Do you just play all day?

When I tell people that I work in child care their first question is what age and then the comment of oh that has to be so much fun playing with them all day. And yes it is fun playing with them during the day but its not all we do.

Yes having the kids play is a huge part of their day and learning but they still do structured activities to where they need to pay attention to what is going on and follow directions. Even with infants they have activities that happen during the day to where they are learning a new skill and have rules with it to try and follow.

Play for a young child is such a important part of their daily life, they learn a lot from play; weather it be social skills, fine and gross motor skills, self help, reasoning, and using their imagination. If you have ever just watched a child play its amazing what they can come up with, even as infants it always surprises me what they are able to come up with.



I think there is stigma surrounding the child care profession being that all we do during the day is play with kids and that we are glorified nannies. This is far from the truth, I made this blog to help showcase some of what a child care professional does during the day and the different things we have to work on and toward. We are teachers and have to follow state guidelines when it comes to what we can and cannot do with the kids. We have to keep up on our own education in taking classes, attending workshops, conferences, or doing booklets each year. We also have to create a classroom where the kids can play but also learn we, do have to create lesson plans to where they have developmental goals and milestones to hit.

And yes we do play with the kids during the day playing along side of them is something that many people will tell you is beneficial to not only the child but you as the teacher. When you play along side a child you can learn so much more. I am always surprised at how they chose to use a toy for something it helps me come up with new things to do with the kids.

So yes we do play most of the day, but not all of it and while we play there is so much more going on. :)

Happy Playing!

-Holly