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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Toddler Play..... I Am Exhausted!
Francine 04:44 PM 09-23-2014
I have a group of kids ranging from 14 months to 30 months, I love them all to death. Individually they are all fabulous kids but as a group they are driving me nuts. It doesn't matter how few or how many toys I get out, they all just want what the other one has, or they want all of something. If I get out four Fisher Price buildings for 4 kids I would think that would be great but noooo they all want to play with the same one or one kid thinks that they get to play with all four by themselves when really they don't want to play with any of them they just don't want the others to play with them. It's exhausting!!!! I feel more like a referee than a daycare provider, it seems like all I do is break up fights over toys all day. Then there is the hitting, the pushing, the snatch and runs, etc. etc. etc. How do you all keep the piece with this age group?
jenboo 05:21 PM 09-23-2014
I have 5 two year old boys right now.
It's exhausting...
I'm a referee.
I can't get it to stop.
I celebrate everyday when they get picked up
It's exhausting...
I'm a referee.
I can't get it to stop.
I celebrate everyday when they get picked up
Unregistered 05:30 PM 09-23-2014
They each have an individual rug that they get one toy to play with it.You stay on your rug andvplay with your own toy for 15 minutes utes and then you can switch. Kids don't usually start "playing " with others until closer to 2 1/2.They parallel play. This is what I do when theyforget all the rules and start fighting. They are still learning to play,once they can play alone nicely I let two aittogether on a rug and play together. Oh,two year olds! Gotta love em!
hsdcmama 06:22 PM 09-23-2014
I have "alone rugs" (cheap bathmats bought at Wal-Mart 
) for my daycare kids, though the 15-month-old is just now starting to understand the concept. The rule is, that if you want to play with something by yourself, you can go get an "alone rug" and put yourself and the toy on it. The kids all know that if someone is playing on an "alone rug", they are to be left alone unless that kid invites them to play with them. As with everything, it takes some time to get the idea established; but it has worked wonders for keeping the fighting over toys to a minimum. It gives each kid permission to play alone without having to say a word to anyone, and they like that independence.
) for my daycare kids, though the 15-month-old is just now starting to understand the concept. The rule is, that if you want to play with something by yourself, you can go get an "alone rug" and put yourself and the toy on it. The kids all know that if someone is playing on an "alone rug", they are to be left alone unless that kid invites them to play with them. As with everything, it takes some time to get the idea established; but it has worked wonders for keeping the fighting over toys to a minimum. It gives each kid permission to play alone without having to say a word to anyone, and they like that independence.
midaycare 07:23 PM 09-23-2014
I have four 2 year olds here and one 15 month old, so I feel your pain. Over and over and over again, "dck, no no, we share. If we can't share, Ms. Midaycare takes the toy away." Rinse and repeat.
Now when they start to argue over a toy, they have heard it so often that they know I am serious. So if the fight is over a baby doll, the one who first had a baby doll will go get the other dck another baby doll.
It took a lot of hard work to get here though!
Now when they start to argue over a toy, they have heard it so often that they know I am serious. So if the fight is over a baby doll, the one who first had a baby doll will go get the other dck another baby doll.
It took a lot of hard work to get here though!
daycare 08:04 PM 09-23-2014
I am in the alone rug clan....we don't take toys off of it...if you can show me that you can play nicely with a friend then we have a bigger buddy share rug.
when the kids go off of it, I go get their toy off their rug and say here is your toy this is your toy johnny, lets go back and play with your toy.
I can't stand it when parents say I want my 14-20month old to enroll into daycare so they will have friends to play with....More like people to fight over toys with....lol
when the kids go off of it, I go get their toy off their rug and say here is your toy this is your toy johnny, lets go back and play with your toy.
I can't stand it when parents say I want my 14-20month old to enroll into daycare so they will have friends to play with....More like people to fight over toys with....lol
Francine 03:00 AM 09-24-2014
I will have to think about the " alone rug" idea and see if I can figure out how to make it work, the thing is the only time they want to play with anything is when they are alone in the playroom. If they are all in the playroom together they just want to hoard so that nobody else can play. I can see each and every one of them, if I give them a toy and have them sit on a rug for 15 minutes they will all be throwing fits because they don't want to play with THAT toy, they will be looking at what everybody else has. Not because they want it but because they don't want the other kid to have it. UUUUGGG I've got to do something, thanks for your ideas!
Francine 03:08 AM 09-24-2014
Here is another scenario for you, if all of the kids are in the playroom and one of them starts causing a problem and I remove that child so that the others can play nicely all of them start throwing fits. I have an octagon play yard ( baby jail) that is in the same room, if I put somebody in there so that they will leave the others alone the others just hang on the play yard. If I remove the trouble maker to the dining room table to color or something on their own so he isn't bothering the others, the others just come and hang on the gate and want into the dining room. Around, around, around, and around we go.......pulling my hair out, there is no pleasing them!
DaveA 04:01 AM 09-24-2014
I jokingly (sort of) call my group the "ducks" because just like our ducks If one does something or goes somewhere, they all follow right along.
I like the alone mats idea.
I like the alone mats idea.
Unregistered 04:50 AM 09-24-2014
You said they all hoard the toys and don't play.This is exactly why they need their own rug.They need to learn how to play,once they get that mastered they can play with others. It's not punishment,I'm just simply asking them to play nicely with toys. I put them back on their rugs if they get up,they get it quickly. We don't do this all day but several times a day when my constant guidance of "We don't take our friends toys" "We don't throw toys" "Gentle,ahow me gentle!" falls on deaf ears. They really enjoy it now and will pick a toy and sit on a rug without me asking them but at first some just sat on their rug staring at their neighbo's toy.lol
Francine 05:25 AM 09-24-2014
I don't have any rugs so I started off the day with setting up a second octagon play yard so now in my playroom I have two play yards and two open play spaces. Four play areas, 4 kids hopefully this works!
craftymissbeth 07:14 AM 09-24-2014
When I separate my dcks and don't want them to see each other, I stand nap mats on their sides and create a border between them. Not close enough where they can touch it, though because they'll just knock it down over and over again.
Maybe if you put something between them where they can't see each other it will help?
Maybe if you put something between them where they can't see each other it will help?
laloolee 10:39 AM 09-24-2014
I use puzzle foam mats to make squares for different stations of play when things get hairy. And then rotate, like others do with their rugs. We put 4 or 6 of the same color squares together to make a space, so when someone is done I ask if they'd like to swap one area for another: "Do you want to go to the blue station now?" Right now, we've graduated to all of the pieces together again so everyone can play on the same large mat together and make little villages with all of our toys. But, the time will come soon enough I'm sure that we'll need to divide up again. Especially now that it has been rainy and the kids are getting antsy. I also like the mats because when we are dancing or doing other movement activities, they can stay on their spot and we don't have to worry about as many collisions. 