Do you have Matchbox Cars in your Daycare Area?

[Crazy8]

with the talk about separating ages and toys to occupy kids, etc. I was thinking about matchbox type cars.... do you have them in your daycare area? Especially if you have little ones (under 3's). Do you feel they are safe enough to have in a play area?

[PitterPatter]

with the talk about separating ages and toys to occupy kids, etc. I was thinking about matchbox type cars.... do you have them in your daycare area? Especially if you have little ones (under 3's). Do you feel they are safe enough to have in a play area?

I have those and construction vehicles etc but I keep them along with other small animals and such in a medium size snap bin on the top shelf not reachable by the kids. That way when the kids all want to play together (age groups) I have a common item of interest. I sit right with them during the time the play with anything from that bin tho. We make ramps from paper towel tubes and garages from kleenex boxes among other things just to help the kids use their imaginations with other common household object besides toys.

[Cat Herder]

My two and ups have them during individual "break-out" play sessions.

They love them..

[sharlan]

I only have a 3 & 4 yo, we have about 200 matchbox cars and 1/2 as many trains.

[littlemommy]

I recently saw a show called "Your kid swallowed what?!" There was a 3 year old boy that swallowed one of those cars. That seems awfully large to go down a child's throat, but it did! I have since taken all toys with small parts like that and put them away.

I let my 18 month old play with toys like that if I am right there playing with him.

[Crazy8]

thanks. my 5 year old loves them. I make him keep them in the family room but he loves to bring them in the playroom to use with the train table/tracks, etc. Come Sept. my crew is younger - so I will probably keep them out of there for a while longer.

[nannyde]

I have a bin of them which is by invite only. We take them out when the right kids are out on the floor. We don't allow them at all for kids under three and the three year olds and up have to be supervised with them and NOT be a kid that puts things in their mouth.

We have the full collection of "Cars" cars which the kids are into right now.

[MarinaVanessa]

We have the full collection of "Cars" cars which the kids are into right now.

Us too. I keep them around for the 3-5 yo's and for the "right kids". Not all kids can play with them properly and end up crashing them together roughly. The older they are, they rougher they play it seems. If they can't play with them nice then they put back up, if they get put in their mouths, they get put back up.

[Crystal]

I have lots of hotwheels. They are always accessible in the block area and outside.

[DCMom]

I have an entire drawer full of them in the block/building area. They are one of the most played with toys in the daycare! I can only recall one child who would try and bite the wheels off of them, but that was years ago.

[permanentvacation]

No matchbox cars here. But I am currently only offering care for ages 6 weeks - 4 years old. When I had school aged kids and a bigger home which allowed me to completely seperate the older children from the younger ones, the oder kids (school age) did have matchbox cars.

[KEG123]

Ocassionally one will sneak downstairs from my sons room, but generally no. I worry too much. Especially about my 1.5 year old who mouths everything.

[youretooloud]

Probably under the fridge.

I quit buying them because the kids can never find them and clean them up.

[dEHmom]

the dinkies/hotwheels/matchbox or whatever else you call them cars are all my husbands. yep, you heard me. last time we counted a few years back he was up to about 3000, and he's probably quadrupled that by now. he knows EVERY SINGLE one that he has, right down to the color of it.

Daycare kids all get play with it, as my own ds's play with them daily, BUT I only allow them out of the kids room and the dck's can play with them IF i am right there. Because i worry too much about the wheels coming off. Also, if one of them gets lost it's on me. My DH would never let me live it down.

[countrymom]

I have them, my ds loves them and since I have only dcb's they all love to play with them. I have one that found one like his dads car and carries it around and tells me that that its "my dad's fast car" how cute is that. Kids need to use thier imagination esp. boys and the cars are great.