I have a question - I guess it's more of a 'poll' but I just wanted to see where other kids play in their homes. We have a fairly small house - the kids share a bedroom and it's just large enough for the crib, bed and one dresser of toys. In the living room, we have an awesome leather ottoman with four different comparments and that is where all the toys, books, etc go. They are also usually all over our living room! We do also have a playroom in the basement but are not down there as much as we are upstairs. I have friends who's kids ONLY play with toys in their bedroom or a separate playroom.
Where do your kids play? Would you prefer for them to play close by (as in the living room) or by themselves in their bedrooms? I like having the kids in the living room with or near me when she's playing. I'd rather that than they be in their rooms alone!
Life happens everywhere! My boys are not designated to any particular part of the house. They may play anywhere. But they also clean up everywhere too.
Its not where they are its how they contribute in the aftermath! :)
I have my daughter (2 yrs old) play in the living room so that I can keep an eye on her. I also don't want her to play in her bedroom because I want to separate her sleeping room from her play room. Hope that helps.
My kids play in their rooms & in the living room, but they do have to pick up all toys in the living room every night. Their rooms we do an every other day kinda clean. I have a little dresser in my dinning room that houses all their craft supplies, like paints, colors, stickers, playdough, so they play in there too, but it is a clean up afterwards kinda thing too. If they want alone time, then they play in their own rooms and yes, my kids need a little time in the day to play alone. Hope it helps
Outside!
My whole front yard is an outdoor play room. I created a special spot for digging in the dirt, and set out kid-sized shovels and buckets (they love looking for worms). I also made a small pond (very shallow). They float toys in it, dip in buckets and water plants, etc. Half the yard is woodchipped (no lawn) but surrounded by flowers. I put out long sticks for making forts, and stumps for jumping on. There's a small table and chairs for doing art projects. Also I put out some comfortable adult-sized chairs for grownups.
I have a single child. When he's alone in the house with me, it can get boring. Turning my yard into a play yard has become a kid magnet for some of the other kids on the street. Now my five-year-old has lots of "brothers and sisters." And I've made friends with some of the other grownups on my street, too.
I can watch him from the kitchen, but most of the time, I'm out there anyway. It's my favorite place to do projects. I live in Minnesota, so we covet good weather. Every day my yard looks different, and I love it.
They play pretty much anywhere. Except the kitchen. I like having them outside. The fresh air and sunshine keep everyone from going nutso. I think it depends on the age of your children. Sure, when they were babies I wanted them close. Now they are 5 and 3.5. There are many, many moments during the day when I want (need) them to go play somewhere other than right under my feet.
My son is 2 and 1/2 and he plays EVERYWHERE!!! He energy and curiosity seem to know no bounds:) I just got this huge bin to set in the corner of the living room and that has helped with toy control. Now we have a quick way to gather up toys when I can't take anymore!LOL My son does play in his room some, where he has ANOTHER toy box;) Sometimes when he is in a really loud mood and singing a lot, I have him play in his room and tell him he can be as loud as he wants in there. I have a three month old, so I can only imagine the toy situation when he is two! I had the idea of a playroom, but he usually wants to play somewhere near me bc he is super social and his brother is still too little to play with him. Maybe when they can play together they will actually play in their rooms. Sometimes my older son's room is the cleanest place in the house bc all his toys are elsewhere! So that's us:)
My house IS a playroom! LOL My son plays in the living room, the family room, rarely his bedroom and in our downstairs game room. Most toys are kept downstairs and in his room.
My kids play everywhere, except our master bedroom. We have a small 3 bedroom house. We have two kids and they each have their own bedrooms with toys. All the bedrooms are upstairs, so that means our living room also has toys in it. There is a play kitchen in the dining area because that is the only place there was any room. Oh, they even have toys in the garage, bikes, tricycles, etc. for bad weather days and the back yard is full of toys. So, like I said, they play everywhere!
when it is me and the boys, they are pretty much allowed everywhere but my room. When dad comes home they need to take outside, or the play room. They make messes with me, adn clean them up when dad gets home.
We live in a tiny house so our daughter played in our living room. Also we live where the weather is pretty mild so she spent most of her time outside..
Well, we made our dining room into a playroom for the kids. Mostly because it's a central location and I can always have my eyes/ears on them. =0) However, they most definitely play in the living room as well as their bedrooms, too. They don't have too many things in their bedrooms to play with though. Also, if we're in the bonus room, they'll come play up there too! LOL So really, it's a free for all. As long as they clean up their mess, they are free to play wherever.
We turned our dining room into a playroom, but we have 2 bookshelves (and the space under the coffee table) devoted to their toys in the family room (same level of the house).
They like playing in their rooms when we're upstairs, and we have a play area for them in the basement.
They tend to bring their toys mostly into the family room as it's really the center of the activity in the house.
Everywhere. Most of the toys are in the living room and family room. The toys in his room, are mainly there from ones he takes in during changes. Wherever we are, he is, so nothing is off limits. If he is in the kitchen, we just make sure that he is out of the way when cooking. I like to have him in my sights at all times, but he is only 2.
