Starting your daycare can be expensive. What is really needed to open the doors and what can you do without?
You have called your local child care resource agency and visited the National Child Care Information Center. You have talked it over with your significant other, and now you are ready to continue on with your pursuit of business ownership in the area of child care. What next? Well, if you are like any number of new daycare owners you may ask what items you need to get started.
What YOU need to start your business is subjective.
It depends on the model of your child care, ages in attendance, space available, state regulations (if applicable), monies available, hours of operation, etc. Therefore, no one can give you a definitive list of what you will need to open your child care; however, here are some general suggestions:
- · Mats or cots for napping. These should be either toddler or standard sized and easily cleaned and disinfected in the event of an accident. Also, light blankets or sheets for individual use
- · High chair for each child under 2 if providing infant/toddler care
- · Playpens 1-2, one for each child under 2. May be provided by families if you so choose
- · A swing and/or bouncy chair is useful if you so desire
- · Child size table and chairs for activities and small motor play
- · Books: board, picture, easy reader, coloring, etc.
- · Puzzles and games. Age appropriate and with supervision as those little pieces go missing quickly!
- · Age specific toys that emphasize small AND gross motor skills
- · A safe outdoor space to play (doesn’t have to be a yard, a nearby park will do!)
None of these have to be acquired brand new. Use what you have at home; recycle your children’s old toys, dust off that Candy Land game you have from when you were a babe. Old ratty tee-shirts make great smocks for painting activities, and an old card table with the legs sawed down easily becomes the perfect child sized activity desk. Consider shopping second hand stores and garage sales for books, toys, and old clothes for dress-up activities.
Playpens are expensive and are an investment if you buy new. However, if you are gifted one/purchase one used wash down the bottom and all the netted sides with a bleach solution or antimicrobial cleanser such as Clorox Anywhere spray or Lysol before use. Hose down outside with a high pressure spray and allow to dry. Save that $70 to buy groceries as you will not get your first CACFP check for at least 4-6 weeks.
Also, you need not covet your neighbor down the street whom has an inflatable jumbo jumper in her front yard and a custom made wooden structure in the back. Those things are not required and will come in time. As a matter of fact, once you are opened and established you may consider having a fundraiser to obtain those things. Fundraisers will be covered in an upcoming article. For now, get to work scavenging your children’s toy boxes and under their beds for long-lost neglected toys. These gems will be brand new to your daycare charges and your kiddos will never miss them!
