In recent years, as the economy has boomed, one sector of the interior design industry has enjoyed a remarkable explosion: products for babies and kids to use when decorating children's rooms. We at NYIAD are here to help you figure out how to wade through all that's out there when you're decorating kid's rooms to create a place that's just right for your child or for the child's room of your client.
Waiting Room Design for Kids
To look at this month’s theme of abundance through the lens of designing for kids, we thought we’d take you out of the home and into the places where there are more than just a couple of kids at a time: the waiting rooms where kids try to sit still even though they’re anticipating getting a shot or a visit with the dentist.
Anyone who has sat with a squirmy six-year-old or a downright wiggly four-year-old while waiting for something notoriously not on time, such as medical care, knows only too well how the minutes slow if Junior doesn’t have something to occupy him.
To the rescue: stuff for kids to do while they wait, incorporated into the design of the waiting room.
Talk about abundance! This giant six-sided play cube is sure to keep Junior---and five of his best friends--- busy no matter how late the doctor is running. Each side features a different sensory toy, including an abacus, a gear set, a magnetic circle express, and a pathfinder. The classic bead and wire roller coaster tops it off.
Another way of letting kids feel there is an abundance of entertainment is with kids’ play rugs. These rugs cover the floor with a game--- a game for learning numbers and letters, or learning Spanish and English, or good old-fashioned game boards printed extra-large in a grid.
While the kids are in the waiting room---or in a playroom or nursery room at the gym, the grocery store, or elsewhere---they will need someplace to sit. These kid-sized seats allow Junior and friends good, comfy seating which is calibrated to their size, so they’ll feel as if they really belong.
This three piece “Read a Rounds Literary Center” comes apart so it can be used in variety of configurations depending on the needs of the moment. Two half-circles combine for an activities table, and the other benches allow for seating.
Even better, the shelving under the seats has plenty of room for books, crayons, paper, and other supplies to keep everyone occupied.
For the younger set, this “Soft Play Discovery Center” corrals the little ones so they can’t escape from your watchful eye. Here, they’ll be comfortable and not have to try to sit still on a chair. It’s appropriate for kids six months to four years, and is sure to please, especially when a grown up joins the kids with a book to read.
If floor space isn’t as abundant as you’d like, there are many kinds of wall toys that can keep Junior busy and occupied. We like the modernist “Pathfinder,” which could have been designed by Mondrian or Kandinsky.
With a little research and a little money, you can find furnishings for multiple kids that are certain to bring a waiting room down to the kids’ level, making them feel included and even entertained.
