Where Play Takes Center Stage

April 29, 2015

10:07 AM

When a caretaker invests in quality playtime with a young child, that time can be just as rewarding as learning the ABCs. It can even be more rewarding when that time is spent indoors, in a safe place filled with toys for kids.

Meet the Chen Family

Christy, a stay at home mom, did her playroom homework and in two months’ time filled a small, empty room in her home with loads of fun toys and activities to keep her two little ones busy playing all day long.

She, her husband Andrew, and their two children, Kohen and Olivia, have called their Wernersville house “home” for two years now.

The perfect space for the children’s playroom was an empty room just six steps off the kitchen, keeping the kids close when Christy cooks lunch or dinner. Another option would have been to store the toys in the children’s bedrooms, but Christy’s not a big fan of clutter (we don’t blame her). She started making playroom purchases in October, and about five weeks later, the room was completed with Andrew’s help.

The space is the epitome of fun and functional.

“I wanted the room to have a lot of colors, but I kind of wanted it mismatched too, to make it more fun,” Christy explains, sharing her strategy.

Originally, the mother of two wanted wall-to-wall carpet, but she decided against it later, instead settling for adding two super-soft and colorful rugs and keeping the original laminate hardwood flooring.

As far as stocking the room with activities was concerned, she put her own childhood interests to work in addition to spending a lot of time on pinterest.com looking for ideas. “I loved coloring as a child, so I made a nice art station,” she explains. “This station keeps them busy for hours! I also love reading, so I made a book nook inside a teepee.”

In addition, the two areas are filled with age-appropriate teaching materials. “I didn’t just want this to be a room full of toys; it needed to be educational as well,” Christy shares.

Christy modeled the kids’ paint station after one she saw and fell in love with on Pinterest. It features a table, chairs, and a rack with cups to hold crayons, markers and colored pencils. Above it hangs a white board and a shelf to contain other materials, like paint and Play Doh. A magazine rack works like a charm to hold coloring books and paper, and a curtain wire with metal clamps is used display the kids’ creations. A decal above the station, “every child is an artist,” serves to distinguish the area from the station next to it.

In the library, Christy used pages from a Dr. Seuss book to spell out “READ.” Spice racks (painted white) serve to store and display books.

The gray-and-white polka-dotted teepee is the ideal spot for story time and pretend outdoor adventures with its pretend campfire complete with play food — hot dogs and marshmallows on long sticks ready for roasting on the fire — and forest animal

(owl, raccoon and bear) throw pillows.

Two extra large bean bag chairs allow mom and dad to come in, kick back and relax but still be present.

Let's Get this Pretend Party Started

Kohen, almost 4, knew his mom and dad were making him a fun space.

At the moment, his favorite toys are miniature dinosaurs lined up like plastic toy soldiers on the floor. He is counting how many there are on his fingers. Across the room, between the kitchen and art station, two Beta fish are swimming around in two clear plastic fish bowls.

“RING, RING.” “RING, RING,” goes the play phone in the kitchen. The incoming call is for Kohen. He picks up the receiver. “Hi Gee Gee,” he says, pretending that it’s his grandmom (bonus points). “I got to go,” he says. “I talk to you later.” So many toys, so little time.

At the corner grocery store, a low shelving unit is stocked with dry goods — empty boxes of macaroni and cheese, raisins, brownie mix, fruity cereal and other fun play food. And there are fruits and vegetables that look good enough to eat. As Kohen pretends to shop, he names every item: peas, apples, bananas, cucumbers and tomatoes. It all goes into his basket.

Before heading to the kitchen, he stops at the checkout counter to pay for his groceries. His mom is playing the role of cashier. She quickly scans each item and the register makes a sharp beep sound, just like at a real store. Kohen pulls a coupon out of the air (he knows he gets a discount). It’s pretend shopping at its best.

Both Kohen and Olivia love to play in the kitchen. “What do you want for dinner?" Kohen asks his sister. The sauté pots and pans clink and clank as Kohen pulls one off a peg rack mounted on the wall. The kitchen, with its white and pink refrigerator, microwave, stainless steel sink and oven with a range, is real swanky.

Kohen is putting an apple in a sauce pan. After the apple, in goes an onion and broccoli (if he hadn’t put in that apple you would have thought he knew what he was doing). For dessert, he makes a batch of plastic Christmas cookies. He dishes out the food with a soup ladle. “It’s yummy,” he says. Olivia, who is much younger than her brother, has been pretty quiet so far. But in the kitchen she is in on the action and is sharing and pretending to eat the newly baked cookies. After dinner, Kohen loads up his pockets with provisions he might need for a sleepover in the tent. He picks up the two sticks, one in each hand, and pretends to cook over the campfire. “It's almost ready. Come on,” he shouts. Now he is climbing inside the tent. “Hey, my head is sticking out,” he shouts, before running over to the chalkboard to write his name. His mom helps him make out the letters. “Good job!” she encourages her boy.

When mom is playing pretend kitchen, she is the server and the chef. She puts a small table and chair in the middle of the room and takes orders. She cooks and then serves things like plastic steaks or sausages on plastic plates. “They find this so fun!” she shares.

At the end of the day, after the kids are in bed dreaming about their next playroom adventure, Christy is back in the room getting it ready for the next morning. Small toys are put in large storage baskets, and groceries that are still in the kitchen go back to the store. Before she knows it, she is back in the room, and sometimes it’s not by choice. As she poignantly says, “they could spend all day in there if I let them.”

In a few short years, the kids will outgrow their toys, but not all will be lost. The Chens already have plans to turn the space into two homework stations when the time comes, and it will. You can count on it, in the blink of an eye. ν

Let's Go Shopping!

Christy says she just “went with the flow and bought what was needed.” Fortunately, she kept a tally of her playroom item shopping list (she even provided approximate prices for each purchase).

Here’s her list of online purchases:

Land of Nod

Rugs: 4x6 @ $299; 5x8 $399Teepee: $159Animal pillows: 3 @ $29 eachThe S’more the Merrier Campfire set: $69Toy storage baskets: 8 @ $12.95 eachWall decorations: $150 landofnod.com

etsy

Faux fur rug for teepee:  $75

Activity board:  $130

Art wall decal: $25

12 playroom prints:  $130 for all

etsy.com

IKEA

Toy shelves: $35 each

Kids table and chairs: $20

Art station shelf: $25

Art hanging wire: $10

Magazine rack: $10 

Book racks (spice racks): 6 @ $3.99 each

Ikea.com

Amazon

KidKraft kitchen:  $154

Chalkboard and whiteboard: about $20 each

Hanging fish tanks: 2 @ $12 each

amazon.com

Pottery Barn Kids

Doll bassinet and high chair: $140 

potterybarnkids.com

Restoration Hardware

Bean Bag Chairs: 2 @ $199 each

restorationhardware.com