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Texas requires 30 ft for useable space for register daycare. This may sound funny but does that mean open floor space besides your furniture. I have an opened living room and kitchen. And do I need to have centers are just a toy box in an area?
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This is just my opinion but yu need much more in the way of centers than a toy box. But don't let centers overwhelm you either. They don't have to be complicated. And they depend largely on your age groups.
Here are some of my "center" areas.
In e walk in closet in my separate bedroom where the kids nap, I have a huge pillow thing (my daughter calls it a doggie bed
) and I have some soft square pillows there... And beside it is a small container of books. 10 to be exact. There's a quiet reading nook easy as pie.
In the actual separate daycare room in one corner I have the dramatic play area. There I have one of those three drawer plastic bins. One drawer is baby doll clothes for dress up. One drawer is clothes for daycare kids to dress up. And another drawer is pretend doctor stuff like real blood pressure cuffs (I have connections), a few hospital gowns, gloves etc. sitting on top of the plastic bin are several baby dolls. Beside that is a huge plastic kitchen with all the trimmings and a baby doll crib. Also beside that is a huge Barbie doll house with all e trimmings, extra Barbie dolls etc. And that is the dramatic play center.
Then on another wall I have one of those wooden units with the clear plastic buckets. I think it holds twelve but I'm only guessing. That unit holds all of the supplies for the building center. One bucket has those tube building things. One has wooden shapes for building. One has Lincoln logs... Etc etc.
On the short wall between the door and closet is our circle time area. I have two dry erase boards mounted on the wall there. Every day we do our circle time there.
On the wall with the window I have a simple plastic bookshelf from lowes and on there on the top shelf are games for various ages. On another shelf is a CD player we use for audiobooks, dance freeze, radio for nap time etc.
In my living room is a table, also from Lowes, one of those rectangle ones where the legs adjust up and down to fit any size child. Two chairs are there. One chair goes to a mini DVD player and the other chair goes to a laptop. That's our information center. There we do abc mouse, watch movies on a rainy day, or watch learning DVD programs occasionally.
Also in the living room in the far corner is my infant area. I have a couch on one wall and one on the adjoining wall to make a cozy large cornered area. There is a rug there for comfort and lots of age appropriate toys for the non crawling littles. The kids over age 2 are NOT allowed in that area. EVER. it's my infant safety zone. On the coffee table is my infant changing pad and ere is a small shelf that organizes the stuff I need to take care of my two littles.
On the wall adjoining the kitchen entrance is a small rug and a free play area for any age group.
Arts and crafts are in the kitchen which is off limits unless its crafts or meal time.
In my other bonus room which doubles as my sewing room there is a play pen for my special needs babies little brother. And in my room is a play Oen for my special needs little girl. That's because she has to nap separate and since I watch her late at night and overnight I like her very very close to where I am.
I'm sorry this is long, but I hope it helps anyway.
I do have a science center as well. It's located next to my informational area in that corner. -
I have no idea about the 30 ft space question...is that 30 sq. ft total for the daycare? Per child? I assume it would mean room dimensions, so it doesn't matter what furniture is there. I would definitely want more than a toybox, that sounds very minimal, I can't imagine parents being ok with that. Here are some photos of my centers. I got cheap cubby shelves from target with fabric baskets, and cheap corkboards from Walmart to showcase art/projects on the walls. The table and chair set was $20 from Ikea, the art easel is also like $20 from Ikea: http://www.earlystarthomepreschool.c...hoto-tour.htmlComment
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If the furnishing can be sat on or used for play - sofa, table, etc. then it is allowed as part of your 30 ft. If it is a tv stand, cupboard, etc. that the children cannot use for play, it would not be included as part of your usable space.Comment
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