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Lately I have felt overwhelmed by my daycare space. No matter how many times I clean up and reorganize, the kids are constantly dumping toy bins together into shopping carts or corners of the room. I know it is part of their playing, but things never get put back where they go at clean up time and then I'm left with an unorganized playroom again. What am I doing wrong?
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I had this same problem years ago. I just couldn't understand why they liked to pile all the toys together but it must fullfill some need. I thinks kids can get overwhelmed with a lot of toys and choices. I bought 2 big closets with doors to replace the open shelves. I put locks on the door and only got a few things out at a time. I often open them up and let them choose what they want. I still have some open shelves and other toys out for them to get by themselves, but most things in bins and with pieces stay hidden until we use them. It has been working so much better.. It wasn't cheap but it was worth it. -
Welcome to the forum. Here is another post on Dumping Toys Solution :
https://chat.daycare.com/forum/main-category/daycare-center-and-family-home-forum/41644-possible-dumping-solution-fingers-crosseyComment
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I removed dumpable bins and got a toy shelf with built-in bins. They now have to work harder to get all the toys out of the bins so most of the time, the items lay on the floor in front of the shelf.Comment
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I've been having the same problem. They love making the mess that comes with dumping the bins but no one ever wants to pick it up. Earlier in the year, I finally got tired of the fight to get them to pick up so I put some of the toys in storage. When they ask about certain toys they're missing, I remind them that I had to put the toys away because they weren't being taken care of properly. The mess is much more manageable for me with fewer toys and as the kids mature and get better about picking up after themselves, I plan to start adding some of the toys back in to the playroom.Comment
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I have a daycare friend that places industrial-strength velcro to the bottom of bins so the kiddos can take the play things out but can't necessarily dump the bins. She says this helps????Comment
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My DCK do this too. I just let them because they have do clean it up. Although I find it extremely annoying.Comment
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Trying to get them to clean up is more annoying to me than the actual dumping. I wouldn't mind the dumping at all if they would all clean up after they were done playing. Suddenly, kids who were running around and playing a second ago are just too bone weary to even lift a finger. It's the whining and fussing I have to listen to when it's time to clean up that gets on my last nerve.
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I have several that do this as well. It’s not the dumping that bothers me as much as the not wanting to clean up the mess afterwards. My rule is that if you dump a bin of toys you must clean it up before you get anything else out. I try and make a game out of clean up such as telling one child to pick up the blue blocks and another to pick up the green and this helps somewhat. And I’m not opposed to helping the children clean up sometimes since one of our classroom rules is “helping hands.” But helping is NOT cleaning up the entire mess myself.Comment
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One thing that helped was involving the kids in the cleanup process in a fun way. We turned it into a game, like a race to see who could tidy up their toys the fastest. Also, we designated specific bins or shelves for different types of toys, making it easier for them to know where things belonged.Comment
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I’m lucky that I have two rooms for different ages/stages.
One for infant toddlers (who dump everything) and older kids that can play with toys in a more organized manner.
The older room have everything separated into specific activities and stored separately from other materials where the infant toddler room has one big toy box where things are just stored.
together with no attention to individual toys/activities.
The dumping phase can be challenging... but it is developmentally normal.
Dumping things out is part of a child's exploration of the world.
They want to experiment with cause and effect, learn about their providers reactions to their actions etc.Comment
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Blackcat31 I have always wondered, do you have ways to see into the rooms other than the doorways? -
Alwaysgreener. Yes, the main area of my house is central to every other room and each room has a really wide opening so I can directly see each room. The corners and any area that aren’t directly in my line of site are visible via carefully placed mirrors like you’d see in stores to prevent shoplifting. I also have video camera in each room and the monitor to view the cameras is on the wall in main area. Much like you see where security officers monitor multiple cameras at night on a split screen. -
Blackcat31
Lol I pictured you walking up and down a hallway to see in each room.
I have one of those mirrors, I used it when I carried just my nephews. Their playroom was an odd shape and this allowed me to see around the corner before they saw me. I still have it but now the playroom has moved into my living room since I had my son.
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