Ever wanted to create a great playroom for your kids? Playrooms can be a valuable addition to your home, keeping kids busy and entertained and letting them have lots of imaginative fun without messing up the entire house in the process!
Here are some great ideas for creating an inexpensive and fun playroom.
Choose fabrics and rugs that are durable and easy to wash. A playroom looks much cosier and more comfortable with a range of different textures, fabrics, and rugs. Just be aware that they will get dirty easily, so make them easy to quickly throw in the wash.
Use rugs to “define spaces”, this encourages children to keep toys in one area. An example of this would be to have a special “Lego area” and the Lego gets played with only on that rug, making it easier for clean-up and avoiding the old stepping on Lego issue that we have all experienced at some point!
Storage! Having clever storage ideas are a must! We like to use low storage shelves with baskets, so that each item is easily accessible and easy to pack up. Children can see what they have to play with at a glance which can prevent them tipping EVERYTHING out on the floor.
Create little “pockets of play,” Children love cosy little spaces to curl up and play in. Create a little book corner, or a soft space for cuddling up with soft toys. We used to drape a sheet over chairs so my daughter could play tea parties in peace away from her noisy car-mad brother.
Think outside the box! Have you ever noticed how children love playing with things that are not traditional toys? Well, visit your local op shop, get down to Kmart, visit your local park for nature items or check garage sales for real items for children to play with! A stainless-steel tea set (or a real one, if your child is gentle with breakables) add a whisk and saucepan to a play kitchen. Full up baskets with pinecones and seed pods and watch their imagination take flight!
Declutter. Regularly go through your child’s toys and pass on anything that they do not play with. Or alternatively, store it away and rotate the toys every few months to keep children interested. Having an uncluttered playroom can make the difference between chaos and calm.
Nature play has to be one of the most wonderful ways to connect with your child. Not only does it give opportunities to have lots of fun, get a little bit messy and to get outdoors, but it also lets you be creative together! Here is a list of all the ways we love to play in nature! Create a mud kitchen – Grab a few bowls, spoons, jugs, saucepans – anything in the kitchen that you don’t really need and add dirt and water. Instant mud kitchen! Grab some nature items so that your mud pies look amazing! Get creative with clay or playdough – Set up your dough with flowers, herbs, shells, seed pods and pinecones for some amazing playdough or clay play! Paint with nature – Add your favourite nature odds and ends to the painting table. We love painting on rocks and putting them around our garden. Draw with Nature – Same idea as above, but use pastels, crayons, or chalks (less mess too!) Pinecone Weaving – Collect pinecones and add string or wool, for a fun weaving experience. Start a Nature Collection – Starting a collection is fun! It gives you something to look out…
The leaves are beginning to slowly change colour, which can mean only one thing, autumn is on it’s way! Autumn is the season of colour, and by far my favourite. I remember I used to go out of my way to step on a crunchy leaf, and for some reason it still brings out the child in me! These activities have been created with young children and preschoolers in mind, but they’re equally as satisfying for older age groups too (ahem, even really big kids at heart!). They’re easy and quick to put together and especially great for keeping those toddlers busy while you get something else done, or better yet, sit down and have a cuppa, or read that magazine you bought three weeks ago that’s still sitting on the kitchen counter! Contact Art You will need: Clear contactBlack card or brown paper, cut into a trunk and then some branch shapes. Homemade leaves (you could pre paint/fingerpaint some autumn colours with your child and cut it into leaf shapes)Or craft leaves from a variety shopSticky tape To begin… Cut some contact off the roll and round off the top. Then pull off the paper backing. Stick this (with…
Here are a couple of quick and easy art activities inspired by Winter. SNOWFLAKE DECORATIONS You will need: PaperScissors Method: Start with a square. Fold in half to make a triangle, then fold the points upwards (check picture for reference) Then draw the snowflake design and cut out! Make a few in different sizes and decorate a wall or door! SNOWMAN SURPRISE You will need: Clear contactScissorsColoured card (or an old cereal packet you can cut up and colour)Either old lace doily from an op shop, cotton balls or white paper Method: This one is really simple but kept my three year old entertained for quite some time and she was thrilled with the result. Simply draw the snowman shape on the contact. Cut out and peel off backing. Stick to door or wall by folding over a couple of centimeters at the top and bottom. Let your child decide what accessories the snowman will have. If they can draw and cut them out by themselves, give them ownership of their artwork. My three year old drew the circle buttons, the lines on the carrot and the shape of his smile and I cut them out for her.
Over the past 20+ years Carlene has taken an exciting and inspiring journey; immersing herself in the wonderful world of Early Childhood and constantly evolving her practice and philosophies of working with children.
Visit her website carlenescubbyhouse.com.au