I'm getting ready for my 1st one. Are some of you that have been there already willing to post pictures of your quite/soft area and how you display your children's art work at their level. I have an 11 mnth old that tears everything down. Any other advise would be great.

Thanks

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What I did for displaying art work is I put a "Laundry line" across one side of the room, and use clothespins to rotate their artwork through. You could put it along a wall and CLOSE to eye level, out of the 11 mo's reach. For "sculpture" type items, I put them on the cubbies where the parents come in.

You could also make an album (laminated or contact paper) of the children holding various pieces of artwork (big stuff or sculptures), and also laminate some pictures, painting, etc for the album.

My consultant suggested putting some plexi-glass "sleeves" on the wall at eye level to show off work, but I vetoed putting more holes in the walls in such a way. This is my home first, daycare second, and I really don't have a lot of wall space (we have a lot of windows). I still want things to be attractive to the adults and other family members that live here!

My soft area is a couple small chairs I bought from Target, and my couch (as long as they "sit nicely). In the past, I used an old crib mattress with some throw pillows in a corner. The only thing is that for some of my kids, soft area equals wrestling corner. So, I prefer "furniture" over a spot on the floor.

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I am due for mine in again in September.
I use page protectors for art work that will fit. I always have a toddler that will rip them off the wall so I have to put them in page prtectors and tape them with packing tape. Sucks for the wall. I have Block walls all the way down one side. I will post some pics when I get them done.
I just ordered some new chairs and they are not too soft so I am not sure about my soft area. They are like the IKEA couchs alot of people have. But they have washable covers so that is nice.
Do you have a home daycare? How many kids?
I am hopeful it will be a little better this time as we can use sanitizer for some situations.

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I've had a bunch of FCCERS observations and my set up was arranged different probably every time (or most of them anyway). I know for sure that once it was the foam floor tiles on my hardwood floors with body pillows leaning against the wall and our loveseat making an area "off the beaten path" from the rest of the activities going on. The other time it was chairs set by the wall and bookshelf with a shaggy rug to lay on as an option and soft toys out to bring my soft toy count up.

For displaying art at their level I've had a couple different ways. One was a clothesline down near their level (a little above their head) and the other was using clear command clips on the wall in my hallway where we wait for the bathroom. I love the idea of taking pictures with their art as another way to "display" it.

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