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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Circle Time Mat Ideas
WImom 12:15 PM 12-15-2010
What do you use for circle time to get them to stay still? Mine keep getting closer and closer to me until they are on top of me basically. Or they are fighting with each other since one will start touching the other child.

Do you have a rug or mat you use. I've seen rugs for circle time that are $200 and up. I'd like to spend around $50 at most if possible.
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AnythingsPossible 12:19 PM 12-15-2010
Go to a carpet store in your town and see if they will sell you dead samples. My husband works are a carpet store and I have used these in the past. They worked well, and could also be used for different things as well.
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AmandasFCC 12:32 PM 12-15-2010
When it's time for circle in my home the kids get a pillow and sit in a circle on their pillows. If the pillows need to be adjusted (i.e. moved back so they aren't on top of me) then I move them. I've found this to be a great solution

Then they can use the pillows as crash pads and whatever else during free play. Win win!
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busymomof2 12:37 PM 12-15-2010
I use an area rug that I got from Target for less than $30. As long as it is a different color than your bottom rug it should work. During my circle time I have the children put up things (das of week, number color, etc) but only if they sit flat, are quiet, participate and don't ask me. That could be an incentive. Also at the begining of the day I move my area rug back to where I want the kids to stay thay way they are not pract in my lap.
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Blackcat31 12:38 PM 12-15-2010
masking tape for individual areas works well too..Cheap and moveable...LOL!!
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BentleysBands 01:17 PM 12-15-2010
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
masking tape for individual areas works well too..Cheap and moveable...LOL!!
great idea!!

i use carpet remnants cut into squares. each child is a diff. color as well
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kendallina 03:37 PM 12-15-2010
I use those interlocking carpet mat things. No idea what they're actually called. Walmart had them 5 for $5 this summer.
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Little People 04:31 PM 12-15-2010
Target has these fuzzy round rugs (in the bathroom section) they have several colors. My kids love them. I place them on the floor and each child sits on their circle and they like the feel of them.

I will give each of them a book, then in a few minutes we pass books to the right, and in a few minutes we will pass again till everybody has had the first book. Each child tells what they see on 1 page. I use books with pictures, number books, shape books and so on.

Then I have a bag with items in it...hard...soft...fuzzy and so on. The children take turns reaching in the bag to get an item. When everyone has an item, we talk about the item and how it feels. Then we pass it to the right or left ( we have been learning right and left) till everyone has had the item.

I also have 3 sets of flash cards... I will hold up a letter to the first child and ask what the letter is..if they get it right, they keep the card. And we keep going till the cards are gone.

I have jelly bean shape plastic easter eggs. We place a bucket in the middle of our circle, and the children take turns tossing their jelly bean in the bucket. The rule is you throw and not toss...you loose 2 jelly bean turns.
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Abigail 04:45 PM 12-15-2010
Our current daycare doesn't do circle time. If they do any guided activities it is at the table. When I was in a laboratory preschool (where we taught and our teacher graded us) we had circles we cut out of paper that were different colors and laminated them. Maybe 8-12 inches round. Then they were taped to the floor in a circle. We had just as many students as we did teachers so we had the kids sit on a circle that was fully taped to the floor (it was very short length carpeting) and all the "teachers" who were actually students just sat behind a kid. Once we got our preschool up and going we had to write out the child's name in Dnealian handwriting and tape it to the floor. They got the chance to learn their color and recognize their name.
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misol 09:44 AM 12-16-2010
I use placemats. I was looking for some round ones but happened upon some square ones that were bigger and on clearance for .50 each. They are all identical so I wrote each child's name on them and each child has to find their own at circle time. They wipe clean and stay in place.
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boysx5 10:31 AM 12-16-2010
placemats are a great idea I will be buying some of those thanks for the ideas ladies
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SunflowerMama 10:44 AM 12-16-2010
I found a cute pottery barn rug on craigslist for $25 that has a lamb and stars around the edge of the rug. I just have the kids pick a star and it works great.

Craigslist is always a great place to look.
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VanessaEO 12:17 PM 12-16-2010
Originally Posted by boysx5:
placemats are a great idea I will be buying some of those thanks for the ideas ladies
Placemats are a great idea! I'm going to buy some... or sew some up with the hoards of fabric that I have.

