CM's: Your daily routine? (Toddlers.)

[somanymiles]

For CM's with toddlers - just wondering what your daily routine is like? I have two toddlers: DS and his cousin, a girl, both approaching 2 years old. Our day looks like this:

8.15 am - 9.15 am - "free" play - they can play with toys, or read a book with me, or often we put on music and dance. This time is unstructured and tbh this is when the children are most grouchy/likely to fight etc
9.15 am - 9.30 am - get ready for play group and walk to playgroup (except once a week when we drive to a playgroup that is a bit further away)
9.30 am - 11.30 am - play group (with a snack at 10.30 am)
11.30 am - bottles of milk all round and they usually fall asleep in the buggy on the way home
11.45 am - 12.45/1.45 pm - nap time. My DS wakes up about an hour before my mindee and we usually have a quiet cuddle, read books or have an early lunch
1.45 pm - 2.15 pm - lunch
2.15 - 3.30 pm - free play again, usually a lot calmer than morning - if it is sunny we will go into the garden. Big kids also arrive home from school and might spend 15 mins playing with little ones.
3.30 pm - 3.45 pm - snack time
3.45 pm - 4.45 pm - free play

What is your day like? Do you have more structured play at this age? Just wondering if I should be doing that or not.

My day is similar in that we tend to go out to playgroups in the morming, except I try to keep my toddlers awake until lunch (which can be tricky if they are very active in the morning), we have lunch about 12 and then they nap usually until about 2 (during which time I tidy, start preparing tea and get something ready for the after-schoolies to do). We then have a quietish hour or so for stories and rhymes etc before the big kids return and we have snacks. I usually prepare some sort of craft activity for the after-schoolers which the toddlers sometimes join in, sometimes not. I think your day sounds fine if it works for you. I think I would find lunch and tea too close together if we had lunch that late. Mine all stay for tea and I finish at about 6.

I mind 2 one year olds and a two year old along with my own two year old (not all together at the same time!). Our routine is generally:

8.15 breakfast then out on school run
9am -11am playgroup
11 - 12.30 nap
12.30 lunch

1-3pm will usually be an activity or 2 followed by free play.

3.40/4pm - back from school run and free play
5pm dinner

Every week I plan activities so I set up a 'discovery box' just a small box full of interesting objects usually with a theme - sometimes fabric, sometimes wood, sometimes metal. I plan a sensory activity for the week (rice/beans/gloop/shaving foam etc etc). We will usually do baking once a week and a couple of arty activities. I don't do all of this every day but just knowing that I have a few things up my sleeve means I can distract if they're getting antsy and fighting. We also spend a lot of time in the garden and I try and get to the park once a week.

Would love to have lunch earlier but mindee is often up by 5.30 am so is too tired to eat lunch by 12. But yes, it does make lunch and snack very close together!

LingDiLong, I love the idea of a discovery box. Sensory play is a bit trickier as everything still goes in mindee's mouth. Same for baking I imagine (raw dough), also mindee's Mum not keen on sugar but suppose I could try egg-free cheese twists! For art I sometimes get the crayons out, but not brave enough to try anything else. My DS is fine with playdough, but mindee still eats it unless I watch like a hawk. They sometimes have it at playgroup. what other arty things do you do?

I do edible sensory stuff - so rice krispies, jelly, squirty cream, tapioca, homemade moon sand (flour and oil basically). So it doesn't really matter if they also eat it. This week we made tuna and cheese pasties - no sugar and no raw egg so it didn't matter if raw ingredients got tasted.

We paint a lot and, yep, paint gets eaten a bit but it's non toxic. If you're really worried though you can make your own finger paint using cornflour and food colouring. Painting with feet is also fun and less likely to get eaten that way! We also have aqua mats which they love.

sensory stuff:

painting with non toxic paint and cooked spaghetti or cut veggies and fruit

cookie/biscuit dough is fine (egg free), let the children shape as they will and bake after

oats in a tray with vehicles/animals/scoops and bowls (I wouldn't use rice or lentils with a child who still liked to explore with their mouth)

jelly play

my days go something like:
breakfast
free play
snack
out and about, usually meet a fellow minder and her charges; we live in a socking great forest so spend heaps of time in the open air, tracking deer, hugging trees, thick oozy mud, leaf collecting, feeding ducks, chasing butterflies (more of a summer one, that one lol) yadda yadda; we go to one group a week. we go on the bus, go to park, cafes, museum, library, lots else too
lunch
nap depending on the child, if no nap then pre prepared activity depending on the child's interests
free play
snack
hometime

NB freeflow in the summer, it's just not practical in winter; Ofsted happy with this (OS at last insp)

NNB not keen on tele so very rarely on, usually in half terms we might have a DVD session with popcorn for the older ones who come hols only

NNNB no babies at the mo, I would tweak to accommodate naps/milk feeds etc

I have a free play setting. We do go to stay and play places when we can. As we are flexible here with the children coming and going we don't do themes or planned activities for the group.

Ooh, I love the great edible sensory play ideas! Thanks all, you have inspired me!