I love that today’s featured play space proves that you don’t necessarily have to have a lot of space in your home to dedicate as an art space for children.
Where is this playful space? North Yorkshire, UK
Tell us a little about the people who play in this space.
I set this area up seven years ago, when my boys were 18 months old and 3 years old in the kitchen as somewhere for them to sit and create independently whilst I cooked or worked in the kitchen. Although we had a craft cupboard and they often did art at the dining table, I wanted to encourage them to use this space on their own and provided them with easily accessible materials. The table and chairs was an inexpensive set from Ikea and I simply painted the top with chalk board paint, so that they could chalk directly on to it.
We set up an area to hang the boys artwork above the desk and now they are eight and nine we still use it to display things we have made! In fact we replaced the table and chairs with a slim line bureau that they use on a daily basis.
What are you and your childrens’ favourite elements within this play space?
I loved that this area was simple and inexpensive to set up and fitted in to a small corner of our kitchen. UK homes are not large so it is important that we make the most of the space we had. My boys loved having free access to art materials and having something perfectly sized for them.
How does this space reflect your beliefs about how children play and learn?
My motto is living a creative family life and that is what I try to steer my family in to. Also as a SAHM I wanted to keep an eye on my kids and the kitchen is the heart of our home, so having the area there for them was great.
Head over to Mum in the Madhouse for more details about this great kitchen art space.
About Jen: Jen is passionate about crafting and cooking, and can often be found in the kitchen teaching her boys (aged 9 and 8) to make pizza dough, or making homemade gifts for family and friends. When not up to her eyes in flour or paint, she can be found writing about family life at Mum in the Mad House. You can find her on Facebook here or connect on Pinterest.
Be sure to check out the previous posts in the Our Play Space series for more playful inspiration for your home or early learning centre.
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
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