The pandemic has brought on a new set of challenges for every parent in the world. For one, our kids are spending more time at home than they ever have before. For another, we have to help them contend with restlessness and pandemic fatigue. If we as moms are stressed, you can bet your kids have similar feelings as well.
One way to help reduce their feelings of restlessness and isolation is by providing them with the right tools, starting with a good living and studying environment. Experts say that a learning space can make or break a child’s educational experience.
A learning space’s aesthetics can greatly influence a child’s brain function and impact how they feel while they’re studying. Multiple studies have also shown how our living spaces can affect our mental health. Put these two facts together, and we cannot deny the importance of how our children’s bedrooms are set up and designed in the time of COVID-19.
Here are some tips and tricks to designing your kids’ bedrooms in a way that facilitates their learning, growing, and being happy.
Set up a homework station
You can encourage homework diligence by creating a space that’s conducive to online classes and studying. One way to make excellent use of a small space is by elevating the bed and creating a cozy reading nook or a home work station underneath the elevated bed, giving your child a whimsical and innovative bedroom, playroom, and study room rolled into one. Design companies like Ackworth House can create staircases that are both beautiful and safe.
Consider their interests and infuse them into the design elements.
What are your kids’ interests? Are they into ballet, soccer, art, geography? Wherever their interests and passions lie, make sure to subtly and tastefully incorporate them into the rooms’ design elements. If it’s an interest that you think will go away in a month or two, then don’t use them as wallpaper or anything that you won’t be able to change quickly once they get tired of it.
Incorporate fun activities into the room
Make play a priority by incorporating fun activities, like a swing in the middle of the room or a small basketball ring. Your kids need to be able to see their room as a space that’s theirs, where they can relax after a long day of online classes and homework.
Make use of natural light as much as you can
If your kid’s room has a window, then don’t cover it up with blackout curtains. Use curtains with designs that are in line with the room’s theme, and encourage your kid to open up the windows and curtains now and again to let the light in. Since your children are probably unable to leave the house as often as possible before the intermittent lockdowns, they need all the sunlight they can get.
Add educational materials in the room
Just as play is important, so is learning new things. Encourage your kids to read and be creative by providing them with a small library filled with books, art materials and supplies, and magazines that will pique their interest. Everything might be digital now, but there is still great value in the printed word, and it might be able to discourage your kids from playing too many mobile and video games.
Be innovative with the storage and organization
Use open shelves so that your kid can reach for any toy or book they want to use. A closed shelf might cause things to drop on them if the items are not organized correctly. Be creative with the way you place certain items on the shelves and follow some open shelf styling principles.
Keep it simple, kid-friendly, and child-proof
Your kids’ bedrooms need to be a place where they can run free without you worrying about them being wounded or injured. Cover the floors with a cozy rug because you know they will be rolling on the floor and laying down at any given time. Don’t add items made of breakable materials like glass or ceramic. Don’t forget to add a lampshade so that your child has a light at night, especially if they’re afraid of the dark.
Nothing But the Best
As moms, we already know that not everything is in our control, but we can control the conditions upon which our children learn and grow. Take note of their learning styles and the things that make them happy, and let those things inform how you’re going to design their bedrooms. They will thank you for it one day.
