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Set Up
You
do not need to have a separate playroom for your childcare business. I
personally have found that having a separate area for doing daycare
really helped me. Some providers do not like to do things this way,
others do. It is up to you and your family...and your house.
Learning
Centers
I set up a
playroom up with Learning
Centers. Each learning center would then have
a variety of different activities at it for the children to use. I often
times rotated toys in the centers to keep things new and interesting.
Infant/Young
Toddler Center
I have a spot just for the younger kids too! There is a bin holder there
that holds 9 little plastic bins full of developmentally appropriate
toys for them.
I love to hang
new things on the walls all the time. The children art work, educational
bulletin boards, or other decorations. Decorating your play area can be
lots of fun. Here are some of the things I use to do.
Decorations
Each Center has a poster to identify it.
I have purchased a bunch of posters that I use during various theme
weeks. For example: During Farm Animals Week I hang a poster that shows
a farm and a bunch of farm animals with their names printed next to
them. Caterpillar to Butterfly
theme I put up the Butterfly Life Cycle Posters (Set of 4) ! I also have some posters up that I always keep up like the
Shapes Poster, the Colors Poster, the World Poster, and a few other ones
with positive messages on them.
Bulletin
Boards
I love to create bulletin boards! I have some that are up permanently
such as The Calendar and Birthday Cakes, Helping Hands (our job chart so
to speak), and a Nursery Rhyme one.
The other bulletin boards I change. I have one big wall in the playroom
where I post the Seasonal Theme and put up a bulletin board to go with
it. I have smaller spots where I put up math and language bulletin
boards (in there respective centers) and change those occasionally with
the seasons and themes. I use posters mostly for the themes we cover
aswell.
The Walls,
Windows, Floors, and Ceilings
All the walls are painted white with semi gloss latex paint to make
cleaning them easier. On the wall going down the stairs I have the kids
put their paint hand prints! Then I write their name and the year next
to it. I have painted our motto over it... "Kelly's House- Where
Fun and Learning Go Hand in Hand!"
On the windows
I have put up curtains!!! I had some really cute kid material to make
them!
On the floors I have carpet in the room where most the centers are and
in the other room where The Creative Art Center is I have bare floor.
Well not totally bare. I painted it with cement paint and then splatter
painted it all different colors! I thought about putting foot prints on
it too...
We put in a
drop ceiling with florescent lights. I hang a lot of the kids projects
from the ceilings and seasonal decorations!
For storage I have a whole wall that is just storage shelves where I
keep all my activities, some toys, and supplies. They are open shelves
so the kids can get thing out to use easily.
I have tried to make the playroom a really fun cheery place to play and
learn!
The
day to day job of a childcare provider can become much easier with the
help of a schedule.
Schedules really help children to adjust to life at daycare. They
will know what to expect and in return that makes transitions into meal
time, quiet time, and even going home a lot easier. It also makes
planning easier for you. Here is a sample
schedule.
Please
note that a schedule should be approximate times. Although thing will be
done in the same order everyday, it does not necessarily mean that at
10:00 am everyone must drop what they are doing and have snack.
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