In part 1 of this article I talked about all the concepts to keep in mind for
designing your play space. Now I will share with you my tricks to have fun, affordable, natural play spaces and beat the boredom without the use of screens.
Anything can be Anything: Similar to designing outdoor nature play spaces, using the concept of open ended play objects will get you far in the imaginative play world. These objects are simple and free or cheap. Some of my staple items are a basket of silk scarves, sets of different sized branches lined up in neat stacks for building fairy shelters, and good old-fashioned wooden blocks. The sky is the limit with these open-ended play objects. For a long time sweetpeas favorite thing to play with was string or rope. She used it to hoist up blanket forts. Sometimes it was a tail wagging behind her as she galloped like a horse. Sometimes the rope pulled a stuffed pet rhino around the house as she took it for a walk. I thought to myself at first, what is my child going to do with rope? Every time I cleaned up I would find the rope we have for camping out on the floor. I kept putting it back in the closet with the camping gear and next thing I knew it was out again, being happily used. I finally conceded and it has lived in our toy box ever since.
Anything can be Anything: Similar to designing outdoor nature play spaces, using the concept of open ended play objects will get you far in the imaginative play world. These objects are simple and free or cheap. Some of my staple items are a basket of silk scarves, sets of different sized branches lined up in neat stacks for building fairy shelters, and good old-fashioned wooden blocks. The sky is the limit with these open-ended play objects. For a long time sweetpeas favorite thing to play with was string or rope. She used it to hoist up blanket forts. Sometimes it was a tail wagging behind her as she galloped like a horse. Sometimes the rope pulled a stuffed pet rhino around the house as she took it for a walk. I thought to myself at first, what is my child going to do with rope? Every time I cleaned up I would find the rope we have for camping out on the floor. I kept putting it back in the closet with the camping gear and next thing I knew it was out again, being happily used. I finally conceded and it has lived in our toy box ever since.
When In Doubt, Get
Boxes Out: Empty boxes are by far our best go-to, imagination, boredom toy.
With some scissors, tape and markers and just a few tweaks you can have a whole city laid out before you, complete with
crawl spaces and drawbridges. My children regularly make cozy kitchens, tiny
dollhouses and pet stores from a stack of old cardboard boxes. I have a small
pile I keep in a corner of our sun porch, ready for use at all times. I also
keep a few smaller cereal or granola bar boxes to complete all the fine
details. I recently kept a clear, to go, dessert box and found it the next day
full of painted on brown squares of cardboard. Sweet pea was selling
brownies. If boredom strikes I send them
to the recycling bin.
Tiny Nature Treasures:
My favorite things to display are tiny nature treasures. My young people are
often finding beautiful things to awe over in nature. Displaying their finds is
a true value to them and our commitment to a healthy, green planet. A great way
to display these finds is in a wooden utensil organizer. These boxes have many
small compartments that fit lots of different sized objects. They make
everything beautiful and accessible. We found an old wooden toy tray at a
thrift store that once housed wooden dolls. It made a perfect nature display
tray. I added a magnifier to the tray to get an even closer perspective and a
tiny basket to collect things in. Little pickle loves to fill the basket with the
shells we collected on the beach from our trip to the coast this summer. I used
to look at delicate trays like this and think, that will all end up broken and
trashed on the floor by the end of the day. What I have witnessed is that
objects lovingly put together often have a certain amount of gentleness
associated with them. When the children help find the natural materials they
are less inclined to play rough with them. Our nature tray does not get played
with in the same ways the baby dolls do but it adds that element of peace,
beauty and nature imagery to the play space that we all seem to enjoy.
The 4 Month Rule: In an effort to only keep what we really play
with, every four months I sort through our toys and figure out what they have
grown out of and what needs to be retired. Before I give away anything I think
my children have grown out of I hide it away in a closet for four months. I
give them this long to notice that it has gone and ask about it. If after the four
months no one has noticed I decide to give it away. My oldest is particularly
sensitive to anything being given away so I started this as a way to purge
without having a big argument about it. I also do this with artwork and paperwork.
I would like to apply the same method to sorting through my own paperwork and I
am slowly getting there. It is hopeful to see my daughter’s neat stacks of paperwork
and in time my own will also be organized.
It is totally possible to have a small number of well-loved
toys that tend toward the natural and inspire imagination. With a little
creativity and organization, you can live in an uncluttered home that shows off
your style and meets the needs of adults and children alike. If you want to
learn about designing natural outdoor play spaces please check out my other
blog post on this. Good luck and happy
designing!
