sharonash Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi all x We are full day care and have workshop areas set up which have lots of resources in them, we have most items which are listed on our continious provision sheet in these areas available to the children all the time. The Nursery is constantly a mess and Im sure a health and safety hazzard! Mainly due to the younger children (2's) just empting boxes despite being constantly reinforced to put things away when they get something else out Im aware as Ive read in many other peoples posts staffing is a problem, we have max 4 staff a day ,one in each room, one in the garden and one floating doing nappies watching ratios and toileting, leaves little time for much else! but I cant do anything about this! We dont seem to even have the time to play properly , so I am wondering how others work this I am considering on reducing the amount of items we have in the areas ??? However our EYAT says to have as many possible toys in the areas as possible. Do you think it would hurt to reduce the amount of things or any other suggestions/ideas please thanks sharon x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cait Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 We generally don't have everything available all the time - for example we have a tomy railway layout, a Brio one and a Duplo one so it would be silly to have all three out. We put them out for a term each, or we may have one outside and one in and the other in store. We have 6 storage boxes of floor jigsaws, so only have a couple in the room at once, that sort of thing. I believe that tyhis keeps things fresh. If a child were to ask for one specifically we'd get it out and put the current one away. Yes there's stuff on the floor, but we are training them to put things away if they've finished with them. We also have a line of carpet which they don't play on and this gives emergency access to the door Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi Sharon Sounds a familiar situation to me. We are a sessional pre-school and take children from the day they turn 2. I find you have to balance what "they" say we should do and being practical!. We have some stuff out and get other things out if children ask. With the best intentions in the world if you have everyrthing avaliable the little one`s just trash the joint! I also feel we have to take the needs of all the children into consideration. The setting has to be inviting for all and the children need to learn to respect the resources. At the moment we are on a mission to teach the children to keep the place tidy. I don`t mind them transporting things and mixing resources but they have a responsability to put things away afterwards. What I find works best is holding up the children as an example who are doing what you want, really praising them. The others then follow suit, eager to please too. Hope this helps. Sally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hi Sharon Without seeing what your room looks like, I'd guess that if much of the stuff is lying on the floors then your children aren't playing with them anyway, so removing some of the toys wouldn't be a problem. Two year olds aren't renowned for their tidy habits, so tidy up time needs to be a playful experience - they won't be used to the 'tidy up as you go along' routine! Good luck - remember that your EYAT doesn't work in the room but you all do: why not discuss it all amongst the team, make a decision and then monitor the situation to see how things go? Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Hi, all of our children are 3 or over, but ... We found that when we reduced the amonut of toys (chucked some, put some outside and rotate others) and put them in nice new IKEA units with clear drawers(also with photos on front of drawer) this happened a lot less. Not perfect (!) but much better. I think children feel swamped by too much stuff and aren't able to make choices as easily. i have even seen one setting that has shelving units with little cubby holes with just one or two toys on each shelf and NO big boxes full of stuff. Hope this is of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Hi, all of our children are 3 or over, but ...We found that when we reduced the amonut of toys (chucked some, put some outside and rotate others) and put them in nice new IKEA units with clear drawers(also with photos on front of drawer) this happened a lot less. Not perfect (!) but much better. I think children feel swamped by too much stuff and aren't able to make choices as easily. i have even seen one setting that has shelving units with little cubby holes with just one or two toys on each shelf and NO big boxes full of stuff. Hope this is of use. Good point hmummy - storage that children can see and understand is a good incentive at tidy up time. Where would we be for IKEA? Welcome to the Forum - hope this is the first post of many! Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 We have much the same problem at our preschool and it drives us mad! Things did get better when we labelled the boxes so it easier for them to see where things go. Also, another tactic I've used lately is getting one of the older ones to be a 'team leader' and organising his little group to tidy a certain area and then he was allowed to give out stickers to those who had helped him - he loved being in charge and his friends really wanted to help him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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