Why You Should Make Organizing your Playroom a Priority

You've probably heard the words, “I'm bored” or “Please play with me!” more times than you can count from your child. It's not that I don't love to play with my children, but sometimes mama has to get her stuff done too!

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There are many great reason why you should make organizing your playroom a priority. Doing so will save you time in the long and help you create purposeful play space in your home for your children to enjoy.

Why You Need to Prioritize Organizing Your Playroom

When you see how much “stuff” your kids have in their playroom, you may wonder how they can possibly be bored or need you to facilitate their play.

Chances are their play space isn't organized to facilitate purposeful play. We know that the environment is a teacher and that we must organize a playroom to maximize learning through play.

What is purposeful play?

First, what do I mean by purposeful play? It's a fancy way of talking about the type of play that is intentional and natural for children. It's the type of play children are born to do…(no adult direction is needed!)

When we say “purposeful play,” we don't mean a breakdown between “good” and “bad” play. Because any play, no matter how insignificant it appears to us as adults, offers learning opportunities for our children. And in fact, even adults use play as a tool for learning, often without realizing the impact.

Purposeful play is how children develop the cognitive, social, and emotional skills that allow them to succeed in life!

When we discuss play as being “purposeful,” we are referring specifically to play that keeps children engaged and playing independently. So many times, it's about us stepping back and letting our children play without adult interruption. This allows natural learning to unfold without you, as the parent having to do the work (of filling your home with low-value toys!).

So the most important thing to note is that once you have an environment SET UP in a way that promotes play and you STEP BACK and let you kids do their thing…they will naturally participate in purposeful play. (with very limited work on your part!)

What areas should I have in my child’s playroom to promote purposeful play?

Encouraging your children to play independently and in a way that promotes their learning, you'll want to have areas in your play space that focus on cognitive, social, and emotional learning.

Here are some spaces I recommend. Note that you do not have to have a giant room to make this work.

You can organize these play spaces in different rooms, such as your child's bedroom, the living room, or the dining room table. For example, my kids often find the dining room table their designated art space when we're not using it for eating. 

Calm down space:

First, the calm-down space promotes social and emotional skills. Your kids should have a cozy space to relax, meditate, and think. This space may have pillows, bean bags, or even a fun tent!

Reading area:

Make sure your child has access to books to help their cognitive development. Reading encourages imagination and is a form of play! The reading area should be comfortable. I know my kids would rather sit on a comfy pillow than read at a desk and hard chair. 

Physical play space:

Your kids need room to run, tumble, and get moving! Have an open area with a play mat and/or things to climb on. Let go. Your kids may fall and get a few scrapes, but this purposeful, risky play also improves gross motor skills. Let your kids get moving!

Sensory space:

This is of course important if your child has sensory issues, but a place to explore the senses is essential for all kids! Check out toys like kinetic sand, rice, pebbles, and the ever-popular slime. Teach your little ones how to clean up the mess, and you'll be thankful for the purposeful, independent sensory spot.

Building space:

Bring on the blocks! You'll find many toys online or in stores deemed as “educational.” However, blocks and Legos, which are often considered “toys” are more beneficial than most of the so-called educational toys.

Blocks not only help with fine motor skills, they also encourage imagination. Get your little engineer imagining and building! The building space is ideal for a flat surface.

Here are some of our favorite building toys and other open-ended toys that encourage play.

Pretend play area:

Why not have playroom organization trunks or a plastic container and fill it up with costumes and props? Your kids will love to pretend that they are princesses, police officers, animals, doctors, different characters from books and movies, and more! Even if you are working or doing something else, make sure you listen to your kids as they pretend play. Some of my best memories are from the stories and scenarios I hear my imaginative kids come up with!

Art space:

Let the art space get messy! It's simple enough to have a newspaper or plastic covering accessible for your creative kid. Cover a dining room table or usable space, and give them access to paint, crayons, markers, paper, and more. Unrestricted creativity leads to imaginative kids. You can invest in playroom storage containers to make clean up easy and fun.

Invitations to Play

Organizing your play space in a way that invites play will help your children find materials and engage in purposeful play. Inviting your kids to play doesn't mean that you are participating in the play.

Invitations to play means that you are organizing a playroom and giving them access to materials where they can see and use them. Your kids are more likely to play independently if they don't have to interrupt to ask where things are. Let them explore, play, and learn!

I know you are excited to organize your play space! This is a quick overview, but to really create a purposeful play space, I invite you to join us with our purposeful play space course.