No playroom

[Tatjana]

Does anyone NOT have a playroom? I have a large open plan lounge and diner and it doesn't resemble a mini nursery despite having 2 young boys of my own.

I really don't want my home to look totally child centred and thought childminding was about being a home from home environment. But practically everything i read on here it seems your homes are more for your mindees than yourselves and your families.

Of course my children have toys and arts/crafts stuff but most of it is in their room...i'm really worried that potential parents will be put off unless it's more 'nusery like' :(

Am i alone in thinking like this?????!

xx

[Mouse]

I haven't got a playroom, but it's never put parents off. I am nearly always full, with a waiting list.

It depends on the parents. They're all looking for something different. Some want a childminder who offers a mini-nursery setting, whereas some want a childminder whose home is like a home.

While my children were younger it was OK having everything set out all the time, but now they're older we want our house to be ours. I now set everything out at the beginning of the week, pack up what I can each night, then put it all away again when I finish work on a Friday.

I always thought you had to be a mini nursery to do well with Ofsted, but I got outstanding a couple of months back without having my house taken over by childminding.

You have to do what is right for you & your family.

[her8y]

I want a playroom:crying:
but as I dont have one I make do with a large Ikea storage thingy in my hallway which I can pull a curtain across in the evening. This is where I store a lot of toys which the children are able to self select and have a big pinboard for parents information and pics the chidlren have made etc. I also have a few toys in boxes in the living room which I rotate with theose stored in the garage.

The arts and crafts are all in my kitchen diner and again accessible during the day and tidied away at night.


The parents can see that the children are able to access toys and I just tidy it all away in the evening. Obviously a playroom would be ideal as its a bit tedious putting away just to get out the next day.

My dh laughs when he comes home in the day coz our house is Soooooooo different to the evening!:laughing:

[FizzysFriends]

I don't have a play room. If you look at my lounge you wouldn't know I have child let alone CM. I have an open plan kitchen / diner / lounge too and there are toys in there and a notice board but it looks nothing like a mini nursery.

[TheBTeam]

I do not have a playroom, i keep all my notices and display in the hall which is only small and can not be seen in the living room when the door is shut. In the living room which is an open plan living room diner with the stairs in it, I keep all of the toys behind the sofa in lidded tubs.

I also have a garage which is shared with another childminder which i use to store a large number of toys off site and go there and rotate the toys on a regular basis. I also keep some arts and crafts and stuff in a 3 drawer unit upstairs and odd bits in the top of a wardrobe.

When i sit in the evening you can not see the toys, they are out of site behind the sofa.

[grindal]

Hi
I dont have a playroom - just a house that my children play everywhere in! Initially we were gonna have one room where our children and my mindees went, but it has not worked out like that. They go all over, and the toys go all over the house - but then I have not had Ofsted in yet!!
Grindal

[Pedagog]

I have no playroom, I have a large lounge and a conservatory with the dining room table in. I have some book units and a toy cooker in the lounge, in the conservatory I have a plastic drawer unit of toys and a hanging rail with fancy dress things. Other than that most toys are stored in bags buckets that are kept in garage, I then select different buckets or bags each day depending on children.

[westbrom44]

Hi, no I dont have a playroom.

I have a through lounge and dining room, with a conservatory at the end. I also have a dining kitchen and utility, with toilet. The children are free to play in any part of the downstairs they wish. The children spread themselves out! They also have access to the garden from the conservatory. At the kitchen table there is playdough, craft items and colouring crayons, felt tip pens, paint dabbers and lots of paper. I also have stencils and colouring books.

All of my toys are kept in a big shed in my garden. I get out various toys at the beginning of the week, usually the favourites and add to them as the children request them. At the end of the week all of the toys go back in the shed and I have a toy free weekend.

I do have childrens artwork, alphabet posters, my certificates etc on display in my kitchen though.

I find parents want a home environment and Ofsted a nursery setting!

[sweets]

I have a through lounge diner, The children play in the dining room end with the table pushed back during the week and they use the lounge end as a quiet room for reading and doing jigsaws. this works well. all my toys are in a shelved cupboard upstairs and a selection brought down daily.
I dont have my own children so didn't want to change my house into a nursery!
The parent of my newest mindee actualy chose me instead of another minder as she said her house was wall to wall toys. She is very much like me and likes her child to play with a couple of toys then put them away before getting out something else. Saying that sometimes i think blow it,:laughing: and we just get loads out! lol

[Andrea08]

i have a play room now but i also use my through lounge diner so my house looks like a nursery untill 5.30pm then everything gets put away.
but i have to set up again in the morning

[Tatjana]

Phew! I'm so relieved to read all these replies and know i'm not alone in not wanting my home to resemble a nusery!

