Nursery Layouts.....what works well?

[Katymac]

As you know I am in the depths of planning a nursery

What layouts work really well?
What is a bad idea?

How would you change your nursery?

Whether you are a Parent or Work in a Nursery I would be interested in your opinion

TIA
KMc

OK I have 4 rooms

under 2's
2-3's
3-5's
group room

I also have a kitchen/staff room/disabled/staff loo/boys loos/girls loos/storage to fit in somewhere

bump

You might find this quite useful you can have a virtual nosey round some nurseries, if you click into each nursery and go to home page

nursery link

Thanks for that Seb - but they are all pretty pictures rather than "put the toilets next to the 3-5 room" type stuff I need (IYSWIM)

But thanks for the thought I will bookmark it - for when I am doing the room layouts

I don't think it's usual to split the toilets into boys and girls - at my dd's nursery the loos are off the 3-5 room and both boys and girls use the same one (same with the other 2 nurseries we looked at)
What they had (before 1/2 of it burned down in December!) is a baby room joined with an older baby room - meant that the babies could be separated for naps but could be around the slightly older ones at other times. Toddler room - split into messy room (paint, water play etc) general room and quiet room . Finally the 3-5 room which is one large open plan area split into messy area, quiet area etc.
Each age group have their own toilet / baby change area and kitchen.
I think it's all great!
What I would love them to have - if there was space / money - would be a large indoor area for running about / soft play. After the fire, some kids were moved to the local community centre on a temporary basis with access to a large gym and that was great.

We will need to at least for the older Outofschool club children - they need separate loos

Not saying whether this is good or bad but our nursery is like this. Two entrances. One entrance to baby (under 1s) room and toddler (1-2) room with a corridor in between with pegs for hanging belongings. Eeach room has its own bell. The baby room has a kitchenette off it with sink, fridge, bottle warmer, miocrowave. The toddler room also has a fridge and sink. And a door that links through into the 3-5 room.

The other entrance is right at the other side of the nursery and opens into a cloakroom for the 2-5s. The toilets are off this with a number of little toilets and one full size (staff) toilet. Off this to one side is the "activity" room with hard floor, painting, play dough, sand and water activities and to the other side the 3-5s room. Through the 3-5s room is the 2-3s room with a corner boarded off with toilets and potty area (most potty training goes on in this room). There is also access to the office and kitchens from these rooms.

Make sure the entrance area is big enough, the nursery I worked at was in an old house so no choice, it was really cramped and parents trying to load up kids in to buggies and put coats on take up a lot of room, same for when staff are getting kids ready to go out.

Also they found it hard to keep an eye on the entry door. I think a double barrier at the door is best security wise, ie once in the front door they have to pass a desk, fence, gate type barrier to get to the kids. Means kids can freely move to and from rooms and toilets with out being able to access the door direct.

In our nursery 2 rooms share a toilet/baby changing bit - rooom either side, each with an entrance to the toilets/changing bit in the middle (which also has storage for coats and spare clothes etc in the babies and toddlers bit, but not for the age 2 upwards). Seems to work well. So there are 6 rooms, but 3 bathrooms, IYSWIM.

For under twos room the sleeping area can be partitioned of rather than completly seperate so it can be supervised from the main room, older kids might not need need a seperate sleeping area if they all have an afternoon nap together, if numbers allow older kids could nap in baby area if the rest of 2-3's and 3-5's are still on the go.

Nice staff room , things like a window,k soundproofing, and comfy seats will make you popular, rather than a plastic chair in the corner of a store room.

I really worry about the entrance/lobby area

I really like air-lock type entrancese currently we have a door with a gate then a self closing gate further down the ramp

My staff room will have a window definatley, not sure about additional soundproofing...I'll have to look at that

I am hpoing to have a spare room 9-3 but it will be termtime only...I don't know if that will be good enough

Soundproofing is just wishful thinking .

An interior gate/desk/fence combo should be enough, put the catch on the outside of the gate, gate high enough that kids can't reach over to undo it. It will be easy enough to set up a buzzer or bell on the external door, great for security and for welcoming parents. The internal gate can be rigged to beep/ buzz when opened too.

I stopped putting my kids into the Ikea creche as the gate at the pick up desk was very low and unmanned, kids were playing directly on the other side of it, too easy to grab. Ok its worst case senario but... It would easily be sorted by a double barrier, gives a child free area to keep admin stuff and supplies.

Thanks Skribble

I like he idea of rooms around a central area but I can't make the toilets work - I end up with too many (& they cost so much)

Toilets are always a pain, cheaper to keep them all together but never practical, what about Jackienos suggestion for rooms either side of toilets or is this more than you need anyway.

Do you have fixed dimensions to work with yet? We can all draw plans and post them here .

I can have as much space as I can afford - currently it's 16 by 9.6 but I can make it bigger (preferably smaller) pretty much as I need

Tho' the more inside space I have the less outside (iyswim)

What are building then? log cabin, porta cabin, breeze block? Have a MN design competition .

Unfortunatley probably a portacabin

I'd love a logcabin....it's that cost stuff again

I'd like permanent - but planning say as it's agricultural land, I'll be lucky to get a portacabin

I wish I could find the name of the supplier I looked at before, portacabin style but very nice design, looked more scandinavian than building site.

I agree about the entrance space. DS nursery is in a converted house & overall very small, and teh hall is tiny, with nowhere to get coats / shoes on that isn;t in the way of everyone - it drives me mad!

Also - access & parking is crucial - again, poor at DS' nursery.

I have to say that his nursery is really small but actually it contributes to the atmosphere and was one of the things that led me to choose it.

I visited one nursery in a purpose built converted industrial unit & found it very cold & clinical.

But parents will all have their individual preferences, I guess - you won;t please veryone!

OK imagine a square - with a circle in the centre

All around the circle are coat hooks with 4 rooms coming off - one in each corner

You come in between the baby room and the out of school room and clockwaise from the baby room is nappy chanaging, 2-3 room, small toilets, 3-5 room, boys and girls toilets, out of school room

What d'ya think?

The circular room being a run about room?

Sounds good. Circles are friendly.

What about office space?

O yeah & a staff room & a kitchen & some storage

damn I knew I'd forgotten something

You have probably seen these but here are some Floor plans not as interesting as the central circle idea.