creating beautiful play environments for families
Did you luck out with a lovely bunch of flowers for Valentine’s Day? A week on they may be ready for the compost, but don’t be too hasty throwing them away. Instead pull off the petals and use them in your tiny human’s mud kitchen.
Don’t have one? No worries. Why not set up a little potion making/cooking station inside with the petals, water, and any other natural ingredients you can find. Worried about the mess? Use a towel as a tablecloth/rug to catch all the spills.
A couple of years ago I had a sudden late night epiphany that we should build a climbing wall in our unfinished basement, and low and behold, Thomas made it happen. As we look to finish our basement this year, we decided it was time to spruce the climbing wall up too. Out came the white paint late last night (why do we always start these things around midnight?) and the kids got into the swing of things today too. What they don’t know is that we ordered some fun new holds from Atomic Climbing Holds, are making a huge sensory hammock for play, and have monkey bar holds to add to the ceiling too. Although we have a million other projects to finish up (looking at you kitchen + bathroom), we’re suckers for the fun stuff for our little humans. Can you blame us?
The next morning the kids woke up to a whole new space for them this weekend. We’re not quite done (sensory hammock and expanded section with Swedish ladder to come), but there is plenty there now to keep them busy. Who’s coming to play? 🙂
I have been in full pudding mode thanks to the flu, but my dear friends in LA have been working hard to create this #inspiredbyCPS LEGO space for their (almost!) six year old son. His baby sister is now on the move and Oliver was desperate for a nook in their apartment where he could build away from interested little hands. With a few clicks on Amazon, they had the perfect place for him to build – a wall mounted shelf desk, organized LEGO storage drawers, wall shelving for displaying his creations, and artwork/lighting for aesthetics (the lightbulb in the hanging light even changes colors so Oliver can set it for “different moods” :). He was so excited at the finished product he didn’t even wait for them to clean away their tools before he started building!
You might have noticed that I use mirrors in all my installs – inside and out. Aesthetically, they are an easy and inexpensive way to make your space feel bigger and brighter. I love adding large mirrors on walls opposite windows to reflect light, over desks and work spaces, or hung low to the ground so our small humans can watch themselves play and learn (side note – all kids love looking at themselves in the mirror).
A long or full length mirror is also essential for your dramatic play nook (how else can you admire yourself post dress-ups?).
Outside I often hang mirrors over/around sandboxes and mud kitchens, but you can choose to hang anywhere where you want to add a little more dimension.
You can look to thrift a large (my general go-to) or get something simple like the NISSEDAL mirror from IKEA.
I also love to use small mirrors in play. You can buy acrylic mirror sheets, which are non breakable and make a really lovely play surface – for inside and out (note they will eventually get scratched). I’ve also used smaller square mirror sheets to create mirrored trays for a more portable play surface/display case.
I also keep a couple of table top/hand mirrors with my art cart. They are great when drawing portraits or for adding a new dimension to still life artworks. You can also use the acrylic mirror sheets as a washable canvas.
Addie and Charlotte are such creative kids, with art and craft materials to rival a professional artist. Charlotte loves American Girl Dolls, and has an enviable collection of dolls and their fashions/accessories. Both girls also love LEGOs. All of this adds up to a lot of stuff but not a lot of space to put it all. This equaled a main level play space that was overflowing and muddled with art supplies and toys, while their basement play space was being underutilized.
This is where I come in. 🙂 Their lovely parents were keen to find ways to maximize their play spaces and create better storage and organization. They also wanted to keep with the same beautiful aeshtetic on the main level they had created with their custom pieces from Forty Third Place. Here’s what we did:
Continue reading “Addie + Charlotte’s Play Space | January 2020”
In my experience the majority of children are not keen to part with their things. I know the general thought in this post Marie Kondo world is to have them involved with the purging, but I can guarantee you that every single toy will bring them joy (even the ones they haven’t played with in over a year). So, what to do? You want to downsize but your small human belongs on an episode of Hoarders.
Here’s a couple of recommendations:
Let’s talk about ‘heavy work’. 💪 Heavy work is any activity that requires you to put pressure on your muscles and joints as they are moving. During yesterday’s playgroup, there was some brilliant heavy work happening as the kids worked together to load up and push a wheelbarrow full of big rocks, which then transitioned to loading up and pulling each other around in a wagon. 🙂
“Heavy work helps your child in more ways than one. Aside from helping your child to feel calm and self-regulate, it also improves clarity and alertness, extends attention span, aids body awareness, and strengthens muscles.” (via Connections Therapy Center)
To trampoline or not to trampoline? A solid question for those with kids and yard space. I never thought we would be a trampoline family (although childhood me would have been so disappointed – how I longed for one as a kid). However two years ago a neighbor opened our back gate and rolled over a small old trampoline they no longer needed and we were sold. This one had no net and more than once my kids bounced with a little too much enthusiasm and…. 🙈. But my boys LOVED it and on days when energy was high (my oldest is 100% the energizer bunny), I would just send them outside to bounce and burn it off.
Fast forward to six months ago and this same family was moving overseas and looking to part with their springless trampoline. We jumped on the chance to upsize and found ourselves rolling over a much larger new friend (while a new family came and rolled away with our old one). During play dates and playgroup, it is the hot destination for multiple friends. Watching them learn to negotiate the space and use their bodies in new coordinated ways is a joy (and quite humorous) to watch.
So if you’re on the fence and wondering whether you should jump in (pun intended), my vote is a resounding yes!
Interested in learning more about the benefits of trampolining for kids? Visit here and here to read more!
I can’t think of a better way to end the decade than by being given the privilege to create a brand new play space for two wonderful tiny humans. When I visited their home for a consult, the kids main play space was the open concept living room that connected with the kitchen. Having toys in this space works well, because it’s a great space for the kids to play when a parent is cooking and they want to be close. But the room as overflowing and with the prospect of a new play kitchen coming for the holidays, something new had to be done. The kids’s bedrooms were also jam packed with toys, most stored in way that they just weren’t being used.
The solution was creating a new play space in the finished basement, that up until now had double as holding place for things that needed storing or donating.
Lucky me! This was the second play space I have helped to create for Evie and John. The first in their old home, and this new space in the finished basement of their new home. Their parents were keen to create a space where both kids would want to play independently/together, without the need for constant parental supervision or help. They wanted this space to be the main hub for toys, and a place that the kids’ friends could run amok and have fun in.
The rundown when I arrived:
