How Many Sprinkler Days A Week?

[Crystal]

I don't want to.

that makes sense.

[nannyde]

that makes sense.

The beauty of being 32 years in the biz is you get to pick and choose what you do.

BTDT on the "water" play. Spent many hundreds of hours doing it.

I'm over it.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

We do water day one day a week as a scheduled part of the week. All the parents know that on X day each week they bring swimsuits. It does take a long time to get them all dressed and sunscreened and then dried off and changed again afterward, but for me I consider it well worth it. The time it takes for them to dress (we have mostly children who can dress themselves this summer) and the time spent outside doing water activities, and then the time spent getting dressed again, means less time for the older children to be "bored" or have negative attitudes (because they love water day and are always so excited to do it. And I can always take away the priviledge for them, if we have problems before we go outside!). It cuts down on their water play time since it does take so long to get everyone ready, but I still think it's worth it for the little time they do get to spend outdoors and physically active. How old are your daycare children and how many do you have? Do you have any help? I'm sure I'd feel differently about it if I didn't have any help or if we had any more younger ones than we do!

[Crystal]

The beauty of being 32 years in the biz is you get to pick and choose what you do.

BTDT on the "water" play. Spent many hundreds of hours doing it.

I'm over it.

Yes, I agree, that we can pick and choose what we want to do. I do that with lots of stuff.

Water play is something we do almost daily, but I don't do clothing changes, etc.....we use a water table and either take off shirts and shoes or wear smocks.

[Abigail]

So we're in TX so rarely have a day that's not in the triple digits.

The kids of course LOVE sprinkler days but it takes 30-45 mins just to get them dressed and sunscreened. And then getting them dressed takes another 30-45 mins. I know I should do it everyday b/c otherwise our outdoor time is so short because of the heat.

Just wondering how many times a week you do sprinklers or water play that involves getting them in swimsuits? I feel awful not doing it everyday but just dread the prep and cleanup...but I do love the post nap.

I would do water tables on T/H and do sprinkler days on M/W/F. What time do you go outside? You should request parents bring the older children wearing swimsuits with a shirt/shorts over until it's time to go swim. Make sure they remember underwear and shoes for later in the day. Then you just need to put sunscreen on everyone. You would only have to dress the little ones into a suit....unless you can request the parents bring them in a suit.

Do you have suits left at your place or sent home each time? If you do have parents put suits on them to do outside water play before lunch time, I would make sure to have a spare set of clothes (complete) for all the kids incase they come in a suit and forget clothes for later. If you go outside within the hour or arrival, I would even ask the parent to put sunscreen on them when they arrive since you will put it on again in the afternoon if you go outside twice in a day. Sounds fair to me!

[BusyBee]

Some days I have 8 kids and get them out the door quickly with no issues, but most of them are able to get themselves mostly ready. When dressed they line up, get sunscreened and go play. So not a big deal--BUT we do ours at the end of the day and at the parent's agreement the kids go home wet. They all live close and do not care if they are wet.

I can see if you have to do it earlier in the day it would be a PITA!

[SunflowerMama]

How old are your daycare children and how many do you have? Do you have any help? I'm sure I'd feel differently about it if I didn't have any help or if we had any more younger ones than we do!

I have 9 with no assistant and they are 15 months - 5yr. 4 in diapers and the rest can pretty much dress themselves.

I keep their suits here but could probably ask for the kids to come screened in the morning and then I could re-apply after nap for our 2nd outdoor play time.

I don't use the spray sunscreen so I think that's why it may take me a little longer to get everyone screened and ready.

[Country Kids]

The OP said "it takes 30-45 mins just to get them dressed and sunscreened. And then getting them dressed takes another 30-45 mins."

I have as many as eight kids and PAY someone to do this.

If I have her doing what sunflower is talking about then she doesn't get the other tasks done that I hire her to do. If she doesn't get them done I have to pay her for additional hours of work. That cost me money.

My staff assistant does laundry, cleans, sorts, inspects and cleans toys, peels and chops food, does receipts, does some keyboard work, etc. etc. for the business. She does these while the kids are UP and playing toys. If she takes an hour and a half to set up/tear down, dress kids etc. AND supervise water play she doesn't have TIME to get the things done that she does while they are up and free playing.

Please don't take this wrong Nanny but what do you do?

[squareone]

We do some form of water play one day a week - either sprinklers or pool. I have 6 kids and no assistant and let me tell you it such a PAIN PAIN PAIN getting the kids changed and sunscreened for the pool and then getting them dried off and redressed. 3 out of the 6 I have are plenty old enough that they should be able to handle themselves but unfortunately they always require some sort of assistance from me. Takes us about 30 minutes to get out the door. So, we spend more time dressing and redressing than we actually spend at the pool. Hardly seems worth it but the kids love it so I do it. I don't think I'd be able to handle more than 1 day a week though unless I had an assistant.

[BusyBee]

Please don't take this wrong Nanny but what do you do?

I was wondering the same thing... Esp with the whole "go play toys" philosophy. Not being mean, but really wondering...

[Lucy]

Please don't take this wrong Nanny but what do you do?

Where's that "like" button when you need it???????

[mac60]

I used to do waterplay, but not anymore. I use to set up the sprinkler regularly, go thru the changing of the clothes, the sunscreen, all of the hassle involved in "waterplay", only to have them stand there and look at the sprinkler while it is running, not getting wet because it was "too cold", or else running thru it and being out of control only to slip and fall and cry, it got to be old. Some kids liked it, some hated it. Then it was my yard, it was trashed from waterplay. For all the hassle and tearing up of my yard, it no longer was worth it for a few minutes of water time. Plus, some of my families have pools, and a sprinkler can't even come close to the fun of a pool. And the biggest reason I quit doing it, parents simply would not remember to bring in extra clothes, a swimsuit, etc. I got tired of asking. Life in the summer is much easier without waterplay.

[nannyde]

Please don't take this wrong Nanny but what do you do?

I'm a national consultant for child care. http://daycarewhisperer.webs.com/ I currently consult with two centers by watching their cameras and training their staff. I have two other center contracts currrently working on their health policies. I do individual counselling for providers three to four times a week. I am currently working out an agreement with a radio station to do guest appearance on a radio show about children. That should start in the begining of August. (fingers crossed)

I have a home child care that operates twelve hours a day. I operate it by myself about five to six hours per day. I have staff for six to seven hours per day.

I also have a little gig on daycare.com https://www.daycare.com/nannyde/ where I write a blog and participate in this board.

I'm very busy.

Oh and I am doing a new venture called "Swap-a Mook" where I take WDMMom's perfect angel child for a week and then she takes my blue eyed devil son for a week. We'll see how that goes... I may start a fourth business. ::

[CheekyChick]

The OP said "it takes 30-45 mins just to get them dressed and sunscreened. And then getting them dressed takes another 30-45 mins."

I have as many as eight kids and PAY someone to do this.

If I have her doing what sunflower is talking about then she doesn't get the other tasks done that I hire her to do. If she doesn't get them done I have to pay her for additional hours of work. That cost me money.

My staff assistant does laundry, cleans, sorts, inspects and cleans toys, peels and chops food, does receipts, does some keyboard work, etc. etc. for the business. She does these while the kids are UP and playing toys. If she takes an hour and a half to set up/tear down, dress kids etc. AND supervise water play she doesn't have TIME to get the things done that she does while they are up and free playing.

It seems your assistant is more like your personal assistant, rather than an assistant that works with the children. Why can't you ask the person who works "hands on" with the children at your center/home to do that task? It just wouldn't seem like summer if children weren't allowed to run through the sprinklers.

Edit: I just finished reading the rest of your responses... Without judgement, it seems your simple answer of "don't want to" or being "over it" (water play) wouldn't cut it with me if my child was in your care. Your DP's pay you good money to give their children a fun/normal summer, which should include some form of water play (sprinklers, slip and slide, water tables). Childhood memories are built around water play, popsicles, and eating pb&j's snuggled in warm blankets in the shade after a fun day in the sun. You should know this after being in the "business" for over 30 years.

Lastly, I have to assume you (or your staff) already spends the time applying sunscreen to the children before they play outside. Would it be that hard to simply throw a swimsuit on them? In my opinion, applying sunscreen is what is most time consuming.

[Happy Daycare Worker]

"My staff assistant does laundry, cleans, sorts, inspects and cleans toys, peels and chops food, does receipts, does some keyboard work, etc. etc. for the business. She does these while the kids are UP and playing toys. If she takes an hour and a half to set up/tear down, dress kids etc. AND supervise water play she doesn't have TIME to get the things done that she does while they are up and free playing."


Wow. I guess dc centers have different rules. We aren't allowed to anything BUT watch children that are under our care. I'm sure our parents would have a fit if we were caught on the computer instead of minding their kids. If other jobs need to be done, then we must bring in another asst (or our Director) to cover. When it comes to doing the daily sanitizing of toys or rooms... we can't even do that in the same room the children are present. It's done at the end of the day, once all children have left or are in another room. Maybe it's an insurance thing.

And no matter how hot it gets, our rules state that we must take the children outside every day. To force them out in sweltering temps & not let them cool down would be cruel, even dangerous. We aren't allowed to have pools, but do use water tables and sprinklers. It really doesn't take that much time... most come in w/suits & sunscreen already on. And it sure makes them good and tired come nap time!