Good Questions: Starting a Play Room in My Building...

Ann sent in an email: I'm hoping to find some good resources for putting together a communal play room in my co-op building. Anyone have any good examples or resources? Also, any ideas on how to run the play room as far as rules and responsibilities?

(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.
Email questions and pics with QUESTIONS in subject line to:
nursery(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com)

If you have ideas or advice to share with Ann, please let us know in the comments...thanks!

Photo: Angleton ISD

Comments (8)

Can you give us any more info as far as how many children are in your co-op, what their approximate ages are, and how much space and money you have to work with?

What a cool idea! Will this be a play-space for children accompanied by their parents/caregivers, or will there be staff to look after the kids? I'm assuming that you mean the former, since the latter would be much more complicated.

Whatever you decide, I would require a nominal membership fee, along with a signed contract at the first visit. People tend to value things that they've paid for more than things that are free, and the membership fees, along with perhaps a few volunteer hours, will ensure that your space stays clean and tidy, and that broken toys and used-up materials are replaced.

A project that might be combinable with your play space would be to have a toy lending library for residents of the building. So many toys have such a short life-span, take up so much space, and yet are a real time-filler for those few months of use! I'm thinking particularly of excersaucers and infant gyms, but big trucks, toy farms, and other toys for older kids can be a pain to store. The possibility of getting a "new" toy every two weeks or so would surely be exciting to any kid.

here is an example of a playspace that i designed for a 130 unit co-op. there are only about 30 children under 6 in the building. http://minordetails.typepad.com/md_weblog/2008/10/a-minor-play-space.html

Hello!Think you'll like this website! At least, for inspiration.
http://www.feelgood-designs.com

Every co-op daycare or preschool I know of requires parents to work x amount of hours per month at the facility to ensure parental involvement and staff coverage.

Re: play equipment, look into some soft structures for crawlers, cruisers, toddlers. What age ranges is this for anyway?

have found another lovely shop for equipment:

http://lirumlarumleg.dk/shop/catalog/index.php?infoBox=0&cPath=127&osCsid=107ea9f68417f39573e7764bcd145105

is danish, but you'll be able to make an idea :)

j13ward- what a GORGEOUS playspace!

Ann - check out Sam's Club if you are on a tight budget. They carry furniture and play equipment for daycares and preschools. You can use fun colors (like j13ward) to give the room a funky and vibrant feel.

Good luck - I hope it's a big success!

Thanks to everyone! There are maybe 25 kids in my co-op, mostly 5 years old or younger. I have no idea yet what the budget would be, we're really in the preliminary stages right now, but would love any further input.