How I designed a playroom for my Bubu that will get maximum usage!
As per ascetics of the room the theme we chose is 'enchanted forest' and as per the functionality of the room, the play area is divided into different sections.
As I have mention in my earlier post/s, during my pregnancy, I was super excited to design + DIY for spaces needed before and after the baby arrived. One such DIY projects was 'baby room'. I do not call it a nursery as it was going to be more than that. It was a space for both sleep and play that I wanted to design.
As our Bubu still wakes up in the night, I prefer having his sleep area in a corner in our master-bedroom. Our parents left when Bubu was 6 months old, and I took the chance to convert the guest bedroom into playroom. Basically, the sketch you see next is split in two rooms right now.
As per ascetics of the room the theme we chose is 'enchanted forest' and as per the functionality of the room, the play area is divided into different sections: Calm Zone, Messy Zone, Pretend Play Zone, Play Zone. Let me go through what each corner adds to the "play" the most important activity of any Bubu! The sequence is as per the layout and not something that's a logical way to arrange a room more from a aesthetic perspective what fits where best.
Calm zone
The first thing you see, opposite the entry door is the Calm Zone. It has a tiny high-back Bubu chair and on top two ledge-shelves that house books. This is our hangout place at night when we want to calm Bubu a bit before putting him to bed or whenever he feels he needs a one-on-one time just sitting and reading together.
The chair actually added a lot of calm in our Calm Zone. Prior to the chair I would be the only one sitting and reading while Bubu frolicked around the playroom babbling and playing. That being said every Bubu is different and you may not need the chair at all.
I mostly keep all the books we own (personally hand-picked with tons of research) on the top shelves. The books we get from the local library every week, I generally keep under the chair. That way the books from the local library get pulled out more often and read.
Next in line to the Calm Zone is the Pretend Play Zone.
Pretend play zone
This is the focal point of the room, a stunning ivory teepee! It's such a gender neutral, versatile piece. It can be anything from a home, camping site, shop, rocket ship, a clinic, my inner child can come up with numerous things a tent can add to "play". As he grows up I hope Bubu enjoys it, research says at the age 3 - 7 years it's a natural tendency to pretend play. In the future I will be adding a basket with nicknacks, accessories, costumes to add to the game of pretend play.
Even now it gets a lot of play. The first thing my Bubu came up with is to play peek-a-boo with this piece. It's our peek-a-boo chamber where you can see through the door and window. The window peekers also gets a special kissy on the nose. So much love, this tent has added!
I strongly believe, adding a store bought tent like ours or a homemade silk-scarf fort is great for open ended play.
Next in line is the Messy Zone.
Messy zone
This corner has a regular toddler desk with two bins to put stationery in.
I have converted the bins to sensory bins instead. One holds a sensory material. Some good sensory materials to explore with are pom-pom balls, rice, beans, popcorn, kurmura, felt strips, satin ribbons and maybe soon kinetic sand.
The second bin I have added LED lights which turns on and off with a remote. It works great to put down colored tiles like magna tiles to see color mixing results. A good addition of backlit table top fun.
You do get sensory table in every shape and size or just a bin with lid will work out too if you want a minimalist approach. Last zone is the Play Zone!
Play zone
This area has all the toys in a very convenient organizer from Ikea. The bins come in 3 sizes so you can choose as per the contents you will put in. It has excited our Bubu since we added it in his space as he has his own set of drawers he can open-close. I just put one drawer content out at a time. When he chooses to play with something else I just say let's put this back in and start cleaning up. Initially I was the only one announcing and putting things back in place. Over just 1 - 3 months he has caught on to my modeling and puts back the toy where is belongs and closes the drawer. He may sometimes just dump all contents in and they pile up weirdly so it does not close which in turn frustrates him. I will help and he is keenly observing how I resolve. So I think he will soon follow the trait. Let's at least hope so.
Our playroom remains this zen, no mess no stress almost 95% of the time! One reason being I am a happy minimalist at heart. And the more important reason is I try to curate his toys so it's something that helps him grow. Toys + play can aid to develop some very important skills and behavior from a young age. So what toys and how many toys you have is a serious subject.
As he grows and gets bombarded with materialism + social-pressure through media and friends I may have to come up with a strategy that will keep all of us happy. For now we all are happy!
This room also has a end to end artificial grass coz my Bubu loves the garden and we do not currently own a backyard. So this helps to get the outdoors in. It's a very durable product fade-proof, sun-damage proof, washable, vacuum friendly. And it helped when he was learning to walk and fell multiple times. Soon as he is all grown up I will shape it to a circle like in my sketch.
If I have to add any toy to this room, it's a indoor swing. If you have a favorite do suggest what worked for you.
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