As the colder months draw in, it’s time to bring the kids indoors to keep them warm and dry during playtime. This change from running around outdoors to being cooped up inside has many implications for your home life. It means making space in your interior design for their games and toys, as well as thinking about what you do to keep them amused and active.
Read on for our guide to creating a kids' game room. A dedicated, carefully designed space for children will allow you to keep them entertained without causing chaos in the rest of your home.
How to create the perfect kids' game room for the winter
Introducing the kids' game room
The kids' game room, or playroom, is the ideal solution for keeping kids occupied, as well as storing their stuff and teaching them the responsibility of looking after their own space. It allows you to create a place that's made for play and nothing else, so it's somewhere children will love to spend time. There's also the added bonus of making it the designated place for toys and all things creative and messy, leaving the rest of the house spotless.
This separate space can be especially handy during the festive season when friends and family come over with their own children, as it gives the adults some peace for catching up.
Indoor activities
Keeping children of all ages entertained while they're indoors can be particularly tricky without resorting to the TV and video games. However, there are some activities that can span several age groups easily, with just a few adjustments.
A reading area with a comfortable nook and a range of books for different ages will give children somewhere to settle for some alone time, and maybe even a nap.
Like reading, arts and crafts never go out of style, so stocking your kids' games room with child-friendly paints, modelling clay and paper can be an easy way to fill a whole day with quiet play. Younger children could turn their hands to simple seasonal decorations like paper chains, while older children might enjoy mastering the art of origami.
For a more hands-on alternative, you could have children bring the outside in during winter by making terrariums. These are currently a huge decorating trend, but can also be educational and offer endless opportunities for personalisation.
Storage solutions
A kids' game room needs to make efficient and effective use of space, giving children maximum room to play. The key to this is storage – getting toys, games and craft supplies off the floor and packed away when not in use.
You can enlist kids' help with this as a way of giving them a degree of ownership over the space. Pick up some brightly coloured storage boxes and have your children personalise them: by ensuring the storage solutions have an element of fun, you can make a game of tidying up so kids look forward to using them at the end of the day.
A winter playroom can be a chance to engage children's imaginations and develop some of their other skills too. Thinking about the type of activities they can do in their playroom, as well as how to use the room for effective storage, means you can make it a place of learning as well as convenience.