families bought an older truck for their teenage son from one of the DCD's that posted a notice on the bulletin board.

Network and sharing....AWESOME!

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I have no kids today and went and had my hair done. I had to stop in at that craptastic thrift store i mentioned abovr and a maple train table I've been eyeing up (I even asked about 3 weeks ago if it was for sale. Told no. They were using it to display toys) and it was marked $5.00! Also got a nice bin of Duplo blocks for .25 cents.

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I did a close to freeproject this weekend that reminded me of this thread. I got a free rectangular coffee table off of the curb this weekend(no shame in my game). You could also keep an eye on Craislist free section or buy a cheap one at a thrift store. I turned it into a chalkboard art table for my dc kids. You will also need chalkboard paint, and paint choice of your choice for the table. When I first started my daycare I discovered a recycling center run by the city where people go to recycle paint, household cleaners, and other toxic things that cannot be recycled. Most cities have one. I painted the whole inside of my house and got spray paint as well as wood stain and other products. It is called a hazardous waste recycling center. I couldn't make the trip this week, but I bought Chalkboard paint at Hobby Lobby for $7.00. I painted the top of the table with chalkboard paint, and the rest of the table a bright yellow color that I had preciously gotten for free. Coffee tables are the perfect height for preschoolers. I moved my old daycare craft tabe to another room and replaced it with this table that looks nothing like a coffee table. I surrounded it with my dc stools, and now I have a snack, art, and chalkboard table in one! Search Pinterest ike the other posters mentioned and think outside the box! Hope this helps!

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