Ah the art center. This is where all the "fun" stuff is going to happen. I have paints with all kinds of different sponges and brushes for the kids to use as well as little smocks for them to wear so they don't get their clothes dirty. There's also playdough with shape cutters, construction paper with markers, crayons and colored pencils, colored pencil shavings and sea shells with glue for projects. I bought wooden picture frames for my full time kids to make projects for the parents and little paper bags to make hand puppets and stuff with. There is a large tube I'm going to use for rain sticks one day when it's rainy outside. There is also some puzzles and matching games in this area for the older kids who don't take naps. Oh and of course bubbles! Every little kid loves bubbles! I think that about covers it.
This is just another angle of the craft stuff. Lots of stuff!!!! Oh so much fun is going to be had here!
This is the cubby area! It's got 6 little spots and 6 hangers (that are dog butts, or tails rather) that are super cute! Each name plate is removable for all the kids that come whether they are hourly or full time or part time. That way when we do projects or colorings during the day the kids can put them there and take them when their parents come to get them. Also underneath the cubbies is a row of carpet, this is for their shoes, in case they are muddy.
Here we've got the blue shelf with tubs of all kinds of stuff. There are little animals, kitchen supplies, play food, large plastic shaped screws, several different things that piece together and of course some legos. In the white shelving that's next to it are bigger legos, more block things and then cars for the "city" rug we bought. There's a cute little chair and couch for the kids to use while in the play area as well. And the best part are the circle rugs. These are for circle time so each kid can pick their own color to sit on when we have circle time. I love them (they were Brandon's idea).
This is a better shot of more of the play area. The library is on the left along with the larger toy box that is full of bigger learning toys and of course the "noise making" toys are in there as well. It doesn't have a lid so there is no chance a kid will get stuck in there. On the wall on the left is the kids' art board. It's going to be for the pictures that kids want to leave at my house instead of taking home. There's a baby doll crib with three babies and some dress up stuff too. I have a cute kitchen and an adorable tote I made for the sleeping mats that I didn't put pictures of on here.All in all I think it turned out really really nice! There are a few more things I want to do but I'm going to wait and see how many kids and all I get. So far I've had a couple calls and talked to several people about starting hourly with me but I'm not sure when or if they actually will! I know that once deployment hits I should be busy so wish me luck! I'm looking forward to my new business and will keep everyone updated with the progress and changes I make!!!