Thank you for the idea!
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kidkair 04:09 PM 12-17-2010
I don't have them sit. We move all over the room. I have them sit individually for about 30 seconds to do math dots and reading cards. We do everything else standing, walking, jumping, crawling. It works out best for me to keep their attention.
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QualiTcare 08:53 PM 12-17-2010
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
masking tape for individual areas works well too..Cheap and moveable...LOL!!
that's exactly what i used for kindergarteners. it would've been nice to have one of those big rugs with the alphabet/shapes on it - but the tape worked just as well. i put it so the kids were close enough to each other that they couldn't move without causing a problem but far enough away that they weren't touching if they were still and sitting criss cross.
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Unregistered 12:01 AM 01-01-2011
We buy the foam rectangles used for crafts and write their names in large letters with permanent marker. They use it all year for circle and other times (programs, etc.) when we want them to sit in one spot.
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littlesunshinesdaycare 01:49 PM 01-09-2011
I used apple shapes then used contact paper to laminate them to the floor.
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awesome4s 06:30 PM 02-05-2011
Can some one help me with my circle time. I am having difficulties with keeping my children attention; does anyone know new songs/music movements CD's I can use?
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MissAnn 04:57 AM 02-06-2011
Originally Posted by WImom:
What do you use for circle time to get them to stay still? Mine keep getting closer and closer to me until they are on top of me basically. Or they are fighting with each other since one will start touching the other child.

Do you have a rug or mat you use. I've seen rugs for circle time that are $200 and up. I'd like to spend around $50 at most if possible.
I use rectangle rugs I bought at walmart. It serves as their space. They can sit or lay. I also use them when they are in my living room where all the manipulative materials are. They can get out an activity and work in on their rug. Every item needs to stay on their rug. It has really cut down on losing pieces! Also, when I make lunch, the kids are on their rugs either by themselves or with one other person using the maniplatives. It allows me to cook lunch and have the kids doing a quiet activity where I can see them.
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MissAnn 05:02 AM 02-06-2011
Originally Posted by awesome4s:
Can some one help me with my circle time. I am having difficulties with keeping my children attention; does anyone know new songs/music movements CD's I can use?
This one is great! It's called Come Inside the Room, Let's Move. Oh and it is exercise for sure! The singer is Anthony Q. Richardson. I bought it at a family childcare conference.
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Danielle 05:46 AM 02-06-2011
We've been having our circle time during breakfast. Kinda how a family talks about their day around the dinner table. The table is where we do our lessons too so I have the calender, my dry erase board and cork board there along with my "school" cabinet. We have a storytime at breakfast and the another at lunch. The lunch one turns into our lesson.
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AnythingsPossible 06:59 AM 02-06-2011
Originally Posted by Danielle:
We've been having our circle time during breakfast. Kinda how a family talks about their day around the dinner table. The table is where we do our lessons too so I have the calender, my dry erase board and cork board there along with my "school" cabinet. We have a storytime at breakfast and the another at lunch. The lunch one turns into our lesson.
I love this idea!! It would also serve to prevent goofing off at the table if they are occupied with something else! I'm going to implement this tomorrow!! Thanks!!! I am now going to end my excessive use of exclamation points....
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Danielle 07:17 AM 02-06-2011
Originally Posted by AnythingsPossible:
I love this idea!! It would also serve to prevent goofing off at the table if they are occupied with something else! I'm going to implement this tomorrow!! Thanks!!! I am now going to end my excessive use of exclamation points....
Exclamation points are addictive!!!
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lvt77 10:35 AM 02-06-2011
I went to the cradt store and bought felt squares. Each morning after breakfast the kids wash hands and then go straight to the circle time box choose a square and then sit on the red carpet on their felt. I excuse the kids from the table one at a time so that there are no fights over felt...

cost was $1.75 for 12 squares all differnet colors.
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gkids09 01:01 PM 02-06-2011
Originally Posted by MissAnn:
This one is great! It's called Come Inside the Room, Let's Move. Oh and it is exercise for sure! The singer is Anthony Q. Richardson. I bought it at a family childcare conference.
We have this one too, and the kids LOVE IT!! They constantly ask for it!! I also got mine at a family childcare conference!
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momatheart 01:38 PM 02-06-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
masking tape for individual areas works well too..Cheap and moveable...LOL!!
this is exactly what I was going to post!
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MissAnn 05:03 PM 02-06-2011
Originally Posted by gkids09:
We have this one too, and the kids LOVE IT!! They constantly ask for it!! I also got mine at a family childcare conference!
Hey GKids....I notice you are in Tn......we may have been at the same conference! I went to the NAFCC conference in Nashville this summer and I go to the TFCCA one every March.....you?
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