I'm in a public school which has TERRIBLE soap dispensers for Pre-K. At least once a week, someone gets his or her finger pinched or caught as they push the lever to dispense the soap. Plus the school only has antibacterial soap, which I hate, and it is VERY drying, especially with the number of times we have to wash hands during the day. What is your soap system for hand-washing? Anyone have a mounted pump that they love, which has a moisturizing soap refill available?
I have the regular dispensers that I buy at the grocery store and refill them with cheap stuff from the dollar store.
WE just had automatic wall soap dispensers installed that seem really nice. No waste or mess and the soap comes out like a little pile of shaving cream!
Mines like this.:thumb: Before we had these, I bought pump soap dispensers at the dollar store or had parents send in.
We have the great pumps where the soap comes out like a little pile of shaving cream, too... Unfortunately some genius installed them on the wall behind the sink. Many of my children can't even reach the faucet handles, much less the school-provided soap. I explain this to parents at Open House and then enlist their help in providing soap for the children. I take donations of the little pumps or big refills. And since the parents are providing it, I will use virtually anything they send in. I'd love to be more specific in what the kids use, but I can't afford to buy them soap on top of everything else.
No soap advice, but I keep a big bottle of hypoallergenic, non-scented hand lotion in my room for the kids. Our soap at school is pretty hard on the hands, as well.
We used the foam soap in the method dispensers available at the store. Then when that ran out, we refilled them with 2 tsp of dishsoap and water from the tap. Each dispenser lasted about 6 months. And I provided lotion.
Wow, these children loooove soap... I bought two bottles of moisturizing soap at the dollar store last weekend and both were used up. I should just turn my classroom sink into a water table (if only we didn't need it for other uses). We do get some supply money to order for next year so I think that I will put in an order for the auto version of my dispenser and some moisturizing refills instead of what the school supplies.
Soap and water was honestly my go to sensory table item in the winter. Change it a couple of times a day and didn't put cups in that had real bottoms. Some drinkers but not many. Kids love soap and water....and foamy soap.....the best!
OMG, how is it possible that I never thought to just put soap in my water table?!? To think how much time I spend trying to come up with new exciting things to keep their attention and their interest sparked, and all along I could have been putting foamy soap in the rotation! Guess I know what I'll be doing on Friday-thanks for the spark of inspiration!
LOL.....you crack me up! Sure, old egg beaters the crank kind...a lil bit of soap. Some cut up sponges or those tiny square washcloths for infants. Then toss in baby dolls one day, toys you need sanitized the next (then after they have been "scrubbed" all day quick rinse them in the appropriate solution for your program and dry appropriately), then on yet a third day put in the dishes (and food) from the housekeeping area. You can take this outside and wash doll clothes and then hang them on small pins from your fence line or if you are lucky hang up a line for real (we couldn't). It is endless and it really helps to have all those little cleaners during cold season.
How do you keep their feet and pant legs dry??? I put the dish soap in the water this week and it was so popular, which was great, but all the kids end up with wet pant-bottoms, shoes and/or socks! The smocks only keep the tops dry. I feel like I need full Haz-Mat suits for some of my centers! We have an electric dryer in the bathroom which placates them but doesn't actually do a lot of drying (although they look funny trying to dry the bottoms of the pants with a hand dryer :haha.
I ran a home day car for a few years. I just baught the wall mouthing system. The first dispenser was free with 30 dollars of soap that last at least two years. You could pick different kinds of soap. When I broke the dispenser trying to put new soap in, it was only five dollars.
LOL jbrinkm....that is exactly why I never liked those all plastic aprons. We used cotton scrubs from the dental hygienist mom I had enrolled. All children were required by reg to have extra clothes on hand (actually for most of the years...I was required to provide one {think foster care} and I could then require the parents to bring another). Anyway, the cotton allowed them to learn how to avoid getting wet...and if both sets of clothes are wet and you are in your third....you must need to be excused from the water table. It worked well. I also had a mixed age group so we did have "drinkers" this meant I didn't have any containers that could hold water in the water table. We had strainers, egg beaters, tongs, floaters, sinkers and so on but no cups or buckets. This also kept the water logged pants down. We did have trouble with water tables making little people have to pee frequently...so a ton of water legged pants would have caused me great issue! lol. Glad you liked it! Keep working with it. You will figure it out. OH! And I had beach towels all the way around the table layered about 3 deep!
OK, so slightly off-topic, but still related... I said something today that I didn't think I would every hear myself say - "DO NOT wipe your face with your wet dirty sock!" This little girl had gotten water on her shoes, which soaked through to her socks. She immediately sat down and took them off and as I'm trying to get the extra clothes to get her some dry socks, she felt that she had to clean something off of her face and what to use? oh yeah, this wet sock in my hand. I'm pretty good at phrasing things in positive, choice-oriented ways, but not in THAT moment.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I love the things we say that one would NEVER imagine! That is a new one though! lol