My ddaughter playd in the living room her bedroom and out side. Her toys are in those three spots. So were ever she is she will play. She loves to play out side I think its her favorit.
Our kids play all over the house. Toys are everywhere except my bedroom. I would prefer for them to keep the toys to their bedrooms, but am not strict about enforcing it.
one of my Mom's best friends gave me the BEST compliment of my Mothering Years: she said that she liked coming to my house, because I let my kids LIVE in our home. She said that she knew that there'd be dishes in the sink, laundry piled on the couch, & toys everywhere......& she always felt comfortable visiting us.
My kids are 5 and 3. We recently moved all of their toys to their room and out of the living room! I reclaimed my living room! LOL! But, I don't force them to only play in there. They are allowed to bring toys to the living room, they just have to put them away before getting another one out. That way, I'm not drowning in a sea of toys! We also live on 10 acres so we have outside stuff to do as well.
My kids play everywhere....I have one of those living rooms with the toys and toy boxes strewn about...they also have the whole downstairs family room with lots of fun stuff like a drum set, a basketball hoop, a train table and a Foosball table, that they never use...they rarely play in their own rooms...sadly somehow toys always get into my bedroom as well, but my DH hates this and we are working at keeping them out of there.
I was like you, preferring to have them be close by when they are little but now that they are big I am thinking it is time for the toys to leave the living room...but my kids are getting big! Ages 6,4 and 2.
My son mostly plays in his room and I am trying to encourage that because there is no TV upstairs and it helps both of us avoid temptation. There is a lovely rocker up there and I'll take a book or a computer and keep myself busy while playing with him. However, we have also thoroughly childproofed our kitchen/family room for play, which I rely on when I have cleaning or cooking to do. Somehow, toys have also made it into our bedroom and living room, but my son isn't usually in there.
when my kids were little we had a bookshelf in the living room and had the bottom 2 shelves with toys and those were the living room toys and they picked them up when they were done playing with them. We also had toy shelves in their room and they would play in their room a few hours a day on their own. Most of the time they wanted to be where we were and would play often in the living room but sometimes they liked to play alone in their rooms. We enjoy having our kids hanging out with us and now they are teenagers and still love hanging out with us in the living room and even though the room is sort of cluttered with their stuff like Rock Band and other video game stuff and movies. We enjoy playing Rock band with our kids and watching movies together. Their friends enjoy hanging out here a lot too.
Will let you know our house stayed cleaner when the kids were little and now everything doesn't get done because we are on the go a lot and our house is very lived in with the teenagers stopping by and hanging out often. It used to bother me but now I just let it go and don't worry about having a spotless house anymore. The kids say they love coming to our house because they feel welcome because they aren't allowed to do much mess type stuff at their houses because they say their moms are neat freaks and don't let them cook or do anything that will make a mess. Here they play games, watch movies, play video games, and sometimes they like to cook stuff. It is more fun to spend time and do stuff with your kids than to worry about every little thing that doesn't get done. housework will always be there but your kids will leave on their own someday and I want my kids to remember that we did things together and had fun.
My main daily requirements are to have the dishes washed, counters and table wiped off, trash emptied, litter box scooped, and do a load or 2 of laundry everyday. Everything else gets done eventually when we have extra time to get it done.
Enjoy your kids while you can as life goes by so quickly and before you know it they are graduating high school and going to college.
Living room & kitchen or where ever I am. I have a 1 1/2 yo and she plays where ever I am but mostly in the living room that's where the majority of her toys are. They can all be tucked into a corner when we have guests over. Of course she wants to 'help' with the laundry so there and a cabinet in the kitchen is all hers. She does have toys in her bedroom but I want her to associate her bedroom with sleeping not playing so that when I move her out of her crib she isn't tempted to get up and play in the middle of the night.
my kids play all over the house. Their rooms, living room, basement and even our bedroom. I try to keep the toys out of my bedroom though.
Hi McMama,
My kids play wherever I am, whether I go upstairs, downstairs, kitchen, etc they follow me, especially the little one. However, we have a small room where most of the toys are in an organized setting. Some others things for them to play like puzzles, books, coloring books, crayons, markers, cards, etc are in a study room, and their bedroom.
There are "outdoors toys" kept in a plastic bin outside for the kids to play which I encourage it, weather permitted. There is still several toys H. and there sometimes...but it's not a problem while they are not located in a place where someone may trip or else. I keep the most used toys in different small, plastic bins w/lid, so they followed me with the one they are playing with. After they are D., toys go to the playroom. I let them enjoy, but they must keep the toys in the areas designated for them after they play w/them. Before going to bed, the kids put their toys away
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We have a very small house. His bedroom has some toys in it, but he is just now getting where he will play in there alone. He is not yet 2 1/2. So our living room is toy central. I liked keeping an eye on him, and honestly, there just isn't room in his bedroom. I can rearrange it a little now, but have been holding off because he has a real bed now and I don't want him getting up and playing. We have a big leather storage ottoman too, and some shelves with toys in the living room. He pretty much destroys it every day and I clean it up every night. Now we are working on him helping clean up.
