This is a question that I have been asked:-
When I was a child minder I did allow the children to bring their own toys occasionally, but they and often their parents had to understand that they would need to share them with the other children. ( my own children were told that if they brought toys down from their bedrooms they too would have to share them with the minded children)
How child minding benefits your own children here.
The children I was looking after would sometimes bring their own toy as a source of comfort.
Settling in a new child here.
One child would bring his teddy bear to cuddle during his nap; he would leave it in his bag until I got it for him when I put him upstairs for his sleep.
This worked well as his mother said the bear was special and didn’t really want anyone else to use it, that was until I was campaigning to get my local park upgraded here .
the local news were coming to do some filming ( I had written permission from all the parents to do this).
The cameraman asked me to read the children a story which he would film giving my business a ‘plug’ as well as awareness of the campaign.
It wasn’t until that evening when I sat down to watch the news that I saw a little girl cuddling the teddy, she must have sneaked into the hall where I kept the children’s bags while we were occupied by the story!
Another child once brought 2 identical toys with him; one for him and the other for the second boy I had that day, they were Star wars light sabers, which they both enjoyed playing with together.
We all enjoyed playing a child’s board game, but she thought that as it was her game from home she could cheat in order to win.
As I lived near the park I asked parents if they would like to bring in their child’s bikes or scooters so we could spend an afternoon riding around the park; this was great fun.
I would be interested to hear if other child minders have allowed children to bring their own toys.
As always questions and comments are welcome.
Until next time.
Karen
x
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At the moment no, my policy is anything that comes into the house stays here but normally provided parents and children understand the consequences and the children are willing to let other children use/play with them yes
Obviously the covid has caused some issues with children bringing toys from home, I totally get that, Clare, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts
No , we already have enough resources to cover ever area if learning . If children bring their own there’s issues of hygiene , sharing and if it gets lost or broken whose responsible ? We do enough to include their family life into our settings without added toys. A comforter is ok as it can help settle during first few sessions and also they can have for nap times.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Julie
Hmmm…one more piece of evidence that the world is not the same.
That’s true, thanks Michelle
I think there is a comfort for some children in having a special toy of their own that’s a shame to remove in our hygiene obsessed new world.
With the thret from the corona virus hygiene has to be paramount at the moment, thanks for your comment
It’s not actually from my son, it’s a letter that a friend’s daughter wrote to her and she said that I could use it, thanks for stopping by
I think there is pro with comfort and help settle a child. Downside is kids arguing over their toys or other children missing out. X #stayclassymama
I think that you are spot on, thanks for stopping by
When I was a teacher, we had a very strict no toys from home policy however I think it’s different for little ones. When my son went to nursery, he had a cuddly dog that was just for nursery so that he had a comfort if he needed it but if it got lost it wasn’t the end of the world! #ThatFridayLinky
Tricky. My eldest had a comforter that he couldn’t be without so he took it to preschool but was devastated when anyone took it. In the end we compromised and he kept it in his bag so it was close but not easy for others to grab. Thanks for linking up with #dreamteam
Thanks for making me your featured blogger, appreciate it, Laura
I think that the comfort toy is probably a good idea but that’s where I would draw the line. Children brining their own toys from home would just create more problems than they solve. #StayClassyMama
Mine go to nursery and aren’t allowed to bring their own toys for the simple reason there would be too many and they don’t have the space! #DreamTeamLinky
I guess different settings have their own different rules thanks for stopping by and sharing
That’s a really interesting question. At one setting mine was encouraged to bring a toy or two to share based on a theme each week. But at a different setting there was a policy about not bringing anything in (unless if was for specific comforting reasons). I’m not sure either was better, but having a no toy policy meant there were no tears over them. Thank you for joining us for the #DreamTeamLinky
Thanks, Annette I presume that different settings have reasons for their different rules
I probably wouldn’t encourage my daughter to bring her own toys with her because she is so sensitive that if something happened to one of them it honestly wouldn’t be worth listening to her. I generally advise her to leave her own toys at home where they are safe. But a very interesting question to raise. I had never considered it before. Great idea for a blog post! #globalblogging
Thanks, Tracey
I think that parents will know what is the best thing to do regarding toys belonging to their children
I think it can be beneficial to bring a toy in for a specific purpose but everyone needs to be aware of ownership and property protection. Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama
My kids took a cuddly toy that lived at the childminder’s for naptimes and comfort, and sometimes took a toy but generally we didn’t, due to it possibly getting lost (and I think childminders have enough to deal with without hunting down my kids lost toys) #stayclassymama
That sounds quite sensible, thanks for sharing, Karen