To be confused about playrooms?

[Wowsostormy]

I just don't get how they work in the home. I get it more if your child is old enough to play unsupervised, but if they're young you surely have to just be in the playroom with them, in which case why not just have toys in the living room? Because you're probably not in the living room much, so isn't the playroom then basically your living room anyway?

And a child old enough to play unattended could surely play in their room instead anyway?

Explain this to me!

YABU - playrooms are great for X reason I haven't grasped

YANBU - pointless room which may as well be the living room

Our playroom works more as a storage.
It's a bit seperate from the heart of the house so the DCs naturally drag stuff out to the lounge or conservatory, but it's good that things can be taken back out there.

It did take the brunt of the train track and duplo set-ups... saying that, my 11yo still pulls them out to play

I'm at the point of thinning out the toys and over time, it can become more of a gaming room/ den. They're getting to the age where they're staying up later and adult evening space harder to come by.

you don't have to tidy the toys away to make the living room look tidy if you have a playroom.

This. I thought this would be obvious 😂

We have a kitchen diner plus an unused dining room which became the playroom. It's been great!

We used a dressing room as a small playroom to keep the clutter contained.

I can shut the door of the playroom and not see the clutter. It also has cheap vinyl flooring and a cheap desk that can be wrecked with craft stuff.

Ours is a little different as it is also somewhere for physio equipment for my daughter, and now it is more of a study for her than a play room. She can’t play in her room as it isn’t really big enough, it is upstairs and even though she is 12 she still needs eyes on her in case she falls.

We have a kitchen diner plus an unused dining room which became the playroom. It's been great!

Same here.

Depends on the house/kids. We had a playroom in our old house as there was a small room on the other side of the stairs, was open plan downstairs and stairs separated the living room from play room. Was a great space for kids and their toys/play kitchen and stuff. We moved when they were 4 and 6 and then they had a playroom upstairs that was the smallest bedroom but it never got used, they had a few toys in their bedrooms and a cupboard in the living room but tended to do construction/art up the table.

IME there is a period of time lasting several years (approx age 2-3 to age 11) when a child is old enough to play independently for a period of time but still wants to be near you, not tucked away upstairs. It's not really until they're teens that they disappear into their bedrooms.

This is important too. When my daughter is downstairs in her playroom, it feels like she is part of the family.

I understand what you are saying, op.

If you have the room it might be nice to have a 'play room' where a child or children can keep some of their toys and other things so as not to clutter up bedrooms. However they won't actually be playing in there until they are old enough to play unsupervised. It would be a good place for them to entertain friends and build things, etc.

Mine was always with us and we had a pile of things at one end of the room :-); when we moved, in two rooms plus bedroom :-).

In theory a play room is a nice idea but nobody is going to leave a very small child in there on their own, or want to sit in there for hours.

Playrooms are a real game changer, I was always envious of my friend's playroom and then when we moved to a bigger house, we turned one of the downstairs spare rooms into a playroom. I would recommend it if you have the room.

Mine always liked the mini kitchens and mini toolset tables stuff you couldn't put away in a toy box but too in the way for a living room or bedroom.

Now they are a little older, they have their gaming gear set up for mates to come around.

Our old house had a kitchen diner where we spent most of our time and that slowly became a designated toy storage and play space.

Our new house has a play room which is great because it's a defined space that's for ds and his room is more calm. Ds is 3 so can play by himself whilst i potter, can have friends in there or he can bring a toy into another room. It's basically a giant toy cupboard with room to play and the rest fo the house stays tidier for longer

I think I would prefer the ‘playroom’ to be where Ds hangs out with friends as a teenager as well. Means he can have friends over and space to entertain that isn’t his bedroom. As we can keep a better eye on them!
I imagine by then we will add a console/ tv/ desk instead

Having a playroom meant that we ended up with a daytime living room and an evening living room. It was lovely having an adult chill-out space uncluttered by toys. Children were allowed in the living room, just the toys tended to stay out of the living room.

Because I can close the door on all the toys and mess and enjoy my evening in the living room! Ours is off the kitchen too so useful when I'm cooking as I can hear what she's up to and have a line of sight. When she and DD2 are older, it'll change to be more of a family den I imagine to have pals round, watch TV, sleepovers, etc.

A playroom is great for storing all the toys etc but just that,when my children were young they practically emptied the playroom onto the kitchen,dining room and sitting room every single day because the children want to be where you are.Fast forward now they've grown to teens I really should buy a large campervan as I seem to be living on the road with them going to different activities etc at least I could cook as I'm waiting on them everywhere or rest 😊, no need for a house anymore

I don't have a play room, we condsidered one but I quite like the DC playing around me. I felt it would also mean toys migrated anyway leaving me two rooms to sort out.

We do do you rotation with my youngest though so most of his toys are upstairs and a different box gets brought down each day.

*toy rotation

I don't want them away upstairs all day playing and I don't want their toys spread about the living room. It's hard enough to get out of mummy mode and chill out when they are in bed without all the lego around. Have lived in small flats for the first 4 years of having kids and now that I have a separate area I love it. Plus it's done like a kids room they can enjoy. Further benefit is that my 5yo knows that it's his responsibility to keep clean, so after tea time he knows to get all the toys away and give it a hoover.

And two of DD's favourite things are her kitchen and her shop, both of which take up a lot of room and contain a lot of parts. We actually didn't have a playroom at first and our living room ended up looking like a creche every day, so we converted the garage about a year ago. It's been a game-changer!

When DD was younger we had a conservatory playroom off the kitchen/diner. It had a rubber matting floor and all toys around edge in storage. When she was small it had a baby gate across so it was like a big play pen. There was a sofa in there and floor space so we could sit and play in there.
It’s nice not to have toys in main living room.

We have a tiny playroom, it's basically just the place where the toys live when I want a tidy living room

Depends on the set up. My friends have a playroom down a corridor and it just doesn’t get used. Ours in continuous with our kitchen/diner but has pocket doors so we block off the mess if needed! It’s been absolutely brilliant tbh. Kids feel they are in the room with me, I feel as if they are in a different room!

Ours is the room you come into from the front door, often in muddy shoes and wet coats! Dens can be built, craft stuff on an old table, train tracks and marble runs and now the guinea pigs are allowed to roam free in there. I haven’t replaced the carpet or sofa since we moved in, when the kids are older I expect it will end up a teenager hangout.

We live in an area where lots of people have very big houses and all the playdates we have been to have had large playrooms. The children don't seem to have toys anywhere else (room, around the house) and store them all in the playroom. My son is 5 so will play happily with his friend in the playroom while the adults sit in the kitchen/diner/living space. We have a much smaller house so unfortunately don't have a playroom so they have to play in his room or in the living room and make much more of a mess!

We have 2 reception rooms, called the lounge and the snug. The lounge has the big telly, my desk for WFH, nice sofa and coffee table etc, - this is where we sit and watch telly in the evening. The snug has the piano, bookshelves in the alcoves, old (but much comfier) sofa, and all the toys ina storage thing, and some like the play kitchen get left out.
We very much have separate "adult" and "kiddy" zones! Play room is off the kitchen/diner through an archway so I can see it fromthe kitchen.

I really don’t want toys in my living room/downstairs space, in fact I’d go so far as to say I won’t allow it. They’re unsightly. So we have a lovely playroom stocked with toys. Out of sight. Lovely.