klc106 Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 (edited) Hi all We have made a maths area at pre-school which our improvement advisor loves! It consists of different sorts of counters, maths puzzles, scales, tape measures, dices, sorting bowls and a few other bits. When we set it up we only had 3/4yr olds and a couple of 2 1/2 yr olds so it worked well and was used every session in some way. Now we have a got new 2yr olds starting and some just under 2s joining us for settling in sessions. Because of their age, they are emptying all tubs all over the floor and generally messing the whole room up! Have any of you got any advice on how we can still use the maths area in September with the new little ones and our current 3yr olds without all the mess every session. The children are not able to use the area properly as the pieces are all over the floor! What could we use to store the equipment in that will let the children access it freely but 'stop' the little ones trashing the area??? We are having the same problem with our mark-making area too! Thanks Edited June 28, 2013 by klc106 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Just a very quick thought, any way that you could restrict access by your 2 year olds to the areas they are "trashing"? Could you get some form of screening/barrier which allows you to cordon off an area dedicated to your 2 year olds but which allows you to see everything that is going on in the room./ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Watching with interest for ideas!!! For the last 2 years our setting has been like this - our oldest child is over 2yrs older than our youngest and it is a nightmare most of the time. We don't seem to be able to manage the 'trashing' but have had to try and put in more 'adult led' activities with the 3-4yr olds in mind so that the older children do get to progress. By the time all the children have arrived in a morning and I've locked the doors I turn to see complete mayhem, at first we used to get really cross forever trying to talk to the children about it, but at the end of the day it's what little ones do, it's when the older children just think 'what the heck' and join in with it too, that it really bugs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 humm interesting ...i'm not getting this much and i'm just wondering why? we really expected this to happen when we moved in to the hall as it's huge and all the equipment is out for the children all the time (barr a few bits) we do encourage the put one thing away before you get another out and all the children have to tidy up before story but we don't get a lot of tipping! Without seeing your settings i think this is a diffcult one to solve....i definitely think children are less inclined to put things away now though...we suspect it is the advent of 'play rooms' that have fed in to this! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 humm interesting ...i'm not getting this much and i'm just wondering why? Yes, Im wondering why too, what's your secret?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 me too - i want to know your secret please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helenee Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 We don't have boxes - it means there is nothing to empty. We have everything laid out on shelves so the children can select the item they want. We are a pack away setting so everything just sits back on the shelves at night. I'll try and add a photo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperrabbit Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Lovely idea, but we have to get all our resources out of a shed in the garden ..... if only we had our own setting!!! I do sometimes wonder if we get too much out?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynned55 Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 (edited) Well compared to what you have on your shelves we have far, far too much out. But we have tried everything and this year has been particularly bad. We have no two year olds in the morning all 3 & 4 year olds but are very boy heavy ( 26/27 children and only 8 are girls) however within seconds (and I mean seconds) of arriving one of them had tipped a box of mobila up on the floor and by the time I had seen every one out and locked the doors it had been kicked from one end of the hall to the other. One of the boys puts something on his head, around his arm or down his jumper and parades up and down the hall like it, immediately we have another 6/7 copying him and often vying with each other to go one step further!! I am actually quite pleased it is coming towards the end of term and I wont have to pick up anymore construction toys (for a few weeks) Funnily enough our afternoon sessions that do have a lot of two year olds is so much calmer and tidier!! Less children I think, only 14/16 per session Edited July 1, 2013 by lynned55 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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