But Do You Need More Than Dirt? 5 Ways To Appease Those Who Pay You

Perhaps you have gotten to the point in your childcare career where you truly see and understand children need little more than a pile of dirt. Or maybe you have read countless articles of the benefits of messy play, that less is more in terms of true learning, that nothing inspires imagination better than, well, nothing, or even just the outstanding benefits of dirt itself.

Perhaps you have enthusiastically implemented a research backed, yet "alternative" approach. Or have just shared dreams of doing so with current parents or potential clients. If you live in the right area (read: overall crunchy or trendy) then you may have been met with exult, a waiting list, and opportunity to raise rates! Hurrah! Unfortunately, many providers are met with the opposite. Parents see cutesy crafts and "learning activities" (that are completely adult-led and more than a waste of time), and dream of their toddler spending days making fridge worthy creations and preparing for college. *Sigh*. Yes, this can certainly our job of providing the best environment for children while making enough to pay for the space, incredibly difficult. However, not all is lost. Below is one part of several blog posts listing ways to find balance between creating the best childcare facility you can while also finding enough clients to do so.

5 Ways to Successfully Add to Your Minimal Nature Space

1. The Whatever Platform Maybe you are like me and do not want to buy an overly expensive, mass-produced swingset or climber. Climbers don't provide as much for the preschool ages, while most boxed swing sets have limited space and might not meet licensing requirements. Plus- none of that really screams "creative space". Now, if you know you will only have small toddlers, and you don't like making things (or are renting), perhaps collecting second hand plastic climbers works. But- they don't look as nice and also can create the perfect environment for little hands to push other little bodies off the limited space. Which brings me to the Whatever Platform. The Whatever Platform is something on my to-do list in my own in-home daycare. This is totally customizable to your licensing standards and your age group. Plus, it looks much nicer to potential clients and really goes with the child-led vibe you want to create. The Whatever Platform is just that- whatever you want. Is it a stage? Is it a pirate ship? Is it the only place that isn't lava!? When in the first steps of building our nature playground, I wanted to create spaces to climb on and play on that were semi-abstract but with a theme. A boat/pirate ship sandbox. A mermaid play house. A fairy dome, etc. While it's cute to glue on shells to the walls or have a pirate flag, it also does limit their imagination. And I promise, if you make it a pirate ship, eventually they will not want it to be a pirate ship. So instead of worrying about all these different areas, the big budget, the time, the effort-- build one *large* platform. Add ways to climb up. Add slides if you want. Add walls. Add swings coming off one side. Or don't. If you predominately have small toddlers, make this 1 step up (maybe 6 in- 1 ft off the ground), nail down a little tikes slide, make one side a ramp with knobs to hold on to for climbing. Boom. If you are on a hill, utilize that for either a tall slide or better climbing. Or have the high side walled in for safety. Maybe just have a knotted rope attached to the platform as a fun way to get up. Or find people getting rid of playsets and switch out a side each year. Even just a platform 1-2 feet off the ground provides a way to climb up and a mud-less big space for big imagination. Maybe they'll bring chairs and mud kitchen supplies over. Maybe it will be a chalkboard. Maybe it's the house, or school, or hospital for dramatic play. The possibilities are endless, and usually when you provide less, they create more. You could cover this easily by attaching a tarp to posts, or putting a up a tent. Stick to your budget. If you have a large space, maybe this platform is 10*10, or 15*20. Maybe you have two of them and a bridge in between? Or maybe you have a tiny space and can only fit a 4 * 4 platform. That's totally fine too! Honestly- kids will love it and parents will notice having a space (especially if it's covered) where kids can have a break from rolling in the mud. Of course, if your parents are concerned with that, try investing in rain suits or suggesting they bring some. I will have another post on that later. Link to Lowes.com on how to build a platform
   

2. Balance Beam and/or Path Do you know how easy it is to add a balance beam? Literally, two 2*4s. Cut one in half, secure each end of the other on top of the halves. I'd also sand down the edges and corners for safety. You can stain it, paint it, whatever. If you want to take this further, make a zig zag pattern, square, or series of balance beams with different heights. As for paths- this can be easy as well! Using mixed materials, you can create spaces to play areas or just around the back yard. I love doing a spiral path, or even just 5 or 10 stepping stones to jump to and count. Here you could take apart pallets (and sand- please sand) to make wide planks, you could collect leftover pavers from neighbor's projects, or even just pea gravel or mulch for a more traditional path. If you have the budget- you could create a circle or figure 8 for bike riding. This has been my dream but not reality for several years now. However, I think it would be totally worth it and last years and years without needing maintenance. It makes the space a little more magical and might be nice to have a walking path for teacher as well! You can even make markers to have the "yellow path" or the "red path" (that even could come together to make the "orange path". Or have a path end at a stump with a fairy door. The possibilities are endless and the whole project can be fairly free if you put your mind to it!
   

3. Art/Sensory Experiences So hopefully you are already doing this on some level. But maybe you don't feel like it's organized enough, or just, enough. Pretty much bare minimum, you want chalk, paint cups + brushes, paint, and at least a water/sensory table. You just have to figure out how that works in your space. We have a chalk board and a plexiglass board, but honestly, if you have a fence and a table, that's all you need (if that). You can make a DIY- outdoor chalkboard to hang on a fence, plus, get a few sheets of small (or one large) plexiglass from your hardware store, secure it to the fence, and boom- art area. You can put a table next to it with the supplies and let them go to town. At my place, everything besides the actual house is free to paint on. I buy giant jugs of paint and leave them outside. We also use the paint cups for chalk and water, or just water. Water takes chalk to the next level (plus they use the water to turn already-drawn chalk to paint-like), and just painting with water still gives all the benefits, while increasing the wonder. They watch how it changes the look of a chalkboard, of dirt, of wood, and then get to see it dry. We also love to add soap to water, maybe food dye or paint, and sponges for a sensory art experience.
   

