do we HAVE to have boxes labled??

[mammumof4]

as the title says really, when i stared minding 3 years ago i had all the toys in individual labeled boxed. ie train set in one box, farm anomals in another, dolls in another ect ect. ofsted loved this as children could see what they wanted to play with as the labels also had a picture of what was inside, was also easy for me i guess as i could find things!!

now ive moved house and have a play room ive gotten a little lazy :blush: i can simply close the door on the mess whereas before i moved everything had to be packed away for my sanity as we had very limited space. and im also finding that the children are throwing all the toys into the large toy box i have and mixing it all up at tidy up time :eek:

so my question is do we HAVE to have it individual and labeled?

[sarah707]

You don't have to do anything if you don't want to!

It will get you more brownie points if you label your boxes... more again if you use a picture as well... more again if you use a child's home language (if it's different from English)... more again if everything is where the children can see it and self select easily...

It really is about outcomes for children and the more you do the better they are :D

[loocyloo]

i don't know!!!

mine are labelled so that the older children ( & adults !!! ) can see what goes where! at my old house i put labels on the shelves so that boxes got put in the right place, as otherwise they didn't fit !!! :blush:

i have some labelled and some not, but as they are all easily accessible, and the children can see what is in them, i don't think it matters too much. i guess its more so the children can see what they could play with.

although currently i'm finding ALL the animals in one box - duplo, small world, little people, finger puppets etc, and the same with cars etc!

[nannysue]

I have always used see through boxes and the inspector said what a very good idea !!!! as if it were something new :laughing:

[Mouse]

The short answer is no, you don't have to have carefully sorted, labelled boxes. What you have to have is a way in which the children can access the toys & equipment by themselves & make choices about what they play with.

My toys & equipment are store in a variety of open baskets or boxes that have a lift up lid, so the children can peep inside. As the baskets & boxes are all different, the children get to know what is in each particular basket. I've never had labels on boxes.

[Beetlejuice]

I have labelled boxes with pictures on. I also have LOADS of toys in the garage and shed which I can't have out all the time due to space restraints so I have a 'toy catalogue' whereby I've photographed all the toys I have so the children can look at the book and ask for toys in the pictures that they can't readily see. This gives them choice and my last two inspectors have liked the idea.

[singingcactus]

I don't have labels on my boxes. I have mixed toys in all my boxes so labels would be pointless.

The reason for labels is that it is a very easy way of working towards a literacy rich environment, making use of 'purposeful' print. But it is not the only way of using purposeful print.

As long as you provide an environment in which the children make use of the printed word then you don't need to use the fall back of labelled boxes. I think this is from back in the day when print was used very little in preschool settings, before practitioners began to think about consciously using print and teaching the children organically their pre literacy skills.

[Penny1959]

I don't have labels on my boxes. I have mixed toys in all my boxes so labels would be pointless.

The reason for labels is that it is a very easy way of working towards a literacy rich environment, making use of 'purposeful' print. But it is not the only way of using purposeful print.

As long as you provide an environment in which the children make use of the printed word then you don't need to use the fall back of labelled boxes. I think this is from back in the day when print was used very little in preschool settings, before practitioners began to think about consciously using print and teaching the children organically their pre literacy skills.

Totally agree - and with very little ones they just pull the labels off - I know I have tried tie on . sticky tape on laminated not laminated , inside clear boxes and so on.

Most of my boxes are not labelled - apart from the craft ones in the kitchen as it helps ME know where things are.

My setting has a lot of other print in it, displays, games, name cards, notice board - and all the foodcontainers in my cupboards and all the signs /shop windows / advertising when we are out and about - oh and then there are the books!

And yes a catalougue is an excellent idea - I have one.

Penny :)

[LeeMarie]

My toys aren't labelled and children can't/don't help themselves to toys out of my cupboards. However, I have folder with photos of all the toys and resources and they can choose from that. My DO has said this is fine and hopefully Mrs O will agree when she comes to visit (my inspections due in a couple of months).

[snufflepuff]

Mine are not labelled. I have tried many different ways of labeling them and non work- the children pull them off or move them around, or they fall off. It's a waste of my time and resources. The children know where everything is- and they know what is upstairs and will ask me to get it for them.

[peppa Pig]

Mine are labeled, I use pogo photos and tape them on the outside of colored boxes and the inside of open baskets so the children know what to put back in once they are empty.

[mammumof4]

phew! glad im not the only one.

love the idea of a toy catologue :clapping:

thanks again you lovely people! :) you really do help me and would be lost without you :clapping: