Hello from Ottawa

[yogajenni]

Hello, my name is Jennifer. I have three children of my own and I have been doing home day care on and off between having babies for about 5 years. Right now I have two day care children and one more starting at the end of the month. To get adult time I also teach a couple of yoga classes in the evenings.

I am excited about this form to see what others are doing.

Happy day careing,

Yoga Jenni

[Play and Learn]

Hello Jenni,

Where abouts in Ottawa is your home daycare? I'm out in Kemptville. Welcome to the board!

[Stircrazy]

Hello! Im from near the Hamilton area. I currently have 2 bio children and 3 step and four out of the five live here. I also do home daycare and currently have four children in my daycare with another one starting in a couple of months.

[playfelt]

I live in Orleans (Ottawa east). I have been a daycare provider for 23 years. Mom to four kids including one with special needs. I am a member of the CCPRN here in Ottawa. In my spare time - such as it is, lol, I also sell educational felt products for a company called Story Time Felts and have started doing workshops with the felts. I care only for infants and toddlers in the sense that I no longer take JK kids out to the bus. I love not having my day controlled by the clock and bus times. Right now I have 7 kids using 5 spots so each day is different which while fun is also a challenge.

[Stircrazy]

playfelt do you have a website we can order from?

[daycaremom]

Hi Jenni. I'm a daycare provider in Cambridge.

[JerseyGirl]

Hi Jenni,

I'm a provider in Milton. Welcome to the Forum

[Sunflower]

Hi there, Welcome to the forum. I also have a daycare in the area (Gatineau)and the kids loooove to do yoga !

[playfelt]

This is the website for my felts. Most of the items are on there but if you send me an email I will send you the current pricelist. I am not good with websites at all - as in don't understand them and have a hard time getting my son who updates things for me to have the time to do it so bear with the site please. The catalogue is updated but the checkout isn't. When an order is placed I send a full invoice and total with taxes and shipping for your approval.

www.playfeltplus.com

Thanks for asking.

[agesandstagesdaycare]

Hi,
I'm in Ottawa as well (Kanata). I'm opening my centre in late May. I have four children signed up. I'm very excited and busy creating curriculum and buying sooo much stuff it's crazy! lol!

A

[playfelt]

Wow, that is great that you already know when you open that you will be full except for one child. Getting the first family signed on can sometimes be the hardest part as no one wants to take the chance of being first.

[Play and Learn]

Wow, that is great that you already know when you open that you will be full except for one child. Getting the first family signed on can sometimes be the hardest part as no one wants to take the chance of being first.

This is so true. LUCKY!!!!

[Tot-Time]

playfelt do you have a website we can order from?

Sharon's felt is the best!!!!

http://www.playfeltplus.com/

[Tot-Time]

Hello,

i am from the Barrhaven area (Ottawa). Nice to meet everyone!

I run a home daycare with up to 5 kiddies and I will have 2 teens in the near future, my youngest is turning 13 soon :(

[playfelt]

Sharon's felt is the best!!!!

http://www.playfeltplus.com/

Thanks Nicole, and you are a great customer. Love when we can get together at workshops.

[agesandstagesdaycare]

Where have you all been buying your daycare supplies??
I put an order in with Scholar's Choice and a big IKEA trip is in my not so distant future! I'd love to know where to get a giant bucket of Play-Doh. My kids are down to half a can so it's time to buy more. :)

Thanks,
A

[agesandstagesdaycare]

Thanks. :)

[playfelt]

For playdough the make your own version works great. For buying stuff I get a lot from the dollar stores. In Ottawa allaboutkids on Canotek road is great. There are also places like wintergreen, avron, etc. where you can order online and they have catalogues they will send you.

[Tot-Time]

Love when we can get together at workshops.

We have one coming up soon!!! Can't wait! It is so good of you to put up with us felt groupies ;)

[agesandstagesdaycare]

Playfelt: Thanks for the info. I was wondering about allaboutkids. Is it a warehouse to order form or can you drop in and buy supplies like in a regular store? I used to order from Wintergreen, etc when I worked in a centre and they were wonderful. However, I think they might be too expensive for me now! ;) Perhaps I should take a look though.

Thanks so much.
A

[playfelt]

I have only been in a couple of times as I brought a lot of stuff with me when we moved to Ottawa. But I did see something interesting at their website link the last time I was checking on cots - need new nap mats, cots, crib mattresses haven't made up my mind yet. Anyways it looked like you could order online and if your amount was over a certain amount they delivered in Ottawa for free. Like I said gotta go check that out again. The advantage besides the time saver is that you are less likely to pick up a few extra things while you are there. Here is the link:

http://www.allaboutkids.inf o/

[agesandstagesdaycare]

Playfelt: I bought daycare cots from Children's Universe in Kanata (brand new cots in the box) for $30each. Standard size. Very nice! That was the best price I found within Ottawa.

EDIT: sorry, the cots were $40 each..

[Tot-Time]

RE: All About Kids

I do find that their prices are a bit on the expensive side, mainly because the store is intended for centres. If you take the time to look around you might find the same toys for less. I do about 3 trips to All About Kids a year for the convinience of the learning supplies all being in one store.

Re: Children's Universe??? Please tell me more, what kind of store is it?

[agesandstagesdaycare]

Children's Universe is a daycare centre. They buy daycare cots in bulk and sell for $40 each to the public. Here's the website: http://www.childrensunivers e.net/supplies.html
They also sell daycare chairs and tables.

SOrry, they sell for $40 each not $30.. I did buy three from them and they charged $100. Pretty good deal.

[Play and Learn]

All About Kids - in the East End of Ottawa - http://www.allaboutkids.inf o

What I have heard from daycare providers (friends of mine) that it's a warehouse (like a store) of most of the items that they have from their catalog. Some things you might have to order. Check out their website. It seems their prices are decent considering the quality of the items are good.

Have to get out there soon to buy a cot for my soon to be potty training girl!

[playfelt]

Wow that is a good price. I am really interested and would like to get 5 and then I have what I could ever need even though it is rare to have all 5 on mats. The problem with mats is they tend to roll off. I use crib mattresses right now but they are very bulky to store and held together with tape and mac tac right now so beyond their time. I thought the cots would be better at keeping the children in their space as in rolled to the centre as that is what I had heard when I asked on another group I am on for opinions of mats or cots.

Avron (www.avronforkids.co m) has a set of 5 for $189.99 but there would be shipping on top of that.

Thank you so much for the link for the cots.

[agesandstagesdaycare]

Playfelt - no problem! I'm thrilled with the quality of them. Good luck!

[4Sparkles]

Hello all :) I am not so new. I have been on for about 2 weeks now. I am from Ottawa too. Been operating my home child care for 9 years. I have had my share of extremely enjoying this to burnt out what do i do to yeah rejuvenation from attending workshops and new clients. I really hope to learn more from new and experience Providers alike. Cheers to you all.

[playfelt]

What part of Ottawa do you live in? I am in Orleans. Are you a member of the CCPRN too.

[4Sparkles]

Hi, I am close to St Laurent Boulevard :) I was a couple weeks ago .... have to send in my renewal fee. Have a great day!

[GrinsNGiggles]

I`m in Brampton. Is there any good stores in this area that you can purchase daycare supplies from?