What do you do all day with your mindees?

[LovingTheRain]

This is going to sound silly but i was wondering what you do all day to keep them entertained without the use of the TV!

Would love to know a kind of run down of what happens in the day.

Am thinking of becoming a CM but don't know how i could amuse them all day?

TIA

My daily routine goes a bit like this......

8:30 head off for school run
9:am back from school run let LOs have half an hour or so of free play while I tidy up and prepare stuff for the day.Then they have a quick drink and snack.
Then we do some sort of activity like going out to toddler group, out for a nice walk, park feed ducks etc, maybe go to library, shops, visit someone for a playdate (another cm). Or we mayhave a morning in where we get craft stuff out or do painting or baking or something. I try and get back for about 11.30 ish so they can have a quiet wind down time before lunch. I let them watch a little bit of cbeebies while I prepare the lunches. Then it's lunch time followed by tidy up time and then story time. Then they start going down to naps. When they wake up we do quiet activities like puzzles or colouring until they are all awake and then it's time to get ready for afternoon school run. Squeeze in a quick afternoon snack before we go. Pick up from school 3.15pm and if it's not raining we go to the park on the way home for 15 mins or so. back home by 4pm and then it's another period of free play, they acn choose to go out in the garden or play with what ever toys they want. As and when I can I pack up teh little ones bags and updates their diaries etc make sure everything is ready for going home time incase parents come early. Try to have a tidy up time too so house is presentable when parents arrive, los always help me pack toys away etc. If there is any time left we sit and read books or something until mums/dads arrive. normal hometime is 5pm then I get on to cook tea! It's a busy day and goes so fast.

I always have 3 under 3s every morning. On Monday we go to a Tiddler music group, Tuesday the library, Wednesday soft play, Thursday toddler group and Friday Rhyme Time. By the time you fit in free play before and after and snacktime/storytime, then lunch, theres really not time to do anything else. I have 4/5 children in the afternoon. I do a nursery run and 2 schoolruns, playpark, come back have snack do some crafts/painting/playing then dinner, then home.

Hope this helps

It's helpful for me, I have two 2 year olds and I'm finding it hard to keep them happy all day. Activities I plan for an hour only seem to occupy them for 10minutes!

my best friend is a childminder
every morning they go to a planned activity, so toddler groups, play gym, swimming, storytime at the library
in the afternoon they go to the park, feed the ducks, go to the museum, mooch round town, meet friends

I think the difference btw a sahm and a childminder is things need to be planned, you need to tell the parents what you have done, you can't sit at home all day doing your housework for example, it's a job like any other but without a lunch break

I'm the opposite - we do go out but it's a big event

So we pootle round all day the children tending to pick the activities with us occasionally getting toys out or directing play

It's lovely

I find they enjoy lots of free play, and I think that's the best kind but I find that I get bored. They also tend to argue more during free play so I'm trying to get the balance of planned vs free just right.

What do you do while they have their free play? DO you have to watch them to make sure they are okay or can you get on with other jobs?

you have to watch them surely
unless by other jobs you mean cooking their tea?
cleaning your bathroom for example should be dne when they've gone home, until it is them who've wee'd all over the loo, lol

We often go to toddler groups, but most of our time is led by the children and the day just whizzes by, because we are all so busy. (I just try and make sure they have something entertaining and absorbing to do while I make lunch)

While they freeplay I:

Sit with them offering vocabulary
Play in parallel
Cook their Lunch/Tea & clear up
Write observations on what they are doing
Take photos
Keep uptodate with the never ending filing
Write their diaries & stick aforementioned photos in
Clear up craft stuuf
Prepare another activity

I wouldn't have time to clean my house.....I need a cleaner for that

While they free play I either join in with whatever they are doing or potter about tidying, preparing things for later on doing odd little chores. Our downstairs is pretty open plan so I can watch them easily.

During free play I always supervise. Sometimes I join in and sometimes I get on with other things. I think it's good for them to play without adult involvement sometimes. I can always see them though. I do watch TV for 10 minutes while they are playing most days. And I mean ONLY 10 minutes. I work long hours and need to sit down occasionally!

Like KatyMac says, you have to do the cleaning and cooking at some point...

this thred has really helped me ill calm down my days a bit as i have felt in the past that if i wasnt doing an activtie i was being lazy thanks

I feel a bit lazy when I'm not doing an activity aswell missy but I remind myself that it is good for childen to play without an adult sometimes (when I think back to my childhood, I played all day with friends, not grown ups) and people have chosen a childminder for a home environment, not a min nursery.

painting, model making, singing,dancing,park
library free play, playdoh, garden play, drawing, local shops, simple cooking, planting seeds, gardning...
I dont do any cleaning or housework, the parents arnt paying me for that. I am a working mum (cm) and do that in the evenings and weekends.

The housework I do, is the work needed as a result of childminding, like providing food, cleaning dishes, sterilising toys, because that is part of my job and what I'm being paid for. I don't spend 2 hours doing my iroining....

Can I ask, what toys/resources do childminders find they use the most at home? I don't have a lot yet and want to collect more toys, but I want to make sure I'm buying things that they really use.

small world toys like ELC happyland are the favourites in this house.

thebody - I presume you clear away the food in the kitchen etc. when finished as wouldn't be hygenic not to! That's what cleaning I do!! I then spend an hour or so, after they've gone home, tidying and cleaning for the next day and the rest of my housework is done at the weekend. I couldn't imagine a day where NO cleaning or tidying was done - the place would be a right state for them!!!

looneytoon, Of course I get them food, drinks and tidy up messes, ie after painting, what I meant was household cleaning as in doing the family's bedrooms or cleaning the bathroom, you know what I mean, dont nitpick...not an attractive trait..