Our Play Space: Living with Play

A peek inside a reader’s play space…

Often times I feel as though my entire home is a play space. I mean really, kids seem to be able to play in just about any environment you put them in. I distinctly remember when my first child was born deciding that our home was going to embrace our children and allow for free play. I also remember thinking that this didn’t mean that I had to live in a jungle gym…was I wrong? I think our home today has incorporated our children’s play pretty effectively.

Our main living/playing space is our living/dining room. In the dining room, I have transformed a small bookcase into storage for our games and art supplies. There are few things I love more than watching my girls create together at the dining room table, markers and crayons strewn about. Above the bookcase is a word wall that is always evolving with new words. As the girls grow the word wall is turning into a space for multiplication charts and cursive letters.

This other small bookcase is in our living room. It used to be our “apartment building” when it housed my youngest daughters many, many, many doll houses. Now that her play preferences have changed, we now store more art supplies and books in this cupboard. This cupboard seems to evolve the most. Some days it might be filled with little people and animals and other days the latest art project has taken over. The true key to both of these spaces are the doors that close at the end of the day. They easily and neatly transform our home when the girls have gone to bed. I believe it is possible to comfortably live with play!

Thank you to Jen of Kitchen Counter Chronicles for coming over to play today on Our Play Space.

Do you have a family or kids play space in your home that you love (indoors or outdoors)? Submit your play space here and you too could be featured on Childhood 101.

Be sure to visit the previous Our Play Space posts for more playful inspiration!