We’re on day nine of our Christmas countdown! We can’t talk Christmas without talking kids. You can get the latest toys, gadgets, and games — and they might be excited about those things for a full week — but what about something that will last for years to come? We’ve got gift ideas for the youngest members of your household.
Play-Time
December might not be the ideal time to build an outdoor play area, but you’ll want to start making plans so you can have the play area of your kids dreams ready to use as soon as the weather welcomes back outdoor activity. When it comes to play-areas; we’ve seen it all. Have a play-house built where tea parties and house can be played for hours. Swing-sets can be simple or go all out and include things like rock-climbing walls, mini-rope courses and outdoor big chess sets or be shaped like a pirate ship! When it comes to an outdoor play area — there as many possibilities as your imagination (or your child’s imagination) can dream up!
We’ve pinned some of our favorite ideas for outdoor play areas!
The (Updated) Play-Room
We’re seeing a lot of creative play-rooms this season! Play-rooms have come a long way though — we’ve seen everything from homework stations and lego tables to indoor mini-rock climbing walls and ball pits.
You can have cork walls, chalkboard walls or lego building walls. You can have a mini-movie theater with a couple of rows of kid-sized armchairs and a mini-movie screen. Creating a space that your children and their friends will love for years to come.
Need some play-room inspiration? Check out our Pinterest board!
The Bedroom of their Dreams!
We’ve talked about play-areas; now lets cover rest. If possible keeping play areas (especially screens) separate from the place your child sleeps is best to cultivate a space of rest. A bedroom makeover might just be the perfect gift for your kids AND you. We’ve got some tips for making your child’s bedroom one that encourages sleep and rest (as much as a bedroom can).
The Hide-Out Bed
Kids of all ages love having a sense of hiding out. Canopies, mini-forts, tented fabric areas over their bed can all create those burrowing spaces for maximum rest.
Paint Color
Paint color is important when it comes to creating a calming environment. Tones of gray, blue and violet create a mini-oasis to help facilitate sleep. Of course, that’s the idea — we can’t guarantee that there will be no fighting at bedtime still. You could go the other way and create an energizing space to wake up to. Tones of reds, yellow and orange can make your kids room feel bright and fun. This option is especially good if your child’s room doesn’t get a lot of natural sunlight or if they are not especially good about waking up in the morning.
Make it FUN and Functional
Does your child LOVE their room? Do they like spending time there? It might be time to switch out things like dressers and beds for something new and exciting. We’ve seen castle beds, Millenial Falcon beds to beds that look like sailboats. Having a bed, they love to sleep in is a key factor in any kids bedroom.
You’ll also want to think through storage. How can you make it easy for your kids to clean up their room? How can you make the mornings easier? Even though they might fight you, kids thrive when things are organized. Clutter and messes can cause stress for the youngest and oldest members of your household.
If things are beyond a few simple organizing solutions, we suggest hiring a professional organizer. We have organizers who specifically work with kids to help figure out the best ways to make their space organized and teach them how to keep it that way.
If your child is at a key-transition age (like going from elementary school to middle school), a new bedroom is going to be an essential part of that transition.
Gifting a play area, play set or new bedroom might take some extra creativity — especially at Christmas. We suggest wrapping a few elements of their future new space. A new toy, mini-movie recliner and a new game for their new play-room. A new set of sheets, books, new clothes for their closet for a new bedroom. For outside playset — a basketball (or other sports equipment), sand buckets/shovels (if you’re putting in a sandbox), outdoor toys for a new tree-house or playhouse. We’d also suggest some printed plans and getting your older kids involved with the planning on Christmas day to get them excited.
Whatever direction you head in, we’re here to help every step of the way! From clearing the ground and leveling it out for that brand new pirate-ship playset to getting your mini-movie theater set up with a sloped seating area and a sound system put in. Get in touch with a service provider to start planning!
