apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I used to have a chalkboard hung on the wall in our hallway, and there was a lot of stray chalk and dust.

A comfortable, easy-to-clean rug is essential, as are kid-sized table and chairs. Big, thick floor cushions are wonderful to make forts or as tumbling mats. Make play zones - art, pretend play/dress up, reading, building (blocks, Legos), board games, etc.

The most important thing is good organization and storage. I love Ikea's Bonde shelves to store toys. I have several different kind of bins/baskets in ours, to hold different things. Whatever you use, label where everything should go - a label with the word(s) and a picture or drawing of what is stored there, stuck right onto the shelf or bin. Don't bother with toyboxes; things just get lost at the bottom.

Yeah, we have a chalkboard wall in our kitchen, and it's fun and all, but cleaning is definitely an issue. Plus, our preschooler, Sam, hardly ever uses it due to the fact that, like a lot of young kids, he hates the feeling of chalk dust on his hands. I have a friend who hung a large boardroom-style whiteboard in her daughter's room, and her daughter LOVES it because it's much easier to draw on and keep clean, and because markers are more vivid than chalk.

What kind of rug or carpeting you use, if anything, is an issue. A nubby or deep-pile rug makes it harder to assemble wooden train tracks, which is a big deal in our train-obsessed house. Tracks need to be as flat as possible in order for the trains to roll smoothly, and Sam gets really frustrated if his trains don't perform well. We've opted to go with no floor treatment, leaving just the plain wood floor. An added benefit is that you can do big art projects, such as finger-painting, right on the floor without worrying about mess. Cleanup is just one wet-Swiffering away. If we had to get a rug, I'd get something that rolls up easily.

We've also found that Sam enjoys his room more if it's relatively clutter-free, with a big empty space in the middle for canoodling. I think that, especially for young children, it's easy to be visually overwhelmed by too much stuff out on display, and this makes it hard for them to learn to focus on doing one activity at a time. Sam's room is probably the sparest-looking room in the house. He has tonnes of toys and books and art supplies, but almost everything is organized in various bins and drawers and those FANGST hanging thingummies from IKEA.

Speaking of which, we hung three FANGSTs in his closet, since we didn't need it for clothes storage. We put all his dress-up things in them and we also hung a non-breakable full-length mirror inside the closet door. Voila... instant dress-up area.

We don't have children (yet) but I had a playroom as a kid and I think it worked very well.

- BIG rotating chalkboard with whiteboard on the back. I used the whiteboard more, but also used the whole thing as an easel. The height was adjustable.
- low shelving for toys - my dad built 2 ft deep bench-level shelving on two sides of the room in an L shape. I could sit on it or stow toys on or beneath it, and the height was perfect for playing with toys like the play firehouse (sitting on the floor - that height was perfect, like a being at a desk, so I didn't have to move that behemoth firehouse or dreamhouse to play with it somewhere else.)
- lots of open floor space
- A rocking recliner inherited from the den when it got old. Perfect for the sick-spins. :D

One last thing:

"Anyone have any tips on how to create a successful play room for both kids (playing) and parents (cleaning)?"

I think the most important thing is knowing the kid you're creating the space for. Every kid is different, so little things like those I mentioned above -- such as knowing if the child hates chalk dust or that they need a good surface upon which to play with wooden trains for hours -- are crucial.

I have a 3 yr old and this is what I have found so far -

He needs a small table and chair (s) to color etc on.
He needs a lot of open floor space for hot wheels track sets, lincoln logs and legos.
Lots and lots of pillows are good everywhere. Seating, forts, all sorts of things are made of pillows when you are 3. They should have removable, washable covers.
I slipcover all of my furniture so it doesn't matter (as much)about the messes kids make-and they make a lot.
Small containers to store toys. Nothing much larger than your child can carry him/her self. If you don't, you will be carrying toys more than the child. Also, small containers are easy for the child to help clean up.
Every once in a while you have to purge excess toys. I just put them in the basement and if he doesn't ask for them in a set period of time- off they go to charity. An outbox for the younger set.
That's what I have learned so far- good luck!

Valerie's comment reminded me - we have two of the Bonde shelving units, 2x8 (modular units, not feet). One of them holds books. I turned the other on its side. It's about 27" high, which is a perfect height for a toddler/preschooler to stand and play at (which my son often did at that age).

Doppelganger gave excellent advice, and I've also noticed kids seem to prefer the saturated hues of markers. I think chalkboard is more appealing to we adults (nostalgia, I suppose).

I think we just like chalkboard so we can paint a wall black!

I'm thinking of doing my (ugly) tile fireplace surround in chalkboard paint. When there's nothing on it, it'll look vaguely slate-y, I think. But sometimes I can see doing some doodling.