Church Nursery - Part 4 of 4: The Results

Here are the results!  Make sure you view Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 first...

We loaded 84 boxes into the nursery in all.  That's 84 buckets, one label for the front, and one for the back... plus all the other labels, and that's a lot of labels!

Adding matching buckets, and coordinating (black and white) homemade clipboards made the nursery have a clean look.

We added the new coloring sheet filing boxes to the counters in the three oldest classrooms.

Everything was neatly placed INSIDE the changing table and the changing table can actually be used solely as a changing table!

Labels were added to the outside of cabinets to contain larger toys.

At the nursery director's request, we wanted to create a system to keep the toys cleaned on a regular basis.  Thus, she added a cleaning bucket and towel to be kept in each room.  On a rotating schedule, the toys will be cleaned, rinsed, and dried overnight.  The next day, the next rotation of staff will replace the toys in the correct bin.

Also, at the director's request, we created a standardized way of putting tools away.  This way each rotation of staff, despite what class they are in, will know where the tools are.

One classroom did not have the cubbies where we could put the standarized black and white tubs.  We used the Sterilite Latch Boxes (of various sizes) in this cabinet, instead.

Remember the cribs that were filled with large toys in the "before" part?  Check out how they can now be used for slumbering children!

Finally, we made sure we had a labeled place for a first aid kit in each room.

This project took a total of 4 working days (approximately 5 hours each) plus shopping and prep work.

Church Nursery - Part 3 of 4: The During

Once we looked at it and discussed it (Part 1), and prepared for it (Part 2), it was time to work on it... thus, Part 3!

We're in!  We piled everything in a (not being used at the time) classroom and got to work filling the bins.

Play-doh, diapers of specific sizes, dot markers...

sidewalk chalk...

... and new crayons!!!

We took all of the plastic balls, toys, little people, and "food" and gave them a bleach bath, through rinse, and dried them on towels overnight.

If you give your toys a bath, be sure to "stir" them while drying every now and then so that you aren't pooling any water in one space (note the legos that are upside down...)

The next day we sorted all the toys based on age appropriateness and what they had in their rooms. 
(Do they have a kitchen?  Are there baby dolls available?)

Mega blocks, for example, were distributed evenly to three different rooms.

Once the bins were filled, we distributed outside each room, and then started filling the rooms in a standardized way.  This way, when a nursery worker goes from one room to another, things are easy to find.  (Check out Part 4... coming soon!)

We hung the new clipboards, too.

And started to fill in the cubby spaces.

Part 4 is coming soon... check out our conclusion!

Remember, you can always email me if you have questions you would like me to research or ideas you would like me to share!