dirty feet , grubby rugs !

[Clare_Matthews]

We have a grassed area and a paved area. Uesterday it was torrential and the grass was like a Marsh so we used our covered area only even so our floor inside wooden was filthy and this included our rugs ? we have big mats and get children to wipe our feet but this isn't going to cut it! The children also in general come to thr setting with muddy shoes from their walk to us. How does everyone tackle this , a change of shoes for inside ? Wellie boots ? Slippers ? Changing shoes seems like such a mass job especially for our 2 year olds and we have free access to thr outdoors so would be a nightmare .

 

I'd love to have just no shoes inside but we have a wooden floor no not sure this would be ok health and safety wise ? How does everyone overcome this it's our first winter in thr setting so a little unsure which way to go ?

[Guest]

This is an issue for us too, so would love to hear what others can suggest.

We are a very small setting but take children from 12 months (all in one room). Some children come with their wellies in bags plus spare shoes for indoor = three pairs of shoes. We find it easier to get them ready to go out rather than to change them once we are back. Some kids end up playing indoor just in their socks for a while (luckily the floor is not cold).

I was thinking of buying non-slip socks and to give them to each child but read somewhere that Ofsted doesn't like it for safety reasons. I also somewhere read that even Crocs are not recommended (some settings have No Crocs section in Admission Policy).

[Clare_Matthews]

Our issue with getting them ready to go is is that we ha e free flow access with thr exception of about 1.5 hours a day at lunchtime so this would be so time consuming and I feel impossible to manage .

[finleysmaid]

if it helps....

all our children have wellies at pre-school , they leave them with us (not packaway) we also have a large mat on the way in to the setting.We have wooden floors that are very sllippy without shoes . We take from 2 and a half and all the children can take off their shoes and then put on their boots. This helps to keep the sand and mud outside and we also have a couple of dirt trapper rugs to help. We have banned lace up shoes ...and we ask that they don't wear crocs. The children also dress themselves in water proofs and most of this can do this too!

[apple]

In many settings in Scandinavia (and increasingly in the UK), slippers are often worn inside; including the staff. The ones I saw on visits were the 'full shoe' type e.g not the flip flop type if you know what I mean. However, like you said Clare, changing in and out of them could be problematic.

Edited September 23, 2015 by apple

[MegaMum]

Our children change into slippers or plimsols upon arrival in the morning before entering our Preschool rooms. They change into wellies to go outdoors (our area is quite muddy when wet) but even in the summer they wear wellies. We have one of those greenhouse racks that the children put their wellies on and a rubber garden tub with handles both sides to put their slippers etc in. Most are independent but of course the younger ones need help.

 

When coming back inside it can become chaotic, so we found it best to have a '2 at a time rule' on the big weather mat, which takes time, but works well. The children take off their dirty boots, put them on the rack and then move into the room to put their slippers on. When we come in we move the tub into the room, so the children aren't congregated in one area taking boots off, putting slippers on. It works well for us.

 

However, if we have to pack away, the wellie rack can be a bit cumbersome though!

[finleysmaid]

we use lunch box trolleys for the wellies

[Stargrower]

we use lunch box trolleys for the wellies

 

That's a good idea! Do you know how many pairs of wellies you fit per lunchbox space? So if you have a trolley that holds 30 lunchboxes, how many pairs of wellies do you fit? I'd been looking at wellie wagons/walls but didn't think they looked that user friendly for little ones.

[HoneyPancakes]

Last year I had a problem with wellies stored outside- WASPS!! Or maybe solitary bees. Anyway, someone was bitten.

[narnia]

We use a lunchbox trolley too and have one of those outdoor furniture covers to go over it. I currently have 20 pairs of wellies on it, including the adult ones

 

inside our front door we have a big mat that is designed to soak up water etc annd it works very well. We do get the occasional mucky mark on the rugs, but I chuck them in the washing machine and hang out to dry overnight

 

 

Some children bring daps, or slippers and others wear slippers, or just socks

Edited September 24, 2015 by narnia

[finleysmaid]

 

That's a good idea! Do you know how many pairs of wellies you fit per lunchbox space? So if you have a trolley that holds 30 lunchboxes, how many pairs of wellies do you fit? I'd been looking at wellie wagons/walls but didn't think they looked that user friendly for little ones.

we put one wellie inside the other(children get really good at this!) then they get put on "like soldiers"! I have around 56 pairs on two trolleys (three tiers...I would think they are the size you are talking about.

