Friday, April 24, 2015

where you least expect it

Hello!
Have you ever looked around your house at the end of the day and seen the disaster your kids left out before going to bed toys organized neatly in their baskets and bins and wished you had a playroom to contain it all?Ahhhh, haven't we all?!


The good news is, it's not so difficult to create a fun and functional playroom even in very small spaces! Most kids even enjoy having a small, cozy, dedicated space that they know is just for them.
We put our playroom in the closet under the stairs. It's fun because lots of times when people are over for the first time, they will open that door thinking it's a bathroom. Joke's on you--we don't have any bathrooms on the main level! I've also seen really awesome playrooms in finished crawlspaces or even in teepees in the corner of a larger room. Look around your house and find a space that you can dedicate to playing and learning--think outside the box!
Once you've found a space, you'll need to decide on storage. I repurposed a tall, shallow metal rack that had been in our backyard shed for our playroom. If you can, use vertical space to maximize floor space and minimize clutter. Magnetic wall paint is great for storing small magnetic toys like Matchbox cars; Ikea sells tons of great wall storage that is meant for the kitchen but works wonderfully in playrooms.
We've personalized our playroom a lot over the years, hanging calendars, my kids' star-of-the-week posters, and even a hand drawn Marauder's Map. We've also changed the regular lightbulb for a blacklight to create a psychedlic glow-in-the-dark room (that was so much fun!).
The great thing about our little playroom is that our kids know it is a place dedicated just to them and their imaginations--no adults allowed! (Unless they invite us in or we're cleaning it up for them, in which case we are welcome)
I'm of the opinion that less is definitely more when it comes to toys. Overfill your playroom with light-up, noise-making, battery-operated toys and you are well  on your way to having an unmanageable mess and overstimulated children. We keep ours very simple. Along with the toys on the rack, we have cushy pillows, a fort kit in a bag, and a toddler size plush armchair. Books go on the bottom two shelves of the rack; then we have a set of London blocks and a plush Madeleine dollhouse set; dominoes, plastic bingo boards, kids' science and trivia flashcards; building materials that click together (Lego's and some other stuff); a bin with kinetic sand and sand toys; super strong magnets and other magnetic things; a discovery bin with a makeup brush and some bones, shells, and "fossils" we found out by the Salt Lake; puzzles and kids' card games; a microscope; a set of stacking "desert" blocks.
My preferred toy storage is plastic pencil boxes and the heavy plastic bags that shower curtains and sheets come in. They fit perfectly on my metal wall rack and they are easy to get down and put away for the kids.
Of course, our playroom gets messy sometimes, but I just periodically go through and help the girls purge stuff--the less we have in there, the better!
What kind of playroom do you have?

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