I'm just curious to see how many rules you have in your play room?

Just lately I feel like I'm constantly reminding dck's of the rules, which leads me to think I have too many or they're too complicated!

I recently terminated dcb who had behavioural issues so I feel like I could relax a little bit with the rules now.

Dck's are aged 15 months to 3.5 years if that helps!

Please share

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my 2s have very simple rules.
1. we use our words and only our nice words.
2. Please and thank you are our magic words.
3. you make the mess you clean it.

I give 3 warnings. 3rd strike your in the quiet chair. UNLESS you bite or leave a mark then its straight to the chair and mommy gets a note.

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....the preschool group here made their own rules and surprisingly they are very similar to our classroom rules

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Are there any 'unspoken' rules. For example, can children take toys or resources from one center and use it in another?

At the moment, we don't allow this but it's the one thing I'm constantly reminding them of. Partly because I don't like chaos and partly because we used to struggle with the dcb who terminated. He would literally pile up EVERY single toy in the room!

Does the room turn to chaos with fewer rules or is it more manageable?

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I should take a picture of our playroom right now. It's a madhouse because I do NOT have rules about what they can use where. That backfired and was miserable.

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I generally have only a few rules

• No running/throwing
• Use your words
• Everyone cleans up

In my toddler room, basically anything goes...
....but they ALL clean up when done.

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I feel like I am always reminding them of the rules. I have a small play space and two crawling infants so lots of rules sometimes.

Mostly...
No running or throwing things
Use your works and speak kindly
Be nice to toys ie. Don't chew on toys, step on them, tear books...
Hands to ourselves unless we have permission from that person. "hey sally can I give you a hug"?

I feel like I stress myself out with all of the rules but it was a mad house before...

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I feel like sometimes I have rules for each child .

#1: Be nice to others
#2: Use manners and keep your hands (and head) to yourself
#3: Use your words; share [aka no hoarding]; clean up when you're done
#4: You can't tell others what to do but you may ask them nicely; only one toy out at a time
#5: Hands to yourself; you have to ask permission for a toy before you take it
#6: Put your toys away when you're done with them

But generally, the rules are:

• Put your toys away when you're done with them; one toy out at time unless you're using them together
• Hands to yourself unless you have permission to hug someone
• Use your manners when talking to others
• Inside voices when inside the house; use your words instead of screaming
• In general, treat others with respect
• Treat the toys and equipment with respect (no ripping books, no throwing unless it's a soft ball or balloon, etc.)

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Well at least I'm not alone in the 'madhouse'

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No official rules posted or anything but here are some rules for my daycare:
soft touches with hands
no picking up little kids
walking feet inside
no throwing toys
we all help clean up- it doesnt matter who made the mess

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Similar rules here, and playroom is often a heaping mess! They clean up though or we don't move on to the next activity. Sometimes I limit how many toys they can take out if its a hectic day, one toy each then put it away before you get another.

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I feel the same way! I think that we've been inside a lot this winter isn't helping. But I see where others have rules about where toys can be, how to use certain toys, etc. and wonder if I'm doing something wrong. If I let them play, they just start piling toys in the middle of the rooms...sigh.

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Here are our rules:
Looking Eyes
Listening Ears
Helping Hands
Walking Feet
Quiet Voices

Note-All of my kiddos are 2 1/2-5 yrs.
That pretty much covers anything that could happen... but there are other "rules" like everyone helps clean up, no throwing, dont climb on furniture, toys stay in the playroom, no toys in the bathroom, keep the doors open, dont put toys in your mouth.

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my unspokens are usually the ones we spend the first few weeks in our room working on:
no hurting our toys/books (chewing, throwing, climbing on, etc.)
toys stay in their center
we don't climb on shelves
walking feet in the room(i still remind on this often but it usually doesn't result in quiet chair)
sitting at the table(on our bottoms) for meals
we dont touch our friends when they come in(that's my job or the parents only)

i skip inside voices because they're 2 and its useless

Our first few weeks with a new group or new child are usually a bit off until they learn my unspokens but then it tends to calm down so our basics are the only ones i talk about often!


.

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I have a set of parents that don't seem to want to know when I have had to address behavior issues. I have yet to figure out how to get my point across without causing myself to feel like I'm bothering them. My dh says it's because parents don't want to hear it but I would want to know.

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I feel like if they harm another child and there is a mark im gonna tell them rather they care or not. dcps and the director have a copy of the note signed by me and dcp. and it goes in their file. that way if it becomes to big of a problem the parent can't say "i was aware there was a problem"

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Mine are all between almost 2 years and 5 years old. We don't have written rules anywhere but the ones that we correct them for regularly are, no jumping on couch, no running inside, no climbing, no throwing, no hurting friends, and everyone 2 and a half and older helps clean up toys. Sometimes it takes an hour to get the mess clean though so I'd love to figure out a better way so it doesn't make our preschool program run late all the time.

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It's ok if it doesn't hurt people or things....

and
No running in the playroom
Butts on the chairs at mealtimes
Manners

I get them to tell me their plan, and then we set limits on the play, so the limits change. Most of my kids will even say "I am going to ________. What is my limit?" If they aren't doing it yet (new kid and just 2yo) I say "What is your plan?" and then set the limits "Ok, we can play dinosaur in THIS area. We still need to use our inside voices, so quiet roars, please."

I found that broad general rules did not always apply in each situation. I let go some kids with the most behavioral issues and find that I can allow the other kids a little more freedom.

I went from a NO THROWING ANYTHING, EVER rule to 'you may throw this, (soft things) in this area'. Since no kids will ruin it by throwing everything everywhere.

My kids also get ONE warning, and then that activity stops. I am super specific "If you do X again, you won't be able to Y." then I follow through.

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I love your limit rule!

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1) Inside we Walk... the running, jumping, spinning, climbing, is for outside only

2) Put Everything back where you found it, before taking a new toy

3) Be kind and respectful (this rule alone covers all )

4) you can take anything you can easily reach, the rest of the things you must ask for

I think that's it!

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We don't really call them rules and they don't really have consequences (so to speak), we just have ways that we need to behave in order to all get along.

Walking inside
No taking toys (we ask if we can use something)
No hurting others

They are allowed to take toys anywhere in the room and they have to clean up one thing before moving onto something else. I have all 3-5 yr olds right now, so after staying on them about the cleaning up for the first few weeks of school, they're usually pretty good about it. Of course, we do a whole classroom clean up at the end of free play, though.

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