Bringing Learning to Your Kids Playroom

Recently, for the third maybe fourth time in a year I took all the furniture out of our playroom.  I like to think of our house as ground zero/ test run for all things design. So, after removing everything, I took two days to sit back and think of ideas and reassess the girls needs as they grow.  I came up with a new layout for the playroom that was fun and continued their development.

How I planned for the re-design of the playroom

 
I made a list of what the girls actually played with and what my oldest daughter needed in terms of school. I decided that in re-designing the playroom I wanted to add a “library” of sorts so that Aidan and I could share in her new found love of reading in a fun way.
 

Getting the kids involved

 
Once she saw what I was doing the excitement turned into endless ideas. For her the library must have a check out station, the books must be in order (like the library in her school) and we must monitor the books to ensure they all return. We also would have to stamp all the books so that there would be no confusion as to which books belonged to her library, should a visitor come by and check one out.
Together we created the newest place in Aidan and Nora’s worlds. Point of information…This is not the library in Beauty and the Beast or your local public library, though it may seem that big to her (which I love) our library is a bookshelf coupled with a children’s table and bean bag chairs.

I love watching her write down her books as she checks them out. I love listening to her read and watching her sound out words. I love the fact that she loves this new section of the playroom and that it is something we can enjoy together! And with all of this, for now, she still thinks it is just as awesome as the teepee, train set, tv lounge area, kitchen play-set and OF COURSE tons of toys that are still all around her in that very same room!
Here’s to reading in an era that I wish still had the show Reading Rainbow!
-J