okay so i agree with alot of you that my set up is just really not conducive for older kids.. im finding out even 3 and 4 is very challenging when the majority are toddlers..
BUT now that summer is coming, i know i could have some spots open AND DEFINATELY will have prospective parents calling with school age children.

what does your summer program look like if you take school age children? How do you keep everyone happy?
i was thinking just go outside, but in texas we already have 86 degrees in may.. summer will be in the hundreds??
there was a thread on naps, and i know they are not requred to sleep but do you just put on a movie or something so they will be quiet while the littles sleep?

thanks for you ideas in advance

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When I did take SA'ers all summer, I tried to have a theme each week with a structured activity to keep them busy.

Things like cowboy week or ocean week.

I did a circle time with them on Fridays and we talked about what activities and games we could have that went along with the theme for the next week.

I would then purchase the needed items (if necessary) over the weekend.

There are also a lot of physical games I had available outside such as soccer balls, baseballs, goal nets, basket balls, jump ropes and scooters. I also let them bring roller blades to use on the street IF they brought a helmet too.

I think the main goal for me was to just keep them moving and busy. Bored SA'ers are HORRID and terribly unbearable!

I allowed Gameboys and handheld games for rainy days only so that they weren't over used and enjoyed a bit since their use was limited.

If you are in doors, I would try to do the same and just try and plan as many large group, busy activities as possible.

Good luck!

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I had SA kids last summer and it was a disaster. I was so glad on their last day here and would NEVER take them again. You can plan activities for them to do but they get bored so easily. I had the kids in activities through the school, swimming lessons and also had activities for them here. They were always complaining, ate me out of house and home and just gave me a headache daily. If you have spots I would advertise and see if you can get younger kids.

Personally I would NEVER take SA kids again. Make sure you have plenty of food and a lot of Tylenol for yourself.

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I would only do SA if they were the only age group I had or if it was a previous DCK who had just aged out of my care. I find it too hard to mix that age with toddlers unless you happen to have a SA who loves entertaining little kids.

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thanks! ok thats the direction i was thinking.. we will stay outside as much as we can but when its unbearable.. im gonna get alot of board games , like memory, guess who, topple

so when you are doing circle time with the bigger kids, are the littles doing something else, like coloring or something or free play?
we do themes now but of course i have to cater my language to the toddlers age and my 4 year old is rolling his eyes LOL.. then when im on his level the littles are all over the place because they dont understand.. i can't imagine throwing yet another intellectual level in the mix..

i know im just new to everything and will get the hang of multi age care but now i see why some home providers in my area stop taking children at 3..

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lol!!!!!!!!!!!!
omg..u ladies are worsening my fears LOL, but the truth is the truth.. thanks for the warning..
so tell me this.. what if one of your current parents want to send their older child when school lets out.. you just let them know your program is not for school age?

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Yeah the littles are usually playing elsewhere... I guess I should have just said I had a little meeting or conversation with them as I didn't really mean "circle time" as we as normally think of it.

Basically I just get them all together and tell them to help me plan next week. I tell them they need to be the ones to tell me what they want to do because I do NOT want to hear "I'm bored" over and over again.

If THEY help plan it and are still bored then I can turn it around on them and say "well, then you better come up with better ideas for the next week then"


Board games I bought for SA were Battleship, Yahtzee, Uno, regular playing cards, Dominos, Jenga, Connect 4, Trouble, Monopoly and Mancala.

I also encouraged and rewarded for reading. They were allowed to bring a chapter book and read. Sometimes if I was familiar with the book, I would "quiz" them about it. I would also log the amount of time they read and tried to make it a summer long competition so they all "wanted" to read.

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You can't pay me enough to take SA kids. The only one I will take during the summer is one of my first clients who is in Kinder this year and we have known her since she was 15 months old which is when I first started watching her. So she's like a cousin. But otherwise every SA I've ever tried to take was a disaster!

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awesome idea!

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