a play space that Fosters creative play, independence & exploration

8/29/2021

About the mama behind @EssentiallyJenni

Hi, friends! My name is Jenni and I'm a first time mama and previous primary teacher in WA. I taught 1st grade for five years in a Title 1 school. Before having my own classroom, I taught preschool and school-age classrooms in daycares. I have been a stay at home mom since my son was born about 20 months and planning to get back into the classroom in the future! I was diagnosed with severe postpartum depression and anxiety and had a challenging time opening up with those around me. It was especially hard when the majority of our friends and family worked and I felt very isolated. I started seeing a therapist who challenged me to connect with others so I started my personal blog and social handles, @EssentiallyJenni as a creative outlet to share my raw motherhood journey as a new mama and connect with others. Reach out and we can connect!

The planning process

As Calvin got older, my husband and I have made it our mission to create a play space in our home that fosters creative play, independence and exploration. We've transformed our formal living space to become Calvin's playroom but it was always unorganized and cluttered. So during the planning process of refreshing his play space, we narrowed down some key components that helped us with the design. I have always been inspired by the Waldorf school philosophy that focuses on the whole-child and is very child-centered.

give him the freedom to choose his activities and interests
calming colors (toys, wall decor, furniture)
accessible storage at his height
minimal toys and activities but easy to clean up

Accessible storage & Furniture

Calvin's play space is the first room you see as you enter our home. It used to be our formal living room that we never spent time in so when we had Calvin, we dedicated this space for us to spend time in as a family. Waldorf inspired furniture is very clean, minimal and beautiful! So we decided to incorporate the following shelving and furniture units.

2-Section Coat Lockers with Cubbies
- What a better way to foster independence than to give him his own entryway! It empowers and promotes independence by allowing him to choose his own clothing. Everything has a space and he can help put his belongings away when we come home. The lower cubbies store Calvin's shoes. We keep anywhere from 2-3 pairs of shoes and he chooses which pair he wants to wear. We have small woven baskets stored in the top cubbies. One basket stores anything from lotions, sunscreen, ointments, etc. The other basket stores his diapers and wipes.
Two 24'' Birch Compartment Storage and a custom built 36'' storage
- Such beautiful storage that gives every item a place in the room. Everything has a spot for easy access and clean up. Toys get rotated biweekly. We try to steer from plastic or noisy toys which has been a huge investment. We think it's especially important to find toys that spark his imagination and open ended which gives him endless opportunities to play. These toys would also
2-Tier Metal Rolling Utility Cart
- I love the size of this cart and functionality of it. As of now, we keep a lot of our art supplies for activities. Things like dot dot markers, card stock, pompoms, paint and paint brushes. Other days I'll store materials for activities and roll it around the playroom as needed.

Bentwood Multipurpose Kids Wooden Table and Chair Set

This is literally our favorite and most functional and flexible furniture piece! We spend so much time here doing arts and crafts and playing!
We typically keep it as a desk and chair set. The "chairs" are great because there's two heights. We can keep the seat lowered or flip it and have it raised higher (4.5'' or 7'' height). You can even flip it on the side and use it as a little end table.
The table can be used in various ways as well. Use it as a typical table face down or flip it and turn it into a 2 person bench or even as a desk.

Tree Floor Cushions

These are so squishy and so much fun! We move them around the house for flexible seating or arrange them in patterns for walking, jumping and practicing his gross motor skills. Or stack them and knock them down! We practice hand-eye coordination, concentration and cause-and-effect!

Open space

The center of our place space is open for Calvin to explore, move and play. I will switch the center based off of what he wants to spend time exploring. A lot of times we spend time stacking, crashing and building with our Foam Big Building Blocks or Patchworks Set. Or, playing with our Camp Castle Medium Modern City Play Mat because he's been obsessed with cars or vehicles!

Streamline Book Display

Calvin LOVES to listen to reading and exploring books on his own. I'll often catch him around the house with a stack of his books alone while I'm cleaning or cooking. We love the Streamline Book Display because it's the perfect height for him and it allows us to display the cover out. Book displays are so important especially for young readers because it draws their attention to certain books that captures their interest. It allows them to recognize the cover to find specific books or notice new books to explore. It's the perfect height for him to pick up his own book, read/explore and put it back! Having books facing out also helps remind me to swap his books out more frequently as well.

We've spent many many months creating his play space with so much thought and design. Overall we wanted accessible storage, calming colors and the ability to foster creative play, independence and exploration!