Create a Playroom

If you are one of the many parents obliged to tolerate the constant raucous sounds of your young children playing oblivious to your discomfort, (because to them, your entire house is the playroom), then it might be time to consider giving them a designated space in which to play. It'll help to keep toys from sprawling all over the floor, and it's also a chance to teach children about boundaries and organization. Here are some ideas for how a playroom can be created quickly and in a budget-conscious way!

Steps

  1. Decide how you're going to partition the space. Do you only want to use some space from your children's room or do you have the flexibility of creating a brand new room?
    • If you have a separate room at your disposal, you have the ability to shape a small playground with a lot of possibilities, by developing the three dimensions of the space. Exploit the height of walls by leaving the main room free for games and recreation. Make steps (stairs) with big cushions that lead to a platform made of timber or plastic and to a wooden footbridge that leads to a slide.
    • One good solution for the creation of this type of playroom could be using the garage, a space in which we usually stack unnecessary objects, condemning it to disuse from over packing; instead, this space could be developed and changed into an internal play area with vast possibilities.
    • If you have part of a room available, you can create a mini playroom, separate and different in aspect from the rest of the room. It's important to place objects in a specific way, so that the entire room can be “separated” into three spaces for basic activities: sleeping, studying and, naturally, game-playing. If you have a bunk-bed, you can have more space for games. Book shelves for books and a desk can transform a corner suitable for reading. In this way, the larger part of the room is left to the enjoyment of your child, who can lay down, roll around, move comfortably, stretch out, and play games.
  2. Choose a theme[1] or a basic Use a Sample Board to Pick the Right Paint Color for the playroom. This is easy, as the only thing you need to do is to let yourself be advised by your children! Ask them what they would like to have as a theme, in order to create a pleasing environment for them. Cartoons[2] or their favourite comic heroes are some typical ideas which children tend to always like. If they haven't got a specific idea in mind, then choose either a feminine, masculine, or neutral color rather than resorting to any fancy colours or patterns.
  3. Rotate the toys. Let your goal be dividing toys in half, thirds, or fourths, depending on the overall pile. Then keep one of those smaller collections out at a time, store the rest away and rotate them out as a whole collection. You can make a big deal out of the rotation days; maybe the first of every month, or whatever. All the toys will seem new again. The key is to get as much out of the way as possible, while leaving a good variety out that the kids will really use and appreciate.
  4. Choose rough totes that can be placed on high shelves,[3] for the collections you want stored away out of circulation. Avoid the temptation lots of children have to climb by choosing non-see-through containers. You can micro-sort smaller items into zipper bags and put the bags in the rough totes.
    • Keep the collections separated; maybe colour code them. All the same coloured boxes can be taken out at the same time.
    • For the toys that are in circulation, many can be sorted into dishpans. They fit in perfectly, because they are simple in design, and go with everything. They can be decorated and clearly labelled. They don't have holes in them like baskets do and are cheap as well as being easy to keep clean. They are easy for kids to handle, portable, and can make any shelving system into a drawer system. You can store books in dishpans too, situating them so that the front of the books are showing to let kids choose a book by looking at the cover.
  5. Get bins for the toys and have your children pick up the toys every evening before dinner. If they don't pick up, then they can't play in that place tomorrow. If they pick them up every day, then it won't be such a Get Your Teen to Do Chores Around the House. It may take a few tries for this to work but it is worth persevering.
  6. Make sure that you have a "cuddly" area, with soft things like bean bag chairs, teddy bears, and soft blankets. This provides a safe place to go and a place to put the child when they are tired or upset. Creating a bulletin board with colours and shapes will keep your children on a schedule. Numbers and letters are better used closer to school age, and shapes and colors are more age appropriate for the younger children.
  7. Buy and hang posters or paintings on one wall. Posters of Disney or Loony Tunes heroes would be ideal for your children. Kids also love animals. Children also love creating art, so an arts and crafts area is essential! The arts and crafts area should include:
    • A painting easel, blackboard and whiteboards (using whiteboard markers is an excellent activity with children; markers should be washable, so that if it gets on their clothes, it washes out easily), a variety of art supplies, and child-sized tables and chairs.
  8. Experiment with different areas according to your children's preferences:
    • School (for instance, science/physics) area: Games are great, but let's not forget about school. Try making school more fun by adding characteristics that reflect school. In this way, they will even find school more interesting.
    • Dress up area: All children love a wardrobe with a variety of outfits, either bought ones or homemade, but most importantly have a mirror, so that the children can look at themselves, change appearance, or even create their own games.
  9. Buy some plastic or wooden cubes in order to enrich the possibilities of the playroom. These are decorative, multi-colored, useful – since they can function as spaces of storage. What’s most important, however, is that they can be shaped in different ways. The children can set up the cubes making lodges, chairs, seats and whatever they can invent. Thus, they have the opportunity to develop their imagination and participate in the configuration of their personal space.

Tips

  • You may want to section some of the garage off with a plastic baby fence to save on mats and space. Other than that, heating and lighting needs may be a consideration, and unhook the door-opener if you have one.
  • By taking at least half the toys out of circulation, you automatically make more room to play and cut down on everyday cleanup time, and everyone will appreciate that. Having said that, you should have your children clean up every day. It is less overwhelming than attacking a week's worth of mess. Make a couple of basic rules and enforce them with rewards and punishments.
  • To minimize climbing, consider using the out of reach places for things that can come out of circulation (more shortly) and the lower shelves to be sized for sorting containers for everyday storage that the kids can get into freely.
  • Let your kids pick the paint colour or wallpaper. Let them have a painting wall where they can paint on the wall with permission
  • A "sensory" table is awesome for toddlers. You can make one or buy one, but this is something you can use for water play, exploring new textures.
  • Some toys can be stored outside the toy room. Riding toys, sports equipment, pool and bathtub toys, movies if they don't have a TV in there, CD's if they don't have a stereo in there, books if there is a family library somewhere else.
  • You can paint frames on large walls in a neutral color and these areas can be used to house the countless art work that will be created!
  • If the garage has a cement floor, seal it with a special garage floor paint first to keep the dust down. The rubbery interlocking mat squares work pretty well. As your child gets older, however, you will want your garage back or at least it may not be a playroom.

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/roomdecor.html
  2. ↑ http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/p/play_room_gifts.asp
  3. ↑ http://www.brookstone.com/sl/home-gifts/playroom-storage-shelf

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