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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Water Play Gear
Miss A 02:11 PM 05-24-2018
For those providers who do water play, I am curious as to your policy on swim wear/wet suits and shoes. Do you require families to bring them each day, bring them to leave, or do you provide them? If you provide them, do you charge a summer supply fee to cover their cost?

We love water play, but I have got to get a new water play gear system in place. Currently my group is in either swim suits my DS has outgrown or were hand me downs to put away for later use.

I really want to just provide them so that they are always there when I need them, as we all know how unreliable parents are. But, I am not sure of I should charge a supply fee, or if that looks greedy.
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Ariana 02:26 PM 05-24-2018
Parents bring swim gear every day of the summer, if anyone forgets then those kids play in a swim diaper and a tshirt. I have swim diapers on hand that I buy myself just in case. I also offer the option of keeping the swim stuff here but have never had a parent do that. All of my kids have changes of clothes here because we get really dirty and have water play regularly. Once a child gets soaked from summer water play and I explain to the parent that they forgot the swim gear they rarely forget it again!

As for shoes, they either use water shoes or bare feet.
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mamamanda 02:27 PM 05-24-2018
I supply swim suits, but I have quite the collection which I've gathered from my own children outgrowing them, garage sales, & Goodwill. I don't charge parents, but I don't allow them to go home with the kids. Each child is assigned one in their size. I launder them here. They are stored in their totes. (Parents may bring a suit to leave here if they prefer. I've never had a parent choose to do that.)

I do ask parents to supply swim diapers for their own children if they are needed. I have them bring a pack at a time like they would diapers. We don't go through them very quickly as most of our water play is splash table related. But they do wear them on sprinkler days.
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Cat Herder 02:28 PM 05-24-2018
I supply. I launder. I add into overall tuition.

Much easier for me to manage me.
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Unregistered 02:33 PM 05-24-2018
I don't bother with any swim gear. My kids get wet, dirty, sandy and muddy pretty much daily and i just change everyone out of that clothes before we go in. I mean its not as easy as staying clean lol but it seems to be easier than changing into bathing suits and then changing back into regular clothes.. of course we aren't using a pool at all so maybe that's what you need swim suits for?
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sharlan 04:15 PM 05-24-2018
Everyone has to supply swimsuit w/rash guard and water socks, plus one can of sunscreen. They are left here all summer. I wash them daily.
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Josiegirl 02:27 AM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I don't bother with any swim gear. My kids get wet, dirty, sandy and muddy pretty much daily and i just change everyone out of that clothes before we go in. I mean its not as easy as staying clean lol but it seems to be easier than changing into bathing suits and then changing back into regular clothes.. of course we aren't using a pool at all so maybe that's what you need swim suits for?
This is mostly what I do too. Changing them into a bathing suit, then back into their clothes, is a pain, unless they can do it themselves. And we don't use a pool, just a water table and/or a sprinkler. Sometimes kids get soaking wet, sometimes they stay completely dry. As far as footwear, I haven't requested anything specific but would really like to. I am hesitant about letting them run around barefoot. My yard is anything from wood chips, sticks, stones, hardly any grass.
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Rockgirl 06:05 AM 05-25-2018
On water days, my kids come in their water clothes with the first application of sunblock on. I’m in Texas—it warms up early, so they do water play mid-morning until almost lunchtime. Then there’s only one wardrobe change for the day, right before lunch.
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Blackcat31 06:35 AM 05-25-2018
My kiddos all bring a swim suit and towel and leave them at daycare. I launder myself as needed. I don't care if they send shorts and a t-short verses a swim suit as either works fine as long as it's something dedicated specifically for water play
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LittleScholars 08:45 AM 05-25-2018
I require sunscreen, swim suit, and sturdy, closed-toe shoes (they run and I don't want to risk a twisted ankle). Most of us have found great, cheap options at target. I send swim suits home to be cleaned because I do ZERO daycare laundry. If a kiddo forgets his/her suit they can play in regular clothes as long as they have a change of clothes, which is a requirement for all kiddos.
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