- 1). Even a small room can provide a lot of fun if you plan the space wisely. Measure your space and furniture, rugs and large accessories. Using graphing paper, make a scale model of your room. Cut out scale models of furniture and rugs.
Divide the space into four separate areas or stations: Creative play (with room for art easels or a coloring table), storage, sitting area and physical play. Use the scale models to arrange your room. - 2). Kid-sized furniture gives you more room in a play room, but if you want furniture that will grow with your child, look to modern pieces that are lower to the ground (such as a futon) and use what you have. For example, an old coffee table can be converted to a kid friendly play table by adding 1x1-inch strips of wood around the top as a lip to keep cars and puzzles on the table. Paint it in a bright, non-toxic latex color.
Cover storage cubes in soft stuffing and fabrics to create extra seating and storage. Large pillows can double as places to sit around the room. - 3). Using color instead of a theme will allow the room to grow with your child. If you live somewhere where you can't paint the walls or you don't want to paint a bright color on the wall, use splashes of color on accessories and fabric.
Use non-toxic paint. - 4). Convert storage furniture you already have to make it kid friendly. An old chest of drawers can be painted a bright color, or even with chalkboard paint, and be used as storage for puzzles and games. Rolling storage crates allow kids to roll toys wherever they want.
Use the wall. Hang shelves. Use baskets or old apartment style mail boxes to hold books. Use a wall mount for a television, but don't hang it too high if the television will be used for video games.
If you have more than one child, create a place for each to have his own things by painting his name on a crate or locker. This encourages them to clean up and lets them feel special. - 5). Put the "play" into the room. Think about what your child or children like to do. If they love dress-up, designate one corner of the creative play area for dress-up and plan to hang wall mirrors to let them see how they look.
Clear the clutter from the "physical play" area to allow kids some room to run. If you have tile floor or your carpeting is not well padded, this might be a good place to plan for colorful snap-together rubber mats. - 6). Play rooms are not the place for floor or fancy glass lamps. Make lighting simple. If you don't have recessed lighting, replace your glass light cover with a colorful kid-friendly plastic design, or hang paper lanterns high in a corner out of kids' reach. This adds a colorful and functional touch.
- 7). Let your child contribute to the room by taking a drawing or painting, have it enlarged to poster size in color at a local copy store and frame it.
Hang a colorful cord in the creative play area. Add colorful clothes pins and you'll have an ever-changing art exhibit.
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