I reorganized our play space...again! Some of you will remember when I did this a few months back in this post and was super excited about it. For the most part, that rearrangement has been working great for me, but I like to shake things up and keep them fresh so I went at it again tonight (at 10:00 p.m. - sigh!). Two factors played into this rearrangement...that I resigned my job as public school teacher and am becoming a SAHM and daycare/preschool provider AND that I'm preparing for the big Beeler family yard sale so I was sorting through things anyways.
The playroom itself has remained mostly the same. The kitchen is still there, the train table is in it's place (though now with it's mirror above it), as you can see from that post back in February. However, it's getting a huge face lift very, very soon as I've conned my husband into building me (the kids!) a loft above the train table. The kitchen will be going up on the loft and the bin organizer (that previously housed the craft things) seen in the linked post above will be going into the playroom to house misc toys and blocks (I need to get some "baby" toys back out for one of my daycare sweeties). SO excited about the loft and will post about it when he starts...thanks babe!
Resigning my job meant that all the treasures I've transferred to my classroom have to go somewhere...like home! I've left odds and ends at the school but most of the "toys" will be beneficial to my daycare kids so I felt like they should come back to the Beeler ranch. Also, I ordered my new Discovery Toys kit and it came with lots of fun manipulatives so they needed a home too. Which led me to this awesome bin organizer. I know you are all going to be jealous and I'll get emails and comments asking where you can buy one. I'm really sorry but this gem is custom made by my father-in-law and she's all mine. He made it for me to use in my classroom, which I have steadily for 3+ years. It's functional and looks so nice and I'm very excited to bring it home. At first I was stressed about where to put it at home and then I realized it solved many of my troubles. It's replacing the plastic pastel bin organizer and houses all the manipulatives, play sets, and crafty items that the kids have free reign to. The white tubs slide in and out easily and I will soon picture label each tub for easy clean up and sorting. LOVE!
I'm anxious to see how the children do with this many "things" to choose from, but I think with some diligence each can learn to choose one tub and put it away before choosing another. And there will be messes and at some point some angel will dump all the tubs for me but overall, I love this look and am very excited about having all of these items together in one spot!
On the left: crayons, colored pencils, paper, coloring books, stickers & notebooks, play-doh, play-doh toys.
In the middle: magneatos, DT Groovy Shapes, unifix cubes, foam letters & numbers, and cloth letters.
On the right: DT Jumble Zoo, DT Sensory Shape Challenge, DT TouchTec Blocks, building people, Snap-n-Style dolls, and underneath in the 2 buckets - DT TouchTec Bricks and DT MagFun Tiles.
On the top are Melissa & Doug magnetic dolls and the DT Pillar Pockets caterpillar that promotes fine motor skills in zipping, buttoning, tying, snapping, buckling & more. See why I'm excited!? What a load of fun in one place.
The next change was to figure out a way to move the puzzles into the general living area. In the last rearrange I put them in the office on a shelf, and while that worked okay I didn't like that they weren't in plain view and that I had to suggest to my kids to play with them because they were out of sight.
Also, I need the shelf space they were on to house my lesson planning and idea books and I'd like to make the office an "out of limits" play space (it can't be completely off limits b/c you have to go through it to get to the downstairs bathroom). The little black shelf is one I've had for years and had taken to my classroom 4 years ago. It fits perfectly beside my beloved wing back chair. It's home to our puzzles and my interchangeable book basket (that I switch out with themes or seasons). I love that the books are beside my cozy seat and I imagine that before rest time the children will snuggle up beside my chair for a story or two. Sounds heavenly, huh?
There have been a couple more small changes that I'll blog about as we continue the transformation into home preschool-daycare. Have I mentioned that my husband never complains when I get super crazy ideas like building lofts in the playroom and he never sighs when I put puzzles and a drawer/shelf unit in what is actually considered our dining room? (oh yeah, to the left of all the puzzles and toys is our dining room table). He just pretends that it's perfectly normal and goes on about his day...and sometimes stops to play with the super fun toys. :) Since all of this has started he's helped me downscale the office desk to make room for my piano in the office (that was in the dining room where my wing back is now), he's carried, built, cleaned, and gone along with *most* of my crazy ideas. That's love.
Wait till I tell him I also need some cubbies/lockers built for my new lovelies coats and supplies... :)
