As parents prepare for a new baby, the process that probably creates the most excitement is the creating and designing of the baby nursery. So much time is put into color choices, matching furniture, and cute decor. As the baby ages, the same excitement might be directed towards a playroom. The spaces that we design at home for children are undoubtedly important. The colors and decor, however, are not quite as important as the time parents put into designing a space that is developmentally appropriate for the constantly changing needs of a young child. 

Let’s look at how envisioning and designing your home should change and grow with your child to give them appropriate spaces to grow and develop naturally. 

Think About What Is Appropriate

As children grow more capable of different tasks and have different physical and developmental needs, the environment around them must change too. When considering what is appropriate for your child, just take a day or two and really observe how they interact and maneuver around the room. Are they mobile enough to crawl on the ground and find every little bead and crumb left on the floor? Are they just beginning to walk and explore their capabilities? Or are they beginning to crawl on chairs and tables looking for ways to help? In all these instances, we have to view the world from our child’s eyes. Think about what you can do to keep them excited and engaged in the world around them while also encouraging them to move on to the next step developmentally. 

While children’s needs will grow as they age no matter what, the specific needs and desires of your particular child will be different. As you are looking at the environment in your home, ask yourself these questions. 

• How have my child’s physical needs changed and how can I help support them during our daily routine? 
• What are they interested in and how can I make those things more accessible? (As long as they are appropriate materials for the age)
• What items did my child use in the past that they no longer need? (booster seat, potty seat, stools, etc.)
• In what ways can I help support my child in helping with daily household activities to work towards self-sufficiency? 

As your child shows interest in becoming involved in different routines around the house, see if there is a way you can include them. Children are natural investigators and explorers so they should give you hints about what they are ready for. You just need to be aware and observant enough to notice these changes. 

Create Space for Self Sufficiency 

While some parents dread the day they won’t have to dote on their child’s every need, most can’t wait for their little ones to start learning to do things on their own. As your child grows and develops, create spaces that allow them to do things for themselves as much as possible.

A great place to start is in their bedroom. Take a look around your child’s room. How can the space be designed for self-sufficiency? As your child becomes more interested in books and reading them on their own, having easy and safe access to books is a must. This gives them the opportunity to explore and learn through books whenever they want. It also makes it easy to teach them proper care and handling of books. It is never too early to teach children about book handling. However, it is not realistic to ask a baby or young toddler to keep books away from their mouths. It’s a perfectly natural developmental stage. However, make sure the books they can access are sturdy board books instead of paper books. Save those easily torn books for when they are able to handle them properly. 

Another area to consider in your child’s bedroom is their access to clothing. Toddlers and young children love expressing themselves through what they wear. Create a space where they have access to several options of weather-appropriate clothing that they can choose on their own. It’s very possible getting ready in the morning will become less of a challenge when you give your child more say in the process.

In the kitchen, progressively work towards self-sufficiency for snacks and mealtime. Find a space in your kitchen to place 3 or 4 snack choices for the day. Children can choose which ones they want on their own but once they are gone, they don’t get any more. As with anything, consider the age of your child before attempting this. A three-year-old might be able to handle self-sufficiency with snacks but a one-year-old still needs assistance from an adult. Other things to consider in the kitchen are ways in which your child can access the table and counter. As children grow, they may desire more responsibility. Start including them in dinner prep whenever you can. Encourage them to help set the table, put away dishes, or set up their own art activities.

 In your child’s play spaces, create organized spaces with pictures to help children know how to clean up at the end of playtime on their own. By making clean-up and organization clear to your child, they will feel more confident in their ability to clean up and it will save you tons of time picking up after them! By putting pictures of the objects inside a container or bin, even young children will know exactly what to put in each bin; especially with a little practice and help from you first!

Create Space for Self Regulation

We’ve discussed a lot about creating a space for your child to interact and explore within their home. But what happens when things get overwhelming for them? Creating a quiet, calm space for your child to relax when they feel emotionally unbalanced or overwhelmed is a great way to guide them to make safe choices. This space should be easily accessible for them and should include any materials they need to help them relax and calm down. Older children might enjoy having a device for music, while younger children might just need a stuffed animal with some books. 

When you build a space for your child to use when they feel out of control, you are advocating for their emotional needs and giving them a place to advocate for them too. With mental health becoming a major concern for young children, this is an essential space for any daycare, home, or learning center. However, don’t expect your child to know how to use this space on their own. It will take some practice and guidance from you as an adult to show them when and how to use this space.

Get Rid of the Clutter

Since we are on the topic of creating developmentally appropriate spaces, it is important to tackle the problem so many parents have; what to do with all that stuff! Many parents feel overwhelmed with how much stuff they have around their house for their children. If the adults are feeling this way, just think about what the kids are thinking. Having too much stuff is also overwhelming for a small child. Sure, we want them to have items to wear and things to play with, but we won’t need hundreds of clothing items that they will just grow out of within the next year. Also, you’d be surprised by how few toys your child actually needs to stay occupied and entertained. By weeding out unused, unnecessary, or outgrown items, you are clearing space for your child to really blossom and grow. 

When shopping for clothing, consider the items your child actually wears and needs. There is no point in buying fifty long-sleeved shirts for the winter if you know they will probably only wear about ten of them regularly anyway. Sure those shoes are on sale and they are SO adorable, but does your child really need them? Or will the three pairs they already have work well enough? 

With toys, it is really easy to bombard our children constantly with the latest and greatest toys that we find on sale while shopping online. But when children are given too many options of toys to play with, it inhibits their ability to focus during play and stifles their natural ability to be flexible and imaginative. 

But don’t go and start throwing all your child’s toys away just yet! A great start is just going through the toys you already have and sorting them out. Which ones are broken or never played with? Which ones are a little too easy or difficult for them now? Get rid of the ones that don’t serve the needs of your child right now. With the remaining toys, consider creating a rotating schedule. Pack up half of the toys and leave the remaining out in the play area. In a month or two, switch the toys out with the ones you had packed away and you’ll be amazed at how excited your child will be to play with their ‘new’ toys again!

Stay Flexible and Aware of Changing Developmental Needs

When creating a developmentally appropriate space for your young ones at home, the most important thing is to be observant and aware of the changes in your child’s interests and abilities. There is no magic formula because each child changes and develops at different rates but as long as you are aware, you can create a space suitable for your individual child. The most important thing is to make your home a safe space where your child can learn and grow throughout their early childhood and beyond.