CALLING CHILDMINDERS ...what do you do with mindees of 1?

My current mindees are all one year old, which includes two 12-month olds - we go out somewhere each morning (toddler group, soft play, music group). We also do lots of singing, sharing books and emptying out of toy boxes!

I don't feel too guilty about not sending home artistic works of art for the littlies, but do send home daily diaries which show just how much we have achieved in our day (built the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower, crawled the length the the Great Wall of China, counted to ten at least a million times, and generally put the world to rights).

I have two 1 year old mindees. I think it really depends on the child - my 14 month old loves to do crafty stuff but the 16 month old is just not interested and has the attention span of about 10 seconds! I take 16 month old to playgroup and she will have opportunities to join in playing with sand, water, a craft activity, cooking or generally free play type of stuff - she usually chooses playing with kitchen utensils and dolls which she loves. The 14 month old loves glueing, sticking and scribbling with crayons (closely supervised as he also likes to try to eat them). He loves to just go around the room looking at posters and loves construction type of things. I don't have both these 1 years olds on the same day so I will always have a four month old, a one year old and a 3 year old - I generally try to involve the 1 year olds in whatever we are doing - singing, dancing, stories, puppetry or whatever, even the four month old sits on my lap while we do our arts and craft!

I look after a I yr old for one day a week and two 3 year olds for four days. Its much harder with little one cos he just wants the others stuff to destroy I usually put him in high chair and do crafty stuff with him while the others are at the play table next to us Do drawing painting soft dough most days but don't always send stuff home, have it on display for a while.
We do more dressing up story telling singing and dancing, pretending etc
I made a pro forma with all the information I want to give parents/carers, takes about 5 mins to complete
Its hard when you are going to nursery school in am with one child, Cwlch Meithrin in pm with the other. Some days I feel as tho I've really let them down re organized stuff but we do sing walking down the road and look at trees birds the sea etc

When ds was just one, I had a mindee of just one. I didn't do a huge amount of creative stuff with them as I was still learning - I didn't even know what ds could do. I had her two mornings a week, one morning we went to playgroup, the other we stayed in, they played together, and I got out toys, arty bits, etc.

I started minding twins just then of one and a half.. so three one year olds kept my hands full. I've not done a lot of painting with them, as they gang up on me and then start painting the walls etc.. at the end of the day it's my house. It is a little different in a nursery because if something stains, noone minds.

I do a creative activity a day, whether it's just scribbling on paper, magic maize, painting.. even magic painting, writing letters etc (they're 2 and a half now) also do small play activity every day, physical play... etc.

Used to take them to playgroup twice a week (have them three days) but it closed down. I dont' think they miss out though because I meet up with other childminders every day, so there's always other kids. No other playgroups are friendly though.

They don't have something to take home every day.. usually once or twice a week they'll have something, a picture, cakes, photos, decorated something.... I'm happy with what I do with them. I give mum a daily diary (it's recommended for under 3s) and she knows what they've been up to.

Thats really good - did you write it? there seems to be a few little poems popping up and there all really good.

I try to do at least one creative/messy activity a week with my mindees (2yrs and 3yrs) but to tell you the truth they don't really enjoy it and they don't seem to have a very long concentration span they get bored after 5 minutes and then want the toys out.

I would love to more messy play with them but it's the cost aswell (I'm not a penny pincher, I only have 2 mindees part time) and at the moment - before having to replace paints, glue, bits for sticking etc I only see 2/3 (at the most) of my fees which is not alot.

Sorry went off the topic

mosschops have you asked her to write a daily diary? If you ask her I'm sure she will do one for you and then after reading what your ds has been doing you will feel better about it

DEFFO BRILL poem

I love arts & crafts and its easy to adapt most of these to suit a wide age range. But not all childminders are keen to do messy stuff and also not all children are enthusiastic about taking part!

There's plenty more to do in the day, but these things don't always produce an end result, so ask your childminder to keep a diary, take photos or take time to talk to you about what they've been doing.

