The Mom I Want to Be

When decorating the nursery for your baby, keep in mind that newborns can visually perceive objects place 8-12 inches away from their face.  Since their field of vision is so limited, contrasting colors (such as red, black and white) are easiest to discern.  Create easy to make, engaging flash cards displaying favorite baby images, such as smiling faces, checkerboards, spirals, bull eye’s, zig zags, diagonals and other captivating patterns.   Ensuring that flash cards are out of babies reach and securely affixed, add a few cards to a mobile, attach them to her crib where she can easily gaze at them or hang them on the wall just above the diaper changing table.  Rotate the placement of flash cards to give her a change of scenery periodically.

 

Give your baby something stimulating and adorable to look at while in the crib – himself!  Fasten a child safe unbreakable mirror right in his crib to provide hours of delight.  Faces are the most engaging images to baby, and he’ll soon realize that when he moves his head or smiles, so, too, does the face in the mirror

 

Attach a pinwheel to the foot of babies changing table.  Spin the pinwheel to keep her occupied as you change her diaper, get her undressed, or check her temperature.  She’ll love watching the pretty colors in motion, and it will help distract her as you attend to the task at hand.

 

Hang a bulletin board on the wall above baby’s changing table and attach large magazine cut outs of baby’s faces – plus mommy, daddy, and grandma – using putty-tack adhesive instead of thumbtacks or pins to affix the cutouts.  Point to the faces as you change him and reinforce works such as “baby”, “eyes”, “nose”, “smile” and “mouth”.  When he is older you can use the board to showcase his drawings and paintings.

 

For reassuring “nightlights” in your toddlers room, consider affixing glow in the dark moon and star stickers to the ceiling above his bed.  Before tucking him in at night, sing “Twinkle, Twinkle” together, ask him to make a wish on a star, or make up a fairy tale about a brave space explorer who just happens to share your child’s name.  Talking about the night sky makes a wonderful bedtime ritual and the comforting glow of the stickers will help combat a fear of the dark.

 

Paint your child’s closet door or a section of her bedroom wall with chalkboard paint (available at hardware stores) for a permanent canvas on which to showcase his many doodling masterpieces.  To section off the chalkboard area on the wall, first find a large wooden frame at a thrift shop, paint the area to suit the frame, and then hot glue the frame to the wall.  Alternatively, scout out tag sales for inexpensive wooden toy cabinets or short wooden tables and cover them with chalkboard paint.  Stock your child’s art supplies with colored chalk and easy to trace plastic cookie cutters.

 

Create a cozy reading nook in a corner of your toddler’s bedroom.  Place throw pillows and beanbag chairs to create a comfy sitting area.  Turn a plastic milk crate on its side to function as a book holder and a table.  Consider using this area to read favorite bedtime or naptime stories to your child.

 

Mount a large cookie sheet on your toddler’s bedroom wall, positioning it at eye level so that she can spell out words with magnetic alphabet letter.  Buy self adhesive magnet sheets to display cutouts of babies, animals, flowers or other images your toddler might find appealing on her magnetic play area.  You might want to print out a few common vocabulary words on your computer, turn them into magnets, then sit down with your toddler to create a rebus story that combines images and words on her cookie sheet.

 

If you don’t have enough room for an easel in your child’s room, consider mounting a large easel sized clipboard on the wall.  This can hold large sheets of paper on which he can draw and fingerpaint and it won’t take any room when not in use.   In fact, it can become an ever-changing display area for works of art.

 

Instead of storing a bulky puppet theater in your child’s bedroom, place an  expandable, spring loaded curtain rod on his doorway for an instant puppet show stage.  Hang an old curtain or tablecloth from the rod and let him decorate to his liking.  When the show is over, simply store the “stage” in the linen closet.