Monthly Archives: June 2017

Furniture, News

The secret of using kindergarten furniture to teach important lessons

Kindergarten furniture is hardy and lasts a long time. It’s sat in the centre as hundreds of kids have passed through the doors over the years. Students (and sometimes parents) have sat on the chairs, built towers out of the building blocks, and painted masterpieces on the easels. And, intentionally or not, teachers have used it to impart other lessons.

 

Be clean and tidy

It’s important that kids understand the concept of manners at an early age. Parents often pick up after them at home, and teachers do the same at kindergarten. Sometimes, though, the children are instructed to do little things. This includes tucking in your chair and putting an item back where you found it. It obviously works, otherwise we wouldn’t do these things unconsciously as adults today.  

 

Respect the property of others

At home, kids play roughly with toys because they’re  theirs. Kindergarten furniture, on the other hand, isn’t. Both teachers and parents teach their children to respect other’s property. It ends with a lot of tears, anger, and tantrums if something breaks.

Kindergarten furniture is hardy by design, so it can withstand rough treatment. Children play rough because sometimes they don’t know any better.

 

Don’t disrespect others

Kids are quite blunt when voicing their displeasure to other kids. It’s common to hear “you’re not my friend” and other lines like that in play areas. Withholding access to toys, time to play with the cubby houses, or exclusion from group activities are forms of bullying. Teachers step in when this happens, but from the beginning of kindergarten this behaviour is strongly discouraged.

Kindergarten furniture is hardy and can withstand a good decade of use, but teachers and parents teach their children not to use it roughly. They tell the kids to respect property that’s not theirs. Children sometimes bar other kids from using toys as a form of bullying, but thanks to eagle-eyed carers, this gets taken care of discreetly.

Furniture, News

Furniture for preschool: what you ought to know

Centre owners purchasing furniture for preschool, kindy, or childcare have a lot of factors to think about. Parents and guardians mightn’t appreciate the effort that goes into stocking the centre with the right supplies. Here’s some things they ought to know.

 

  • It lays out the boundaries

You’ll hear people shout out “don’t run inside!” and preschools are built to prevent this by design. Nobody wants their charges to get hurt and deal with the fallout.

When people buy furniture for preschool, they make sure the items serve a specific purpose. Educators and carers will then lay it out so there’s a section for everything. This teaches kids the importance of boundaries, and how some activities are only appropriate in one area. For example, a bookshelf and chairs designate the reading area, while cube shelves with art supplies near some tables and chairs make up the arts and craft area.

 

  • Kids channel their creativity to ANYTHING

Soft toys, cubby houses, and building blocks are an extension of children’s creativity; even a simple chair can become a throne during playtime!

Teachers stock outside and indoor play areas with items that facilitate constructive play. Kids imitate what they see in real life or on the television. They use cubbies to ‘play house’ and use large soft foam shapes to actually build one.

Centre owners who buy furniture for preschools also stock up on art easels, paints, and chalkboards. They’re easy to clean and let out the kids’ ‘inner artist’. Some play time is dedicated to painting, so the centre will buy art supplies to keep the children (and teachers) happy.

 

  • It matches the theme

Preschools often have a certain colour scheme, especially if they’re part of a larger franchise. Kinder Design makes furniture to order so there’s no danger of clashing colours. Preschools purposefully avoid loud, exciting colours because they cause agitation. Rather, they choose cool and calming shades for their centre.  They keep this in mind when purchasing furniture for preschool.

News

How to organise your child care furniture

Organising your child care furniture is a good way to keep certain areas separate. Under the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), child care centres and preschools promote play-based learning. Its outcomes include children developing into effective communicators and engaged learners. They can do this anywhere, but having an organised environment definitely helps.

 

When you’re planning out the interior, you want room for the kids to move but not to run. It’s good they’ve got energy to spare, but not in an enclosed environment. People run into things, tip things over, and get injured. Lay out a play mat so there’s room for ‘creative arts’ like singing and dancing; enough standing room for the kids, but not too large for them to run and hurt themselves.

 

Arranging your child care furniture creates boundaries the kids must follow. It’s ideal to make space for quiet reading, for arts and crafts, right through to creative and role play. Some tables and chairs make the arts and crafts area; a book cubby with some mats and soft foam seats create the reading space. It’s important to have various but useful resources available in one space, a reading area needs books of different genres and types (picture, full text, fiction, and nonfiction, for example).

 

Kids will sit in these places alone if they want, but it’s common for them to make small groups among themselves. The EYLF says small group play allows kids to voice their own opinions while respecting those of others and make personal connections easily. Child care centres are environments where children make friends in a cubby, a sandpit, or during play time in general.

 

Organising your child care furniture a certain way serves a dual purpose. Centre owners segregate areas so they serve a certain purpose and children learn the importance of boundaries. They don’t take their paints from arts and crafts into the reading area, and they know to walk, not run, because there’s no room for it.