Dawn in Ohio Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I am in charge of overhauling our church nursery. It is in poor shape right now, with lots of old yucky toys. I am going to purchase some type of baskets/bins/containers for the toy shelves. I want to fill the 6 containers with 6 types of toys. What toys do you suggest? Maybe blocks, cars, Little People? What large toys are good for a church nursery? Slide, kitchen, rocking horse?? I'd love to hear your ideas. TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Slide & Kitchen are great. We also have a big tool/workbench and that gets a lot of play in the nursery. I'd go with duplos, cars, little people, plastic animals, train & tracks, and either balls or dolls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 The popular toys at our old host church (for our homeschool co-op) were the dress-up box, the little slide and blocks. The Little People came out occasionally, but usually by the older kids, and they didn't really have enough time to get into that level of creative play. Wedgits also seem to attract a wide age range; the kids can play with them on a number of different levels. Also helpful was having a cd player in the nursery, so we could play movement games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Plastic stuff that is easy to clean. No plush or cloth items. Maybe a second-hand toy kitchen with plastic pots/pans/food. Blocks, sorting shape things, large-piece wooden puzzles. A rocking horse can only be ridden by one kid at a time - I'd avoid that sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 (edited) Things that are good for more than one child to play with at a time. Play food/Kitchen Workbench/tools Doll houses (more than one can be nice) and acc. Realistic plastic animals (not FP or Little Tykes style) Toy cars approved for toddlers (not Hotwheels-the wheels are chokable). Dump trucks are great, wood blocks are nice to fill the back. I would avoid the metal Tonka trucks in this setting (unless you have an outdoor area). The low to the ground plastic climbing structures are great that have a little slide. You will have a baby / toddler who likes to climb so I would get a smaller one rather than larger. There are always going to be days when you are low on staff and they won't be able to supervise well. Rocking style toys are good, but not ride on cars with wheels unless you have a good amount of room. Toddlers don't always know to no run over the babies. I would avoid any thing over 12inches off the ground. You don't want to have kids climbing or falling off. Table with coloring supplies. Crayola's chunky washable crayons are nice and good for toddlers. If you buy traditional size crayons, try to get washable. Most kids are happy with a 16/24 count box of crayons. There are lots of free printable pictures/mazes and fun pages on line. Coloring books are nice but I encourage kids to rip the pages out and take them home. This helps the books to get used up and keeps kids from getting upset week to week if they come back and find another child scribbled on their art work. Books. I would avoid balls as they are not actions you will want to encourage. Kicking/ throwing etc. The only exception is the balls with suction cups on the edges. If you have a big window the kids love to throw the balls at the window and see them stick :0). You just have to make sure they are monitored and don't break a light fixture. If there are not babies, then ride on toys are good. A gas station is fun. A car wash with a cheap box of wet wipes or a just a bucket of dry towels. Mechanic shop with plastic tools. A cardboard refrigerator box can make a tunnel or garage. A glider rocker is nice for the workers to settle an upset child. Regular rockers can catch little fingers under the legs. A rocker stool is usually a nuisance with kids wanting to play on it. A sit and spin can be good but it depends on the kids. Some kids will make them selves sick on them. Shopping carts, strollers, baby dolls with clothes. I like to stick with one size doll and two out fits per doll. If there are two size dolls then make sure there is a very obvious size difference. Then everything can mix and match and the kids can know which clothes go with each doll. Bottles, diaper bags, blankets... No Barbie style dolls, only babies. Wood or heavy cardboard puzzles are nice but need to be put up out of reach of babies or you will spend the time putting away puzzle pieces. I would encourage an assortment of abilities. The large wood knob style for toddlers (not the small plastic knobs-chokable), Melissa and Doug style, or even a 20-30 piece in a box (these can be hard to store). I wouldn't go over 30 piece, the kids aren't likely to finish it and get upset when parents come to get them. Wood train set. Twist-pull-push-knob style pop up toys for babies. No batteries, or loud noise toys for them. Activity centers, tables and such. I would really try to find ones that don't need batteries. They are usually more engaging, the kids don't get frustrated by the toy not working, and it is quieter for the staff. If you can ask for donations...sticker sheets are nice. Even half used ones. You can have an older kid cut the stickers in to individual stickers and let the kids cover blank pages with them. Foam cut out shapes are fairly cheap (but don't use around babies) and go on easy with glue sticks. A lot of parents have half used containers of these at home and may be happy to get rid of them. The baby is awake so I had better go, if I think of more, I will type again later. Edited January 21, 2009 by Tap, tap, tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I've seen the following go over well at church nurseries..... Little People a kitchen with some play food/dishes a slide with a platform at the top several baby dolls with strollers/bed lots of different types of board books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 The popular toys in our church nursery: Megablocks or duplos kitchen toys/house keeping toys blocks to stack cars/trucks (the small ones that can fit in their hands well--not matchbox) puzzles dolls, but the kind that are cloth with the faces embroidered on and the clothes attached. I don't know what they're called, but they aren't stuffed heavily and are sorta flat. They wash well. And, those toys that have the wires that go all over and has the beads that follow, sorta like a roller coaster. I don't know what these are called either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in Ohio Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 I appreciate all the ideas! What type of trains/tracks? Doesn't Brio/Thomas have pieces that are too small for toddlers? Where would I store the puzzles? Should they be out of reach and given to children one a time? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Where would I store the puzzles? Should they be out of reach and given to children one a time? :) We have a puzzle rack for ours. I give out the puzzles one at a time or the kids just make a huge mess. YMMV, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Plastic stuff that is easy to clean. No plush or cloth items. Maybe a second-hand toy kitchen with plastic pots/pans/food. Blocks, sorting shape things, large-piece wooden puzzles. A rocking horse can only be ridden by one kid at a time - I'd avoid that sort of thing. These would be my recommendations. Plastic stuff that is easy to clean; no plush items. They get grimey quickly. When I had my dds I donated all outgrown toys. They were in excellent shape. Maybe someone who'schild is just outgrowing stuff will think to donate. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 The biggest hit in our nursery for the past 18 years is the little tykes activity garden--it has a little gate they can walk through and shut. A tunnel to crawl through, a few activities, etc. Basically, the Little Tykes stuff has held up well. The kitchen is a big hit as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mereadeux Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Make sure everything is easily washable and disinfected. We like kitchen, strollers, large blocks, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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