The Play Room |
| The Play Room is probably where we spend most of our time. The children are able to explore the different areas throughout the day. The room is set up so different kinds of toys are separated. The toys are rotated every few weeks to alleviate boredom. Examples of toys and activities include puppets and puppet theater; dress-up clothes; play food, play kitchen and microwave; telephones; electronic educational toys; Duplo's, waffle blocks, and various other plastic building blocks; Fisher Price Little People toys and accessories (farms, airport, castles, zoo, pirate ship, service station, Christmas Village); Thomas the Tank Engine and Brio wooden railway and accessories; wooden blocks of different shapes and sizes; basically, you name it, we've got it !! The room is broken up into smaller areas using shelving and tables. As well as defining the different areas, this also serves to slow the children down - vital for safety in a daycare setting. One new addition is the "Big Kid Area", for those aged 3 1/2 and up - a place for them to play with toys not available to the younger children. |
The room may not look the tidiest at times, because of the toys on the shelves, but I feel it is very important for the children to have immediate access to the toys (rather than having to ask me when they want something) This creates a feeling of independence among even the youngest child. It also teaches them responsibility - they know they need to pick up and put away (in the right place) whatever they have been playing with, before moving onto something else. |
In one corner, we currently have a play kitchen, along with all the necessary food and utensils. There are also other dramatic play accessories to further fuel imaginations. In the cabinet on the wall, I keep manipulatives such as large beads for stringing, lacing cards, counting bears and more. These are available to the children on request, as closer supervision is required with some of the items. |
The children are always exposed to a wide variety of building blocks - very important when it comes to fine motor development. Examples include different sizes of wooden blocks, along with accessories such as cars, people and garages. Also, we have Bristle Blocks, Discovery Toys "Builders and Benders", and Lego Duplos, to name but a few. |
There is also a computer for the children's use, and a wide variety of age appropriate computer games. |
| E-mail Jenny at LHChildcare@aol.com |
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| Big Kid Area |
