A Playroom!

2011 has brought (another) opportunity to rearrange and "optimize" our home.  Whenever I tell Matt I have an idea, his first question is always "will I have to move furniture?"  Well, yes.  This time, yes.  Most times, yes.

Both kid had their own room, but for various reasons, from heating to sharing, we decided to take those two rooms and make one into a sleeping room, and one into a playing room.  We were a bit apprehensive about how the sleeping would go, but it has been fairly successful.  The playroom, however, has been WILDLY successful.

We are firm believers that the fewer toys you have out, the more in depth each one will be explored.  Too many choices lead to one game- the dump-it-all-out game.  To this end, we limit the number of toys we have out at any moment.  They are not deprived- we still probably have 20 different types of toys available at any moment, but believe me, this is pared down!

We keep the toys easy to access and easy to clean up.  Toys that are not currently in the rotation are hidden in the top half of the closet by a curtain- out of sight, out of mind,


Right now, we have out:
a bin of Legos
a bin of Brio trains
a bin of baby dolls
a bin of animals
a bin of cars
a puzzle rack with 3 puzzles
a box of books
a box of stringing beads
beanbags
a ball
a CD of stories to listen to
As well as our usuals:
a bouncy horse
a balance beam
a climber/slide

Certainly nobody will be bored around here, but cleanup takes less than 10 minutes.

We are enjoying our new-found, newly-painted space!  And I am enjoying having my living room back, and even a few moments to myself while the kids play together!