A Free Play Makeover

No, it's not for me, although I could use a serious overhaul. I keep waiting for those "What Not To Wear" people (most likely contacted by my very fashionable sister) to pop out from behind some aisle in a store or ambush me at preschool pickup. I would have to kill them if they tried to throw my clothes away, though. Not because I am particularly attached to them, but I spent good dollars at the thrift store one those and I can not condone such waste. The thrift store is certainly my favorite place to acquire new duds, but it is also my go to destination for just about all my other non-food needs, as well. So when I decided that I had finally had it with the mess the kids make of a playroom that I am chronically organizing, it only took a quick trip to Chez Cheap and I was off.

Here is a "Before" of the room in question. If I don't keep on them all day it ends up looking like this...

...or this

...and this.

                                                  

I was trying to think of a way to cut down on the amount of stuff and provide some new and stimulating ways to engage the kids (mainly the girls) in more productive play. I was checking up on one of my favorite blogs when I saw this on Our Yellow House. My Noah attended a Montessori preschool and kindergarten and I suddenly started thinking that all those Practical Life activities would delight the girls. So I did a little online research for inspiration and decided to go with a Montessori-ish theme. I moved all of the dolls, ponies, etc. onto higher shelves where the girls need to ask for them and filled the reachable areas with new activities that I put together for practically nothing.

A week and a half later and we are well on our way to a new way of playing and taking care of what we play with. Here are the shelves now. The top three shelves on the right and one of the ones on the top left are Noah's things and those still need to get pared down. The lowest shelf is all activities that need to be done on the floor. For these, the girls need to get one of the small rugs that is folded on the bottom left and their things must stay on that space. When they are finished, they must pick everything up and return it to the shelf before choosing something else. The next two rows up are all "works" that they will do on their table.

This used to be an end table that David had refinished, but we don't have room in our current living room configuration for it. The two little chairs were given to us for free when we stopped by our neighbors yard sale last summer.

The TV used to be here, but I moved it to the other side of the room because I hated it being the first thing I saw when I walked in. Since that move, the television has died and I couldn't be happier. We are not planning to replace it anytime soon. So now we have David's amazing dollhouse that he built for me last Christmas to greet us. The room also needed some additional lighting so I picked up this lamp at the thrift store for $5. It had a hideous black shade, but I found this funky one there for 50 cents. The rolling rack I got at another yard sale for $5 and it is awesome. The bins all slide out and I put some additional activities and books in it. Samson the itty bitty black kitty also wanted to get in on the action.

This is the new and improved Art Wall. Each child has a "clothesline" where we hang some of their recent work. There are also some projects created by the two oldest.

I moved this little corner table that I got from a free pile last year and made it part of our theme area. Right now I have out a little basket with figures from "Nightmare Before Christmas", some wooden apples and the Fall-ish books. All this was stuff we already had.

                                     

Here are the girls demonstrating one of the floor activities - stacking blocks. This can be a two person work and must stay on the rug to prevent them from getting thrown around the room.

This is an activity that helps build muscle strength and fine motor skills. Caroline uses tongs to transfer the little dinosaurs from one bowl to the other and back again. The whole thing stays on the tray and makes it easy to keep everything together and carry it to and from the table. I spent a total of 50 cents on this one.

This sorting activity can be done with any small objects, but Josie needed something a bit more challenging so here she is sorting a bowl of dried beans into a dish with three sections that I picked up for 50 cents.

The rice bin is a huge hit, but stays on a higher shelf and must be requested. It can get a little out of hand without supervision. I filled a large tub with rice and the girls dig for small plastic animals that are buried. This is a good one for them to work cooperatively on. They also like to use funnels and scoops to play with the rice. Some does get spilled, but it hasn't been too bad and after they are done I have them sweep up and they LIKE it!

Water play is always a hit, but I limit that to the kitchen. Each child has a tray, a dish of warm water and sponges cut into various sizes. They work on building muscles important to fine motor skills, like writing, by squeezing the sponges into the bowl. They also experimented with floating ad sinking. Had all the materials and just dried the sponges and put them away till the next time.

Pouring! I could write an entire post about how much kids love pouring. Here, Caroline is using a large plastic measuring cup with spout to pour into the funnel and fill a small glass vase. I put a drop of green food coloring into the water so she could see it better. This is all on a tray and a plastic place mat. Cost was 75 cents for a few things we didn't have a spare of.

Every day I think of more things to add and the beauty is that it all comes from right around me. The few things we didn't have I got second hand so there is not a single "new" item in the mix. The kids are loving it and I can't wait to incorporate some big kid activities for Noah. They are learning to work more peacefully and cooperatively. As I write this, they are ALL at the table behind me doing a puzzle together. And no one is SCREAMING. Miracles do happen. So take a look around, ask Barbie to scoot over and see what your kid can get their hands into.