I came across a question on Facebook were a person who was just starting a career as a registered child minder asked how many toys she needed to begin with.
Anyone wanting to become a child minder ( and why wouldn’t you) more here needs to get the essentials sorted first, that is, registering with Ofsted or other agency, public liability insurance, paperwork, such as contracts, a register, accident book and child information sheets ,Plus attend a few training courses like a first aid and a pre- registration course.
They will also obviosly need to have some toys and things for the children to do while they are with the child minder.
)When I first started minding I used my own children’s toys that they had outgrown ( as I have 4 sons, I had quite a selection of toys put together in a box). I also had a good choice of books to share with the children.
The provided paint, colouring pencils and crayons in the early days were always popular with the children in my care.
As time went on I slowly increased my number of toys, by visiting car boot sales and charity shops. Remember to ask for a receipt even from a car boot seller; take a notebook and pen along with you, as these items are tax deductible more here
Books can be borrowed from the library and if you tell the librarian that you are an early years educator you should get a ticket that enables you to borrow more books than on a standard library ticket more on libraries here
As the years went by and I gained more and more children to care for I also bought items such as high chairs, pushchairs, car seats and potties!
Please share what resources you had when starting out as a registered child minder by leaving me a comment: Which I love to recieve and always reply to in due course.
Until next time.
Karen
x
Linked with
Discover more from The Next Best Thing To Mummy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
What a wonderful resource for someone interested in child minding.
Your neighbor at AnythingGoesLinky#8
Thanks, Paula
Thanks so much for taking the time to write your lengthy reply, Kirsten
Id say the following are important a variety of books, board, paper back, fact and fiction as reading is so important , building blocks , a tea set , a ball , small world animals and people , some small vehicles.
I started when my son was 2 years 9 months and my daughter was 6 months so already had a varied collection of toys , over the last 17 years I have bought and been given many more based on childrens interests.
Car boots , charity shops , sale stock.
But things that the children are interested in.
I have 5 heuristic boxes which I have made up over the years from random bits and pieces and 8 story sacks which are very easy to make, having toys & items that feature in the stories can hold a child’s interest for longer than just reading the book , but isn’t necessary.
Don’t feel you need everything.
Good luck to anyone starting out.
From all at Kirsten’s House
Thanks for taking the time to leave your lengthy comment, Kirsten
There’s a lot of things to think about when setting up as a child minder. thanks for linking with #pocolo
More than you would think, thanks for stopping by
Found this post when visiting the SSPS Link Party #270. I love the variety of resources you offer in your child minding setting! My blogging partner and I are grandmas (and retired kindergarten teachers) and we each often take care of our Littles, too! Our blog, “Our Grand Lives” offers ideas of ways to engage with children from infancy through elementary age! We’d love to have you check us out!
I’ll take a look, Laura