This pandemic has made one thing abundantly clear—our kids need fun spaces at home. We tend to lead busy lifestyles, but our children simply want their own space to be creative and have fun. How can we as parents create fun spaces for our kids?

One idea is switching to barn door rails for a fun barn door. While this is a beautiful addition to our homes, it is a great asset to creating fun spaces for kids. It’s so much more comfortable on small hands to easily glide the door. This also reduces the possibility of tiny fingers getting slammed into the doorway!

Another idea is creating a kid’s indoor gym. If you have the ability, use a spare room to create an indoor gym for your kids to have the space to get some energy out. There are many ways you could achieve this. Here are a few little ideas:

If your child loves gymnastics or dance, create a studio area. To make this, you could hang up a mirror, get some mats down on the floor, and get a kip bar. Then all you need is a stereo for some music. You’re done!

For gross motor skills, you could buy a hopscotch mat or you could make your own. All you need is paper, scissors, and a marker to write the numbers. You can cut circles, triangles, and squares in all different colors. This would be a fantastic way to teach shapes and colors as well.

You could invest in some safe, indoor toys. You could look into indoor trampolines, slides, and so on. You’d honestly be surprised by the indoor gym accessories you can find!

With physical out of the way, it’s also really important to include emotional spaces. Just like us adults, there have been some drastic changes in our kid’s routines. They must have a safe space so they can regroup as we do. Here are some ideas on how to create that space for your child.

The most important factor of this type of space for a child is that they are secluded and can use the area to calm down with no interruptions. This could be a corner of their room, an extra room, or somewhere else that they won’t be distracted. Put a bean bag in this spot for comfort.

Use visuals! When a child is upset, it’s calming for them to have a visualization of how they feel. Use some “I feel…” with some examples of emotions.

After that is the “I will calm down by…” part. This is when they can redirect their emotions by reading, drawing, playing with legos, or something else that will redirect their minds.

Maybe the solution is simply a home makeover. This doesn’t have to be extraordinary, but something to just make your home feel new. The New York Times suggests “tidy up the space, and organize the toys, board games, and art materials so they feel inviting and new, and the children can focus longer.” This is beneficial for your children and yourself. 

Maybe you’ve been putting off reorganizing your home for quite some time. This is the perfect opportunity. Use this chance to go through toys and donate some that they don’t use, create a calm down spot, organize a craft area, and whatever else you may be able to do. Just be aware that adults and kids both need physical activity, a calm-down spot, and to be able to do that in a safe space.

The pandemic has surely taken its toll on us. It’s been hard changing our lifestyles to work at home, socialize from a distance, and everything else we’ve had to adjust since COVID hit. Our kids miss the socializing and outdoor activities as much as we miss our old routines. It’s been difficult, but we have the ability to make it a little bit easier on them. 

If any of the above ideas stir up inspiration for you, there are thousands of great ideas on Pinterest and online in general. Hopefully, this will help all the parents struggling with rambunctious children who may just need a fun space at home!