Tips for doing up your child's room and play area

‘Environment as the third teacher’ is one of the core philosophies in the educational project of Reggio Emilia. What it means is that an environment that encourages engagement, invites curiosity, and promotes creativity is a capable teacher in and as of itself. Here we have shared some suggestions on how to create an engaging and enabling space for your children in your home.

Organisation:

• Declutter. A room overflowing with toys will overwhelm the child and promote shorter attention spans. Retain toys and resources that your child is most interested in currently. Introduce a few new ones to the mix and put the others away in storage. Occasionally rotate the items. You could even involve your child in this exercise. You will notice that your child will engage longer with the limited toys/resources. The quality and complexity of the play will improve with it.

• Organise items into baskets/boxes. You can have photographs of the items or labels on the outside of the boxes. This will encourage independence in finding the item and tidying-up after. Moreover, the predictability of finding things in the same spot is calming and assuring for young children.

• Accessibility promotes agency. The furniture in the children’s room should be child sized. Some examples are – low beds, chairs that allow little feet to touch the floor, stable stools that allow children to safely reach the sink, low shelves/storage that display items at eye level and within the child’s reach. This supports independence, encourages the ability to make informed choices, and promotes a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.

Aesthetics:

• Use colours with care. Often one finds children’s spaces decorated in clashing blue and red and green all at once and peppered with store-bought stickers, decals and posters. This creates visual noise that could dampen your child’s voice and thoughts. Consider use of neutral wall tones to create a warm and soothing environment. Introduce colours that integrate the various elements in the room and add interest rather than jar the senses.

• Bring in nature. Decorate with plants, flowers and natural resources such as rocks, shells, pine cones and baskets made of bamboo or natural grass. Maybe add a fish tank. This adds beauty to the room and provides an opportunity for children to care for other living things. Watering plants and feeding the fish are chores that your child can learn to carry out.

• Natural light is a mood enhancer. Ensure that the space is bright with natural light. Place mood lighting, focus lights and reading lights appropriately.

• Create an inviting and soothing environment, pleasing to the senses. Children have a discerning and appreciative eye when it comes to aesthetics. Display paintings, art and photographs at the child’s eye level so that they can engage and interact with them. Pick displays that can provoke curiosity and learning. Use things like sheer fabric drapes, fairy lights, mirrors and terrariums to add to the wonder and magic of the space.

Toys and Resources

• Open-ended toys promote creativity and imagination. They could range from wooden blocks, Lego and construction kits to magnets, seashells and pebbles.

• Include diverse resources – art materials, books, blocks, movement toys such as balance boards and skipping ropes, puzzles etc. Be thoughtful and keep to a few high quality, sustainable and adaptable items. The diversity will cater to varying interests and promote development of new interests and skills.

Safety

• Ensure that spaces are safe and suitable for the age ranges they are being designed for and that younger children can be kept away from spaces that are unsafe for them. Use child-proofing resources (barriers near staircases, electric point covers, window locks etc).

• Provide age-appropriate resources. In environments shared by multiple ages, ensure that unsafe items such as scissors, construction sets with small parts etc are kept out of reach of the younger children.

• Inspect the environments periodically to remove any broken, chipped toys that could potentially harm your child.

We hope these tips help you create a warm, nurturing and engaging environment for your child/children. If you have any questions or need help with setting up a playroom/school room/nursery, do get in touch. We would love to be involved.