[Stargrower]

we put one wellie inside the other

Solves the wasp problem too! :1b

[Mouseketeer]

We do exactly the same finleysmaid, one of those fold up lunch box trolleys on castors, inside each other, holds 55 pairs , we move it around depending on weather, but never into the grassed garden without them, they very soon learn that they don't go past the wellie trolley without changing into them, all change into indoor daps/slippers on arrival.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Mouseketeer

[lsp]

We have wellie rack. All children have their own wellies kept in setting. They change into plimsolls/slippers when they arrive. Each child has a 'plimsollbag' which is hung on their coat peg. They quickly get used to the routines of when to change and into what.

[lashes2508]

we introduced our plimsolls or indoor shoes last year for the same reason and for the fact that bulky shoes, laces etc were damaging toys an making it difficult for children too, each child has a plimsolls bag on peg with plimsolls supplied by parent , they change on arrival parents do this) whenwe access out side each child has wellies on boot rack under cover and change from plimsolls to boots and vice versa , we have pouches for plimsolls to go in.

[thumperrabbit]

we introduced our plimsolls or indoor shoes last year for the same reason and for the fact that bulky shoes, laces etc were damaging toys an making it difficult for children too, each child has a plimsolls bag on peg with plimsolls supplied by parent , they change on arrival parents do this) whenwe access out side each child has wellies on boot rack under cover and change from plimsolls to boots and vice versa , we have pouches for plimsolls to go in.

I like the sound of your system Lashes, and have a few questions!

Do you supply the 'pouches for plimsolls'? If so, what are they like, where do you get them from?

And do you mean like the black plimsolls that you have when you first go to school?

[lsp]

Our children wear black 'school'plimsolls. Some wear slippers -not ideal as they don't support their feet, or canvas shoes. We provide a simple drawstring bag which stays on their coat peg to store their 'inside shoes'.

[thumperrabbit]

Our children wear black 'school'plimsolls. Some wear slippers -not ideal as they don't support their feet, or canvas shoes. We provide a simple drawstring bag which stays on their coat peg to store their 'inside shoes'.

Thank you, where do you get your drawstring bag from? Presuming they are 'cheap & cheerful'

[lashes2508]

Thumper rabbit , yes black plimsolls like school ones , if the children have particularly small feet , alternative are allowed like doodles

We supply plimsoll bags , staff sew with children and grandparent now on board to help make more as needed.

The pouches are from IKEA and I have stapled to our fence as they access garden. We have a covered area for boot changing and small bench , wellie boot racks .

 

They are KUSINER wall pockets - £3.50 each - 6 pouches

Edited September 26, 2015 by lashes2508

[Clare_Matthews]

Can i ask if the parents change their children into their plimsolls in thr morning at thr end of thr session who changes them back again ? Parents or staff ?

[lsp]

Thank you, where do you get your drawstring bag from? Presuming they are 'cheap & cheerful'

 

I think they came from a sale in an educational catalogue like Hope Education but we're in a pack and were really cheap. They are all the same colour, nylon and have some sort of logo on. They stay in the setting and are re-used for new children. You can get them on ebay, Amazon etc.

 

Parents change their children's shoes (although we encourage them to let children do it) in the cloakroom before we open main door. Children change into their going home shoes at end of session although we help younger or ones who struggle.

[thumperrabbit]

I think we would change them at the end of the session as I KNOW my parents would just let them go home in them and that would just defeat the object (dirty mats!) I'm just a little concerned about the time it might take us at what is a chaotic time, the last 30 minutes feels like 90 minutes the children are sooooo tired and tearful

[lsp]

Just re-read my last post and it's sounds a bit muddled. Parents change children's shoes before start of session. Pre-school changes shoes at end of session so that children are ready at pick up times. It works well for us and children quickly get used to the routine. We are a small group though and children leave at 12pm, 1pm or 3pm so it is staggered.

[lashes2508]

Same here , staff assist the change but to be honest we have the children well trained now ! The member of staff on door duty calls a few at a time , our corridor is very narrow and the children are encouraged to change and then place plimsolls back in bag .