Sharing Home Spaces with Children
How to Include Young Children in Home Organisation Plans
Young children change the dynamic of a home in many ways. With a little planning, it is possible to include children without turning a home into a playground.
The arrival of children impacts a family on many levels. Parents of toddlers find that almost all areas of their lives are influenced by the behaviour, routines and needs of their children.
The addition of children into a household does necessitate some planning and modifications, but it doesn’t necessarily require a complete overhaul. Proceed with caution and a healthy dose of common sense to ensure that all family members remain comfortable in their own home as children grow.
Household Safety Concerns
- To keep young children safe, it is important to ensure that all medications, household cleaners and other chemicals are stored out of reach. Cleaners and other toxic materials should never be decanted into drink bottles or other food containers to ensure that there is no potential for confusion in an emergency.
- Child safety locks on drawers and cabinet doors prevent children from accessing items that could cause injury. Drawer safety locks are also available, with the best of these preventing drawers from sliding completely closed once opened to ensure that little fingers are not caught accidentally.
- Safety plugs keep power points safe from inquisitive fingers.
- Completing a first aid course that focuses on child safety is a worthwhile investment of time and money for any parent.
Keeping Kids Comfortable
- A collection of cushions in different sizes, textures and materials appeals to most children. These can be used for playing games on the floor or while watching television. They can also be used for games of hide-and-seek or for building indoor forts. Cushions can easily be stacked beside or behind a sofa when not in use.
- A throw-rug over the back of a sofa is a nice decoration and can be used by a child to snuggle into on cold days.
- Children will be less likely to wreak havoc in their parents’ book collection if they can easily find their own books. Many children will happily occupy themselves looking through the pages of favourite books if they can get to them easily.
- Once children are old enough, allow them to have some input into the decoration of their room. This could include helping to choose colours for decorating or the location of furniture, but could be as simple as selecting and deciding where to hang pictures. Use children’s own artwork to really personalise their space.
Children Helping With Household Chores
- Keep children’s games, books and activities at a height where they can easily access them for play and for packing away. Store items close to the area where they are used to make it easy for children to quickly tidy up when they have finished with each activity.
- A large basket for soft toys or large collection of a particular toy (such as Lego pieces) makes cleaning up much easier for children and parents. If purchasing storage containers for games and toys, try to buy containers in a similar style that will stack easily together.
- Even young children can help to keep a home tidy. Preschoolers can help to set the dinner table, fill a pet’s water bowl, pick up some of their toys, help to check the mailbox and other safe, simple tasks. School-aged children can make their own beds, help to pair socks and fold washing and put away their own clothes.
- Make up a household chore chart to make sure that everyone knows what tasks they are expected to complete. Use picture rather than words on the chart for young children.
Setting guidelines, being aware of the different ages in the household and keeping a sense of humour when chaos does occasionally break out are essential to sharing a home with children.
The copyright of the article Sharing Home Spaces with Children in Sharing Home Space is owned by Susan Whelan. Permission to republish Sharing Home Spaces with Children in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