Thank you ladies for taking the time to reply...and totally reassure!:)

xx

[jibberjitz]

I dont have a play room either but have quite a big lounge and dining room - I would love a playroom too though :rolleyes:

[Pipsqueak]

I don't have a playroom - as such. Once over my living room and dining room were completely given over to toys and equipment. Now that I have got my extension (well its functional!! lol) - the old dining room is the "play" room (but its not really ifyswim). The living room has now been reclaimed so that we have a non childminding space.
I don't look like a mini-nursery at all - I look like a home based setting that has lots of kids - including my own!!!:D

[christine e]

I don't have a playroom or a conservatory - have a through lounge/diner and a dining kitchen

Cx

[It's a small world]

Hi

I don't have a playroom either. I have gone through my sons toys (5 and 19 months) and soterd out some old toys and placed them in a box. All their toys have gone into their rooms and then the box I have sorted out is under the stairs for the mindees (at the end of the day I can just put them in the box and under the stairs out of the way so my home is my home in the evening) Done the same for outside toys as well. As for craft bits have so many of them will do for both my boys and mindees. Don't worry about no playroom, you can be a childminder and not have a garden either....you can always go to playgroups so not always in your house and the children get to mix with others their age group, will help them with their socialising skills too!!!!!
I'm pre reg and have ofsted coming on thursday so new in this area but hope this helps?

x

[estrelas]

i don't either
I've managed to organise my front room so kiddie like in the day good for adults at night :)

[gegele]

i have 2 young children so i have toys everywhere but i have big unit with boxes where it all disappear in the evening. can't hide everything though asmy ds is a baby so their toys are bulkier LOL (activities tables etc...
and of course the play cooker (which is in the middle of the garden for now...:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

our houses are nurseries in disguise ah ah ah clark kent-superman!!!!:jump for joy:

[huggableshelly]

I have no playroom just a large L shaped room full of toys and somewhere there is a sofa that my Hubby manages to find but so far I've been looking for 2 hours this morning and its definatly not there right now.

I think he brings it home with him and plonks it on top of other stuff!

yep my home is my playroom but thats ok as my own children are still young so it doesnt bother me.

[Demonjill]

I have no playroom just a large L shaped room full of toys and somewhere there is a sofa that my Hubby manages to find but so far I've been looking for 2 hours this morning and its definatly not there right now.

I think he brings it home with him and plonks it on top of other stuff!

yep my home is my playroom but thats ok as my own children are still young so it doesnt bother me.


:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

[pinklady]

I don't have a playroom either.:(

I have open space under the stairs which is great for storing toys and a very large cupboard in the hallway which used to be my own craft room. It was very cramped but I did manage to store all my things in there and had a desk and chair in it so you can imagine it's good for toys.

The shed has all the garden toys in it and I have an additional plastic garden storage do-dah that has craft items and toys for age groups that I'm not minding iyswim.

I have a lounge diner which does have toys in it but no more than I would have for my own children. It's basically my home which I'm presuming people want otherwise they would just send their children to a nursery.

[ExBlondie]

I don't have a playroom either but i am worrying slightly over the size of my house. I live in a cosy 1 bed house and have a living room and kitchen all in one so makes the main room kinda big which is good and ofstead said could work to my advantage because i can cook the dinners without actualy being out of the room and can use the kitchen area when not being used for food which i never thought about before. I have storage area under the stairs and plan on having boxes under my bed that i can bring down as and when needed.

I am hoping to move tho next year into a 3 bed house with my boyfriend but that brings a whole other set of worrying of moving the buisness but in the long run would be better for me as i can have more room a decent garden so we will see how that works lol

[HomefromHome]

i dont either (but i blimmin wish i did!!!!!)
i have my lounge and a large kitchen/diner - both are used, which as my dd is 3 is ok for now - i tend to tidy away most toys out of the lounge by friday night, but dd usually plays wi everything anyway! all my toys/art'n'crafts etc are stored in the dining end on shelving units.
i use the door between my lounge and kitch/diner as a display board for our monthly themes (pics/art work etc).
i would love to put a conservatory on the back but gotta save for other more important bits first. must remember to do the lotto!!!!:laughing:

[LittleMissSparkles]

I dont have a play room but wish I did sometimes, I have an open plan kitchen diner which is quite bit and spacious so I am lucky, I have 2 units from Ikea with baskets in which look reasonably tidy when the kids arent here and a large rattan storage box in the living room full of toys too x

[Tatjana]

Yay! There are loads of us that don't have our homes set up as mini nurseries:thumbsup:

Love the comment about not finding the sofa and hubby bringing the sofa home with him to sit on, pmsl!!:laughing:

xx

[estrelas]

I think he brings it home with him and plonks it on top of other stuff!


:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: how funny!!!

[sophiestars]

I don't have a playroom either but wish I did, just for the storage aspect. I have a living room at the front of the house which I set up with various toys and i try to keep it as the 'quiet room' and then i have a kitchen diner at the back of the house with doors out to the garden. All my toys get packed away into a cupboard under the stairs which my oh fitted with floor to ceiling shelves. The rest is either stored in my boys rooms or in the garage. Larger baby items are stored in the loft when I am not minding one.

My house is fairly toy free when I am not minding, apart from what my boys are playing with. I also refuse to have permanent notice boards on the walls. I have boards that I can have out and then they get tucked away in my cupboard when not in use. Like others have said we are childminders, not a nursery and should be inspected as such. It's our home after all!

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I don't have one. We use every room in the house and go out a lot. My house is a mess all over! :laughing: