My daughter is currently 19-months-old and, like most toddlers, she is very active and into everything. I have been wanting to create a play area for her; however, we live in a 1400 sq. ft home, leaving us with no extra space for a playroom. So, I recently converted my daughter’s nursery into an educational, yet functional, toddler bedroom. As I structured her bedroom, I gave attention to how the space could instill a love of learning while incorporating the functional must-haves. Every aspect of her bedroom is intentional and encourages advancement in each developmental domain (Cognitive, Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Self-help, Social-emotional, and Language).
"Parents are the first teacher, and
home is the first school."
Functional Must-Haves
Toddler room functionality is very similar to the functionality of a nursery. For a toddler room to function, it must include the following elements.
- Crib or toddler bed
- Storage
- Diaper changing and/or dressing area
Educational Must-Haves
I truly believe that the parent is their child’s first teacher, and home is the child’s first school. A child’s love of learning begins with his or her educational experiences at home. With that in mind, I wanted to imitate a toddler classroom by creating the following spaces in my daughter’s bedroom.
- Dramatic play area
- Manipulative play area
- Reading area
- Gross Motor space
- Art area
Each area encourages advancement in certain developmental domains. I incorporated items that would spark my daughter’s interest and curiosity, setting the stage for learning to occur.
dramatic play AREA
DOMAINS: Cognitive, Fine Motor, Self-Help, Language [Social-Emotional when playing with others]
manipulative AREA
DOMAINS: Cognitive, Fine Motor [Language when playing with others]
Reading Area
DOMAINS: Cognitive, Language, Fine-Motor
GROSS MOTOR SPACE
DOMAINS: Cognitive, Gross Motor [Language & Social-Emotional when playing with others]
My daughter uses her gross motor area mainly to dance. We have dance parties before lunch time to get out her last wiggles, and start winding down. She also uses the area to throw her sensory balls, march, hop, and roll around.
ART AREA
DOMAINS: Cognitive, Fine Motor, Language
To save space, we store art supplies in my daughter’s closet. She is able to reach the supplies, so she gets whatever she needs and takes it to her table.
Create A space that fits your child's Personality
My daughter loves her bedroom so much. When she wakes from sleeping, she plays in each area of her bedroom for about a total of one hour, or until I open her door. She is very content being alone her space, and I believe that is due to her space fitting her personality. She is genuinely interested in each area of her bedroom.
When creating her space, I chose items that I knew would spark her interest. For example, I added the wooden blocks to her space after noticing her interest in stacking things. The blocks are now one of the main toys that she plays with, along with the play kitchen.
I encourage you to be attentive to your child’s interests and choose educational toys accordingly. You should definitely choose as many non-electric toys as possible (if it needs batteries, put it back), because they encourage imaginative play and increase creativity skills.