When scrolling Instagram, there’s no denying that the gorgeous play spaces can make us feel tempted to buy all of the expensive, coordinated furniture in a bid to emulate what we see. However, furnishing your child’s play space doesn’t need to be an expensive endeavour.
If you want to revamp your child’s play space? look no further than IKEA:
This is absolutely not a sponsored post, but since I get so many requests asking where our play space furniture is from, I thought I would add it to this handy guide.
Here’s ten of our favourite items:
Kallax shelves
Coming in a range of colourways, the Kallax shelves will transform your play space and make toys accessible (and visible) for your children.
We have both the 77cmx77cm and 77cm x147cm varieties in the play space and children’s rooms. They are super easy to move around when you fancy a change in the play space too, as you can see from the photograph above!
Drona storage bins
These storage bins are perfect for containing small items.
Part of play space organisation is grouping items by type so these bins are great for:
- cars;
- wooden blocks;
- animal figurines;
- double;
- train sets;
- dolls;
Whilst they look a little on the large side, they are actually easy for children to manoeuvre – my 2 year-old son regularly brings the car box out for play!
Flisat table
The Flisat table is a great dual purpose item: you can use it for art activities and sensory play. The low height makes it perfectly accessible for young children, especially in conjunction with the Flisat stool.
One of our favourite activities to do in the Autumn/Winter months is the DIY light box, featured on the left-hand-side of the photograph above. You can read more about it over on our sister site, Teach Investigate Play.
Trofast Trays
These trays fit perfectly with the flisat table and you can also use them in conjunction with the trofast storage system.
As you can see in the photograph above, you can use two different sizes in the Flisat table, which is great when presenting items for an invitation to play.
Duktig Play Kitchen
Followers of mine will know that I struggled with the play kitchen for a while, mainly because my kids hated playing with pretend food.
Instead, we moved ours into our real kitchen and now the kids use it as a functional space. We often use it for sensory play or real meal prep. It’s also an ideal space for a snack station.
Raskog Trolley
This trolley is ideal for storing art supplies. Due to apartment living (and a small toddler) we don’t have a permanently set up art space. Instead, I use a well supplied art trolley so that art is accessible.
The trolley is light enough for pre-schoolers to wheel into place and there’s plenty of room for a range of supplies.
Plusfig Gym mat
Sometimes the great outdoors isn’t an option and your kids will need to get the wiggles out indoors. This gym mat is a fantastic item for gymnastics activities – even better is the fact you can fold it away after each use.
Glis Box
The Glis box is a brilliant container for storing loose parts, homemade play dough or art supplies. We always take one away with us on holiday too so the kids can get crafty on quieter evenings.
Flisat book holder
Whilst the saying goes, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ it’s actually really important for kids to see book covers. Why? Because prior to being able to read words, kids really do choose their books based on the illustrations.
The books on rotation in the play space are all displayed so the children can clearly see – the Flisat book display is just big enough for 4-5 books. We tend to mix old favourites with newer purchases.
Drommare mirror
Mirrors truly add another dimension (!) to play. But in all seriousness, they are such a great resource for numerous age groups. From tummy time play to reggio inspired loose parts exploration.
The problem, of course with normal mirrors is their breakability. But these acrylic plastic mirrors from the kids section can be used in a variety of ways.
Mala chalk board
Creating on a vertical surface really helps to aid your child’s development so whilst a chalk board may seem a bit passé these days, they still definitely have their uses.
Here’s just some of the benefits:
- crossing the midline (where the dominant hand crosses the midline of the body);
- spatial awareness;
- hand-eye coordination.
Not included here is our gorgeous playroom mat – also from IKEA but unfortunately out of stock!
Learn how to create an engaging home environment with Play SPACE 101
Your home should be a sanctuary space.
After all, in the early years of your child’s life, this is where you probably spend the majority of your days!
Play Space 101 covers four essential areas to create a purposeful play space, no matter how big your house is or how many toys you have!
You’ll learn:
- The importance of space – beyond what looks good on Instagram!
- How to locate, declutter and organise your space
- How to create a space that encourages independent play
- How to present toys so that they actually get played with