4. Bringing Inside Out Bring the inside out! What projects would you do inside? Why not do it outside? Can you set up a little area on a deck or patio to bring out arts and crafts, mega blocks, or dress up? Can you get things that are weather-proof to create the indoor environment outdoors? A cozy couch for reading? A nice rug for blocks and trucks? These items can go back inside at the end of the day, or stored in an outdoor storage box. Having a nice, homey space outside might just keep you out longer, might give a mess-free boundary if you want that for your home (boundaries are okay), plus looks warm and inviting. Add a cover, and you are all set!
   

5. Just Dig It. You can't go wrong here. Create a designated digging space, or be like me, let the entire space be for digging. Separate areas look cute and can have benefits. While some parents want to be on board with absolute messy nature play, that much laundry can get pretty annoying. Having a true digging area gives room for areas away from the inevitable mud-pit-backyard that can come when you have a smaller backyard free for digging. Digging has many benefits for gross motor, and fine motor, including building muscles needed before writing can successfully occur. Here are a few suggestions of how to incorporate a digging space for your kids. Sand Box (not table) Fairly obvious and fairly typical. I just want to start by saying don't waste your time (or sand) on a sand table with sand. That same table might be great for water activities, small play, etc, but sand will not stay there. It creates the perfect sand-dumping/throwing opportunity. Save your sanity and trust me, okay? Moving on- If you are dealing with a small group or don't want to mess up your yard too much, you can get a low-cost plastic sand box from a big box store or online. The con to this is that not many children can fit, and sand doesn't typically stay in a small space. Do you want to keep redirecting that, or do you want to have a large space so that little bits leaving doesn't ruin the whole digging experience? Making your own sandbox is fairly easy and cost-effective. Buying a nice, big wooden one might cost you a couple hundred, which isn't always in the budget, but might look better to potential clients. (potentially last longer and be easier to cover- which is a requirement for many who are licensed through their state). Later I will have a post on how to DIY a sandbox/digging box, but for now I will leave you with the basics. In short, you need sides to keep the sand in, and a bottom so the sand doesn't wash away or get a ton of dirt mixed in. Dig a deep enough hole (1 ft-3 ft) and line with landscape fabric (can get at home improvement stores). After that, buy some wooden boards big enough to create a space with sides. I have a 4 ft * 8 ft one, and even with a group of 6 (smaller end of days for us) I want bigger. Bigger is obviously more money, but it is a cost you don't have to keep spending on the actual box. The sand on the other hand can get a little pricey to fill a giant space, so this is where you just have to do a cost-benefit analysis. If your budget is $50, then maybe nix the sand altogether until you have a better budget, or wait until you find a good hand me down box. I try to look for a while on facebook marketplace, my local buy nothing group (where many members look out for me!), or even craigslist. Sometimes I'll reach out to local mom groups or my own private page to see if anyone is getting rid of something before I spend. I'd rather get something that mostly works for $5 than spend an extra $100 for the perfect fit. I also let the children know that it's all the sand we have. Once it's gone it's gone (once a year is a good time to re-fill). You can totally get a bag once a month or season for mud kitchen play. I like to keep our sand in the box clean, but have some saved for getting dirty and mixed around. This is a perfect ingredient for a mud kitchen and can be stored as such. Again- once it's gone it's gone. While this age group can not understand long lengths of time, they totally can understand that there is a limit to how much they will have. It's also helps teach boundaries, rules, and social skills-- all important for kindergarten readiness. My dream is to have a large (like, 15 * 15) whole sand area with it's own mud kitchen, large shovels (like kid sized snow ones, we have a few from Target), buckets, and play house. Hello sand world! Plenty of room for digging and the works. However, this is most likely $300 in the very smallest budget I can make, using a lot we already have, plus re-filling that giant space as needed (oh, and figuring out how to cover). It's still on my list and if it's on my list I will figure it out. Updates one day :) Dirt box (/bonus mud kitchen) I'm a dirt bag, babyyy. (I can't be the only one who started singing that in their head? Just me? Okay). Read all of above and replace sand with dirt. For real. You can totally make a small little area that's lined just like you would mulch or a garden. Put out some shovels and buckets, and let the kids go to town. Put a little table and chairs, some cups, scoopers, and hello- you have all you need for a totally functional and amazing mud kitchen! We have a bulked up, hand built, maybe 8 ft long wooden one, and guess what--- they don't use it! They use every other part of the yard instead! Surprise surprise! (not surprised). If you have zero budget or are just super cool, honestly, this is what you should do. Go to the dollar store, go to goodwill, hit up the facebook groups. Stock up on pots, pans, measuring cups/spoons, mixing bowls, strainers, funky cups, the works. No thin glass, spray metal with rust-away type of paint. Plastic will get broken, but that's okay if you clean it up and it was going to get thrown away before you saved it anyways. Find a free table, bench, picnic table, stump, stool, whatever. Or if you already have a great mud kitchen area, add some construction trucks to this space. Mark off with some caution-tape and you have yourself a cool invitation to dig a hole. Perfect winter activity- seriously.

Inspiration Pics!