Playroom must haves

[LivingoffCoffee]

Currently planning out a new playroom for my 19mo. Please give me your recommendations of what your LOs have gotten the most use out of.

I have been planning on:

• lots of storage for toys (Ikea trofast)
• our old sofa
• book case/display
• small table and chairs
• soft play set
• teepee/playhouse
• ballpit

Not sure how much longer he'd play with the soft play and ball pit though, so wondering if they're worth it?

My DD is 2 and only wants to play in the room I'm in. She has a play area in the living room (kitchen, table, chairs, chalk board/easel, toys, colouring stuff and will add some dressing up things) but spreads her toys around depending where I'm based

My only suggestion for a playroom is to have it as an area open to whichever room you spend your most time in.

A separate playroom will only be used if you spend all your time in there too.

I have two dc (under 9) and we tried the separate room and found they just pick up a toy and bring it to wherever I am. So we took the room back, split their toys into their bedrooms and put a small amount in the hallway in a box which they bring into the kitchen or living room depending on what I'm doing.

Once in a while they play alone in their rooms (or together), and if we want to do games together we play them on the dining table.

The most used playroom across my friends and family are the ones which are an alcove/off shot to a dining kitchen.

I do assume that we'll spend most of our time in there with him until he's a bit older (hence the sofa), he's obviously not going to be in there on his own.

I had thought about putting a door it so it opens straight into the kitchen/diner, rather than just off the hallway. May look into that more seriously though now..

What are your thoughts on things like ballpits and soft play sets?

We had a ballpit for a while but it didn't get much use tbh. I found I just spent all my time putting the balls back. Not sure id bother with a soft play set, but if you have room a slide or a sit on rocker would be good. Ikea do a good balance beam and soft mat for tumbling.

A play kitchen, with A small set of table and chairs was used lots by my dc. Get some plastic play food too. Ikea have a great one, and some excellent miniature metal pans etc.

Low level shelf for their books along with some IKEA units for toys.

I had thought about putting a door it so it opens straight into the kitchen/diner, rather than just off the hallway

Definetly do that. In fact, I wouldn't even hang a door in the doorway. Leave it bare. You can add a door in a few years when they use the room for hanging out with friends. Put a stair gate on if you want to keep them contained when you are cooking.

My tips for a play room would be not to bother! We have had a play room at various points in the past and all that happens is it becomes toy bedlam and they generally only play where you are. My children prefer the hallway for playing of all of their spaces. They are starting to play more in their rooms now that they are a bit older, but the designated play room doesn’t work imo

As much off the floor as possible so that a railway set/duplo kingdom/whatever can spread out everywhere...

If you have space, a mini trampoline with handle. Especially useful when it's been pouring with rain and high winds all day.

A door that you can close at the end of the day and ignore the mess

Wipe clean floor

CD player or music device (dancing also burns of energy)

Love our playroom. Agree that soft play & ball pit have a shorter life. Don't think they are essential. Maybe if you're planning more DC, it would be more worth it. Depending on space available I'd ensure a large area in the middle where he can just play. Your list is basically what we have and we have a good amount of room in the middle for setting up train tracks, building dens etc. We also have a play kitchen. On the wall we have an area for hanging their artwork and a caddy for pencils & crayons.

Less is more when it comes to kids and toys, so I would say to keep it fairly simple. Ensure storage is of a height the DC can reach at various stages, so he has independence to access things himself. I often see book shelves high up on the wall, where DC can't reach. I like a Montessori-inspired layout. Not cluttered and lots of open-ended toys.

Rather than ball pit or soft play what about a role play area that can be a shop, cafe, farm, den or workshop so that toys are rotated and doesn't have everything at one time - like having new toys ever few weeks/months.

Cushions or beanbags and a good old big cardboard box! My kids had a box off a freezer for about 18 months, it was made into so many things

We use our playroom all the time. I have a 4 year old and 1 year old. I would say storage, washable floor and don’t over fill it because they need space. Rotating toys is good. Get a playhouse tent which can be folded and stored under the sofa. Some storage for things you don’t want them to have constant access to eg paint and glue bottles.

If I would as starting from scratch I would add a 2 x 2 kallax for role play area. Look at tuff tray but if you are getting one then I would say get a small one and a stand.

Our play room is used now it has a) no door and b) a TV with a NowTV box. Before that they seemed to forget their toys even existed! But taking the door off made a huge difference.

I wouldn't bother with soft play/ball pit, you'll spend your life picking it all up from the entire house because it will inexplicably spread.

I wouldn’t bother with the ball pit, you will just spend all the hours god sends chasing balls around. We have a train table which is good for small world play - I tend to set up a village or farm or similar with happy land type toys which mine all enjoy. Also something role play - kitchen, shop etc. And some space for hanging dressing up.
Maybe a tuff tray type set up for water play, play doh etc.

Ours gets used all the time, 3 dc aged 4, 4 and 6. They do sit in there without us and play. Leave plenty of floor space. We have tall bookshelves (attached to the walls) Along one wall which are used For books and lego creations, playmobil etc. They often pick up books whilst they are in there. We have a substitute tuff tray - a builders hexagonal tray, no stand but a cheaper option, however this is mainly used outside. Kallax with boxes holding art materials etc. We have an old CD player in there which they do use (out of their reach so they ask for it to be put on). Train table, used for lego now. We find it useful if younger kids visit as older ones can play with small pieces in the playroom keeping the babies/ toddlers away. Look at quadro too, mine love it, can change into shop, car, castle, den, slide etc.

Oo a cd/music player is a good idea, hadn't thought of that

Disco light.

CCTV you can watch from your phone (or house security system if you have it)
Large walk in store cupboard with deep shelves. Rotational storage boxes so kids don't get bored with toys. A stick vacuum with sock over the end to pick up Lego ( ok you might not need this for a while as you LO is quite young still )
Art table and 'washing line' (up really high) to hang art works on.

Hi.

My stepdaughter is 6 and she has her own playroom. She absolutely LOVES having "her" own room and space. We've always told her she doesn't have to stay in there and she can move her toys around but she actually really enjoys being in there.

We found having an easel good as we sometimes write notes to her, jokes, or some maths or English questions and she reply's. Or she draws cute pictures for us.

She's had the room since she was 2, it's just off the kitchen so I can cook and talk to her. We obviously still go in there and play with her but usually she will ask us to come play or tell us if she is ok to play alone.