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newandlearning
19-01-2011, 03:40 PM
hi everyone...

I was wondering if you all go out in the mornings? and if you don't what do you do activity wise with the lil ones?

also .. after lunch .. what do you do then from lunch until school pick?

and equally what do you do after school?

what a question.. I know.. I sometimes don't know if its ok for me to also be doing my laundry when lil ones are playing or having quiet time.. whether its good for them to watch telly for 30 mins after lunch or if I should be doing story telling etc instead..

and equally when I am meant to find time to wash up etc.. as I don't feel I could leave everything until lil ones have gone...

I'd be really interested in what you guys all do... thanks a lot for reading and replying xx:)

Twinkles
19-01-2011, 03:53 PM
There are two of us so it is a bit different.

Mornings we go for a walk , through the woods , round the lake etc.

After lunch babies have a nap and older ones who don't need a nap have a quiet time. This can be tv , dvd, books. They sit on the sofa with a blanket and chill.
We fit in a few chores around what the children are doing.

After school run ( dh does school run while I stay with late sleepers ) we play games, do a craft , play in the garden.

There is no harm in putting in a load of washing or doing the washing up. We are a home based care environment , that is why some choose us.

It's not as if you are sitting them in front of the telly for hours on end while you clean the house from top to bottom.

Penny1959
19-01-2011, 03:54 PM
At moment have 3 under 1 and another 2 under 2 and 1 three year old - so going out is a bit of a nightmare. one of the under 2's is a good walker but it is still a lot of effort to get them all ready to go, 2 double pushchairs (then car seats if in car) so we tend to stay in. Activities are child led and mainly free play - 3 year old chooses what to do from crafts etc on offer.

I do not handle dirty washing during minding hours nor do I iron but I do hang out washing / get it in and fold it. Def wash up / hoover etc as needs doing while mindees here.

I think TV is ok in small doses - I don't use as a general rule but sometimes can be useful for rest time after lunch (and yes about 20 - 30 mins).

Don't do a school run at the moment or have any school age children but late afternoons usually doing teas for mindees, so more free play

Penny :)

Tippy Toes
19-01-2011, 04:00 PM
I try to get out as much as I can in the morning even if only for a walk, but its not always possible with the weather! And I have 3 little ones, 2 under 2 and a 3 year old.

If not out then colouring, story books building blocks, dress up, music and dancing etc etc.

When Im preparing lunch I sometimes put tv on for little ones (thats if we have been in all morning). I wash up throughout the day.

After dinner we paint and have some free play then off to school, come back and do jigsaws and some more free play until home time (when im preparing snacks and food etc)

littletreasures
19-01-2011, 04:06 PM
I have 2 x 1 year olds and a 3 year old (2 days a week) plus schoolies.

I do the school run, come back and give the babies their breakfast. I then go to toddler groups, music group or porters group every morning.

Come back give them their lunch. They then have a sleep which can be anything from one hour to two and a half hours!!

Do the school run and then it's free play with a drink and a snack thrown in. They all go home from 4.30-5.30.

If I have time I will put stuff in the dishwasher or put some washing in the tumble dryer.

I don't always have time to Hoover and wash the floors (muddy paws) before the children arrive so I might get that done before going to toddler groups.

lorimac
19-01-2011, 04:09 PM
in the mornings I usually go to toddlers or maybe gymnastic class or numbers permitting swimming or softplay, try stay out till nursery pickup time then home for lunch, if we've had a tiring morning then I have no problem with having a hour of telly after lunch for the bigger ones while the babies have a nap, then we usually go out in garden or up to the park or a wander through the woods. When ther schoolies come in we usually free play or an arty crafty activity. I like to keep the day kinda structured, it goes so quickly, theres's nothing worse than clock watching all day. I always try to manage to keep on top of the washing too, just bung a load in at quiet time.

grindal
19-01-2011, 04:10 PM
I take DS1 to school and DS2 to playgroup every morning so we are out anyway. Usually stay out in the mornings, toddler group, childminder group, library and park sometimes just a walk or trip to the local shops. Often stay in on a Friday and do some craft or cooking. After I have collected DS2 from playgroup we come home and have lunch. My mindees are all little so sleep after lunch. Out again at 3pm to collect DS2 from school, home for a snack and then free play until mindees head home between 4 and 5pm.

As for household chores - yes of course - as someone has already said it is childcare in a home environment. Mine often help to put washing in the machine or take it out and hang it up, or empty the dishwasher! I tell parents what chores their little ones have helped with too - I am starting to feel a bit mean :eek:

Aimi-jo
19-01-2011, 04:42 PM
Great question, very useful replies for when i start x

Helen Dempster
19-01-2011, 05:58 PM
After the school run in the morning, it's usually back to the house for my own breakfast (I feed my ds and mindee before leaving for school). I'm lucky as I only have one mindee, 18m at the mo and he tends to have a nap (about an hour) so I can clear up the breakfast things, have tidy round if needed etc. I try to get out every morning, as I go a bit stir crazy staying in - even if it's just for an hour or so. This morning we took a walk down by the river, fed the swans, played in the park etc. Then back for lunch - little one will have a bit of free time while I'm sorting it out and I'm back and forth from the kitchen. After lunch, an activity of some sort (depends what mood I'm in) :blush: and then school run to collect own ds and 3 other mindees....this is when all hell breaks loose and my otherwise peaceful and relaxed day turns into a very noisy affair! After schoolies all take turns to play on the computer - they each have 15 mins each, which works out well as it means they have to wait their turn and they're not stuck in front of it for too long :D

charleyfarley
19-01-2011, 06:03 PM
Today I went shopping as I had the day off :laughing:

At the moment my working days are all over the place and have no routine as parent is on maternity leave as arrives at different times.

