Kids Room Fall Tree Display

Fall is our favorite season and we love to celebrate! So to welcome fall (and convince it to get here a little faster) we've decorated R's playroom with a whimsical autumn scene. This beautiful display gives R his own fall tree to sit under, even before the leaves start changing outside. It was so easy to create and I absolutely love the outcome.

I began by cutting out the leaves from random bits of construction paper and scrapbooking paper. It was a lot of leaves, but it went by pretty quickly. I stretched it out over a couple of nights so I wouldn't get tired of it. If you have children that like to cut this could go even faster!

I made the tree out of brown paper lunch sacks. The amount would vary on the height of your walls, but I used about ten for the whole thing. I just cut them down one side and through the bottom so that the bags would open up flat. Then I taped them into a corner of R's playroom with one half of the bag on each wall.

Then R and I taped everything to the walls. He had a lot of fun choosing which leaf went where. And it was a wonderful time to talk. We spoke about the leaves changing color, the wind, what we hoped to do this fall, and what we'd like to learn about. We also spread the leaves throughout his playroom to make it seem like the wind was carrying them.

After it was finished I added a comfy seating area and a basket of fall books. When R walked back in, he was so excited to see this seasonal little reading nook. He immediately sat and read and declared it the best ever. He even went as far as saying it was better than reading in the hammock. And let me tell you, that's a huge statement!

{If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing or following me on Facebook for future updates. Thank you so much for reading!}

Read more ...

Dress Up Play: Creating A Space

Now that I've posted about the benefits of dress up play and given you a few ideas for a creative dress up wardrobe, I wanted to share how we organize our space.

I have found that having a designated area for his dress up items is the best way to encourage my son to use them. When he has free access to his costumes he's more apt to put them on and really enjoy them. I also try to make this area a place he'd like to spend time in.

I know that it can be hard to store and organize dress up materials, especially when you are working within a small space. It's easier to scatter and stuff them into various areas to hide them away. But seeing them is important, and can be done in a way that doesn't make you want to close the door and never look back. In our home, R has a dress up corner in his playroom. It's not particularly fancy, but I like the looks of it. Here's how I set up our space.

We placed an accordion style coat rack low on the wall to make it easier for R to access. He can easily get what he wants from the pegs and he can easily put it all away. The rack holds his costumes, hats, and even a couple swords. It frees up valuable floor space and makes everything visible and appealing.

Beneath the hanging rack we have a small bin for his accessories. Because we are not storing all of his items in one big box, this bin is small and out of the way in this tiny space. The dress up area is the first thing you see when entering the playroom. I didn't want a large trunk to make the entryway feel crowded.

On the adjacent wall we have a full length mirror. R loves seeing how he looks and being silly in front of it. Next to the mirror we have pictures of R in a few of his costumes. He loves looking at pictures and videos of himself and I thought this was a good way to personalize the area.

There are lots of other ways to organize a dress up area, but this is what works for us now that we have less room to work with. I liked that it was simple, yet efficient.

But now I'd love to know, how do you organize and set up your child's dress up area? What do you like about your area? Are there any downfalls to your particular method? Feel free to share in the comments or on my Facebook page.

Read more ...