Oh, what a busy morning!
I've been playing with the dough,
And with a little help,
On a card I've learned to sew.
I've helped my friend 'Nurse Sarah',
To perform an operation,
Then fixed the track together,
And built a little station.
I popped inside the home corner,
To make a cup of tea,
And stood beside the cooker,
Making lunch for 23.
I completed 3 whole jigsaws,
And played a brand new game,
And had a ride on all the bikes,
The slide and climbing frame.
I handed round the biscuits,
At milk and biscuit time,
Then listened to a story,
And sang a Nursery Rhyme.
But now the mornings over,
And the mummies are all waiting,
I hope my Mother doesn't say,
"I wish you'd done a painting"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Each to their own florenceuk I do what i do because i enjoy it, and because i enjoy it my ds does too. If i didnt enjoy (as you dont) then i wouldnt do it (as you dont)

Mmm, I have a 16mth old and I have not let her do painting as I can't stand the mess! DS had to wait to go to playgroup to do it, and it was only when I was confident he wouldn't tip the paint over or glue himself to the wall (about 3) that we did arty crafty things at home. Does this mean I've permanently hindered his artistic development?

ok ...look out for this thread when i get some children in .....cos I know i wont change. Have done it before (maybe not in a childminding capacity) but have done it. I will be quite willing to take back all i have said if proven wrong

Message withdrawn

yup registered but just havent taken any children in yet ....but do have some idea about what its like ....have experience

Mosschops30 - I still don't think that you should expect a 13 month old to be doing lots of creative "sponge painting and making cards" type of stuff as your friend's ds does at nursery. We have a very full and active day, lots of singing, reading, rough and tumble, cuddles etc. etc. Our "creative" stuff usually involves noise, not paint!

As FeelingOld says, I also send home a daily diary which outlines most of what we've done. Parents know that just because they haven't got a painted masterpiece at the end of the day, doesn't mean that we've sat around all day doing nothing.

Mosschops - does your childminder tell you what they've done during the day? Do you think she'd start doing a diary for you? (OFSTED love them!)

Message withdrawn

No you are probably right, over-stimulation was the wrong term. I shall try and think of the right one.

personally i dont think i over-stimulate my ds

My childminder takes dd (21 months) to playgroup once a week and takes her swimming most weeks, but that's it for organised activities. In the afternoon they play with toys and go to pick the big children up from school. The rest of the time they do things like go to the market/shops, go to the library, and small excursions to visit friends - nothing specifically toddler oriented, but day to day things which imo are just as interesting and educational for her. I take dd to a playgroup on my day off and sometimes I really don't know why I bother going because she doesn't seem to enjoy it or get anything from it. I think all this over-stimulation is unnecessary in ones so young as 12/13 months - a good routine, love and continuity are much more important at this early age. And children in nurseries don't go for long walks/to the park/for trips on buses and trains which are things your childminder won't bother to mention but which would be much more exciting and stimulating to your ds.
I'll send mine to nursery for more structured activities later when she'll get more from it.

A good thing to do is to get good communication going about his development so that in a few months time if you are still keen that they do it you could ask about what creative things they do and then suggest it to see how she would feel. You could always try and suggest now in fact.
If you are happy with your CM then you are lucky and I shouldn't worry too much - they're the same as a good granny/aunt IMHO.

I don't do lots of craft with my children (whether 1 or 8) - it's not my thing

The children here have lots of experiences with in science, cookery, literature, music, maths & history

I would be upset to think that because they aren't producing "art" or "craft" they were not learning and growing

Do you get a daily diary?
For all pre-schoolers I write a daily diary for parents, to include not only naptimes, nappy changes etc but also a rough guide of what we have done that day. You can't write everything down in it cos haven't got the time, but if we sing songs and the mindees play some instruments I would try to write it down, or if we have played in the sand etc. I also take photos of things we do and put them in a scrapbook along with some of their work that I keep back and I do for this for every mindee.

nzshar - if we are doing something "creative" (ie. messy), I always involve the youngest ones in some way. They love to eat crayons, sand and playdough!

It is unusual for me to have three such young children all at the same time - I currently have two 12 month olds plus a 14 month or 19 month old. With the best will in the world, it is not possible to keep control over three very small children all trying to drink paint at the same time. If I had a couple of older and more capable toddlers and one "baby", then I could supervise the baby far more easily.

We go out somewhere most mornings - soft play, music group, toddler group. We do lots of fun activities at home - books, singing, cuddles, etc (all the "usual" things). The "very messy" activities are not so high up on my agenda right now unless at least one of them is asleep!

My childminder took them to playgroup most mornings. They'd come back for lunch, have a sleep, and go and collect the 'big ones' from school. I think it is reasonable to expect an activity most days - I'm perfectly happy for that not to happen every day, and indeed if she packs them all off into a gang to go shopping every so often, as long as that basic routine's there! They certainly learned songs, made cards, did painting, and got out a lot.

ahhh see it wouldnt just be for them ....and i dont think every single activity ....just the firsts or the event activities ...i have a whole wall that is dedicated to my ds's artwork and it has photos and all. Its just my way

Message withdrawn

sorry that last post sounded rather concieted ,,,,will bow out now