I do tend to go out in the mornings though so los can have their afternoon sleeps :thumbsup:

Carol xx

Vickster
19-01-2011, 06:06 PM
I have only just started and some days I have a 10 month old, a 1 year old and 4 year old who goes to nursery at 12 30.

I like to go out in the morning and am trying to stretch my 10 month old to nap after lunch which has so far worked, even if it means a 5 minute cat nap on the way back from being out in the morning. I tend to put Show me Show me on the TV if I am trying to get something done like lunch/dinner or put one down for the nap before the other. I try and wash up as I go along. Today my only two slept for 2.5 hours at the same time. My son was off school ill so I played on the computer with him and did some chores.

In the afternoon we do school pick up, snack then free play/craft dinner then home.

When we go out in the morning it is to a friends house, toddler group, music, toy library, library, town, swimming. walk to the park and so on. In the summer I guess it will mainly be PARK!

cheryl6880
19-01-2011, 06:41 PM
i tend to go out to groups in the morning or get together with other minders then we do school run(nursery) have lunch then the little ones sleep while the others have quite time ie tv,reading ,quite play ,coulouring then we take one of the mindees home and do school run then we have tea and then the kids have free play and and activity is usally put out for them to do if they want then its time for them to go home

kel1983
19-01-2011, 06:50 PM
I have a 21 month old monday - wednesday and a 3 year old monday and friday afternoon

Most days I try and get out in the mornings either to play in the garden, town, library, park and childminder group then back for lunch at 12 then the 21 month old goes down to sleep for about 2 hours :clapping:. so on a tuesday and wednesday I usually catch up on my housework, laundry and paperwork. Oh and browse the net :)

Then she usually plays until her mum collects at 4pm. The 3 year old boy is very manic so I dont get any time to do anything.

amanda1309
19-01-2011, 07:01 PM
I stay in on mornings as baby sleeps.
I do my housework (the quiet stuff) and prepare food for lunch and evening meal.

We then pick up form Nursery at 11.30 then back for lunch.

Then its off out with the bigger one (4 year old).
Monday we stayed in
Tuesday was the park
Wednesday was the farm
Thursday we will be going to another childminders for lunch and then a crafty activity and
Friday we will be off to the local childminding group.

I don't do much with the after schoolies as they start going home from 4.15pm, and all they eally want to do is eat and wach a bit TV so I let them. :laughing:

SamBaker
19-01-2011, 07:47 PM
hi everyone...

I was wondering if you all go out in the mornings? and if you don't what do you do activity wise with the lil ones?

also .. after lunch .. what do you do then from lunch until school pick?

and equally what do you do after school?

what a question.. I know.. I sometimes don't know if its ok for me to also be doing my laundry when lil ones are playing or having quiet time.. whether its good for them to watch telly for 30 mins after lunch or if I should be doing story telling etc instead..

and equally when I am meant to find time to wash up etc.. as I don't feel I could leave everything until lil ones have gone...

I'd be really interested in what you guys all do... thanks a lot for reading and replying xx:)

Thank you for asking this one, I have had a bit of a bad day with my little mindee's today and was starting to wonder what to do. i've got another 3 starting with me soon all different ages so seeing what everybody else does through the day has just boosted me to keep going again and given me a few ideas,

Great question:thumbsup:

twise
19-01-2011, 09:40 PM
I have 6 under 5 (work with husband) after dropping the older ones off to school we come back home for breakfast. After that we do an activity at the moment we are learning about shapes so we made shapes from playdoh and looked around the house trying to find different shapes, read some stories about shapes then we have our dancing and singing time and then free play and then made our own pizzas for lunch.

After lunch dropped off one at nursery while 4 went to sleep and the other watched a dvd . About 3 they all wake up we then go and pick another 4 from local school and all come back here.

The older children either play wii,xbox colour, draw, paint, play with toys, tv or do their homework. the younger children play with the older children while waiting for their parents to pick up. last one out the door 7:30 and the day begins 7:30 the next morning.

Each day is very similar especially in this weather. i do go to a children's centre once a week and I have a play date with 2 other minders every friday.

When the weather is good we go to parks, farms, fruit picking etc at least 3 times a week and try to be home just 2 days.

Never boring always busy...thank god for sleep time/quiet time!!!!


Tracy

miffy
19-01-2011, 09:58 PM
My mornings don't seem very long as I'm dropping off at school then playgroup at 9am and collecting again at 1130am - the time inbetween seems to whizz past!

If we're doing an activity at home it often fills that time! Sometimes we go to childminders meeting or children's centre or another childminders house.

If we've been out in the morning the little ones will sleep pm and older ones can chose what they want to do - sometimes they will be happy just playing or want to do some drawing/colouring/crafts.

The after schoolers are old enough to chose what they want to do and sort out what they need whilst I cook the tea.

I do the washing up/hang washing out/hoover if needed after crafts during the day but wouldn't do ironing or anything like that (no hardship there cos I don't like ironing at the best of times!)

Miffy xx