Small Playroom Ideas – Making The Perfect Playroom in Apartments & Tight Spaces

A child’s imagination can turn an empty room into a wonderful world of adventure. Everyone used sticks as swords or pretended cups were filled with tea or coffee when, instead, they were filled with air. To help make moments like that special, parents and guardians go above and beyond to help create new and more exciting adventures. A common way of doing that is turning an empty room into a child’s dream playroom, filled with their favorite toys and games. For every home, an entire dedicated playroom isn’t always an option. When living in an apartment, bedrooms can be plentiful, but the same can’t be said for playrooms.

For parents or guardians trying to make the most out of their space, a great playroom is still possible! A kid’s imagination can create an entire world, but with a few helpful tips, they can still get the dream playroom they’ve always wanted.

To help create the perfect playroom, here are tips about space, storage, toys, and more!

Create a Designated Space

Whether it’s in the middle of the living room or in a child’s bedroom, the first step is designating a playroom space. Not only does this help with storage, but it also helps avoid accidents by determining the safest place for play. Avoid areas with harmful accessories or appliances that could be in danger of a bump or break. Make sure it’s not an area where other members of the household will be walking back and forth, breaking the illusion.

Once the area has been set, ensure that every item used for the playroom is stored nearby. If a child has to run to a parent, or across the apartment, for all of their toys it’s going to be noisy and time-consuming. Have their toy chest right by the space its contents will fill. Store all necessary items in containers that can easily be found and opened. Then, the playroom will be ready and waiting whenever they want to use it.

Storage Containers and Shelving

This is the most important detail on this list. Storage is important for anyone living in an apartment, but especially for those raising families. There’s a good chance that the perfect playroom can’t be “permanent,” but that’s okay! It’s a good lesson to have children pick up their toys after playing with them, and having to store the entire playroom will teach the same things. It can encourage cleanliness and good manners and it can also keep tired parents from stepping on harmful Legos or other toys.

The lessons don’t stop there. When it’s time for play, the storage containers come out and play has begun, when it’s time to nap, sleep, go to school, or complete other chores that’s when play stops and everything gets stored or shelved.

Foldable and Storable Playmats

The most helpful accessories when it comes to immersion are those that will go on the wall, ceiling, and floor. Themed rugs are decades old, but they’re still an inventive and visually endearing way to create the perfect playroom. For kids who love racecars and trains, they make rugs that look like small cities that can incorporate their favorite toys. For others who might want to play in a more realistic or fantastical setting, they make them for neighborhoods and alien worlds!

This also encourages play between multiple kids – and their parents! All anyone has to do is sit on the floor to immediately be immersed in their child’s imaginative world. It also helps when it’s clean-up time. All the rug needs is to be dusted off and rolled so that it can be placed in any corner or closet. It’s easy to store and an easy way to turn a small space into a whole new world.

A Reading Room or Book Shelf

Reading can benefit any child in so many ways. It can help create passion, it can increase language skills, and it can be a bonding moment between parent and child. Some studies demonstrate the many benefits reading has for kids, which is why reading should be a part of any playroom. When a child is old enough to read, they can transport themselves anywhere in the world when they crack open a book. For example, having Disney books in a Disney-themed room will encourage them to spend less time on their tablet and more time with a book in their hands.

Having a reading room aspect to a playroom can also build special and core memories between parent and child. Spend time discussing their favorite books, or spend time reading with them, and they will undoubtedly do the same with their children.

Unique Wallpaper, Posters, and Decals

Visuals are the easiest way to transform a space. Aesthetics are simply the easiest way to create that perfect playspace, and wallpaper or decals can do that without stress or mess. Children and most adults are visual learners, they want to explore what they can see, so let them. Buy art that teaches and inspires. When a child leans toward a specific genre or franchise, buy small accessories to help them decorate their space to their liking.

Allow for some fairie or NFL player decals to go on the wall. If a few dragons need to be flying around, there are countless sticker books with amazing illustrations that children will love. This can also be an easy way to teach responsibility. Have children be a part of the design and installation process. If a child is old enough to speak in sentences they’re old enough to offer an opinion on what their room should look like.

Invite them to make choices, to help decide where those choices will go, and they will appreciate their new space that much more.

Chalkboards or Whiteboards

Whether or not they’re good at it, kids love to draw. What many parents fear is that their child loves to draw so much they end up doing it on the floors and walls. Believe it or not, that’s preventable! Chalkboards and whiteboards aren’t just for the classroom, they’re for any space in need of ideas and imagination. When a child writes and draws for the first time, they tend to start doing it a lot, so take away the risk of apartment damage by giving them a place to create.

Chalkboards, admittedly, aren’t known for being completely silent, so manage whatever option works best for everyone.

The Limits Are The Imagination

The truth is that some apartment spaces will be more limited than others. For parents stressing about creating the perfect playroom, there’s nothing to worry about. Children are adaptable and intuitive. Give them the tools and they’ll be able to create the world themselves. But it helps when the parents give a helping hand. Children need bonding moments, and what better bond is there than creating their world with their parents?

Their imagination will ultimately do most of the legwork, but they’ll never forget their parent’s helping hands.