{"id":1964,"date":"2007-01-17T20:35:25","date_gmt":"2007-01-18T03:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/?p=1964"},"modified":"2009-11-17T20:57:19","modified_gmt":"2009-11-18T03:57:19","slug":"child-friendly-living-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/?p=1964","title":{"rendered":"Child Friendly Living Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Instead of spending money on activity gyms for your living room, position two sturdy wooden chairs back to back about 4 feet away from each other.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Insert a broom through the rails of the chairs so that that broom handle rests on the seat of one chair and the brush side sits on the other.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Using chain links, attach a few toys to the broom handle.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Position a soft blanket underneath, use duct tape to secure the broom to the seats of the chair, and allow baby to reach for and play with the toys.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Make sure you have a CD player in the living room.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Children of all ages love to rock and sway to music, so keep a varied collection on hand.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>In addition to moving to classical music, dance with your baby to reggae, jazz and favorite rock and roll tunes.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>See how he reacts and moves to a wide array of beats and melodies.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Listen to upbeat jazz rhythms to lift the spirits of a fussy baby, or gently lull baby into dreamland using new age music infused with sounds of nature like caressing ocean waves or the soothing night songs of crickets.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>If you have a cable TV available, check to see if they offer music channels.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>You might find dozens of styles available without having to spend another penny!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Keep a short, toy filled laundry basket in the living room for little ones to pull out and play with at their leisure.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Most babies love sitting in the basket and will spend more time climbing in and out than actually playing with the toys themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Take this opportunity to teach baby about full and empty and in and out as she fills up and empties the basket.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"baby<\/a>Remove breakables from the bottom shelves of a bookshelf or cabinet and fill them with babies books, blocks and toys to give him his own personal storage space in the living room.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Babies always seem to receive more toys than they can possibly play with at one sitting, so why not present them with a new toy collection in their storage area every few days or so?\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>For instance, take 21 toys and divide them into three piles and sort them into 3 boxes.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Switch out the boxes every few days.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Reshuffle the toys and start again once you have used all three boxes. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Create exploration tunnels in your living room.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Remove flaps from large cardboard boxes and lay them on their side for crawlers to venture into.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Roll a ball into the tunnel for your baby to chase or place stuffed animals inside for her to find.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Consider using duct tape to attach two boxes together for a longer tunnel.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Cut out fun shapes along the sides of the boxes using cookie cutters as a template and a utility knife to let in light and provide peek-a-boo windows, then use a primer for learning about shapes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paper plates can serve as terrigic learning tools for toddlers.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Keep a stack of decorated plates in the living room.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Use markers to add alphabet letters to a set of plates, numbers to another, and splashes of color to a third.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Create an obstacle course in the living room, asking your toddler to step on the plate marked \u00e2\u20ac\u01531\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for example, then move on to \u00e2\u20ac\u01532\u00e2\u20ac\u009d until he gets to 10.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>He may enjoy counting down from 10 to 1, walking backwards to step on the plates.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Place your alphabet letters in a circle and allow your toddler to jump onto the letters as you sing the ABC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Use your colored plates to reinforce names of colors, body parts and concept of left and right \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can you touch the green plate with your right foot?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Throw down pillows and cushions on the living room floor so that toddlers can play leapfrog.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The object is to hop from one pillow to the next without getting \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wt\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (touching the floor).\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>This game refines dexterity and balance.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>If cushions seem a bit cumbersome and difficult for your toddler to manage, substitute coloring place mats or bath towels.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>For a challenge, use old washcloths or table coasters for tip toeing on the lily pads.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Excite adventurous crawlers by placing a large cushion on the floor in front of a sofa or love seat.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Sit on the couch with a favorite book or toy and encourage baby to climb up on the couch and sit next to you.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll enjoy the thrill of completing the task all on her own and will love viewing the living room from a new perspective.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Be sure to remove cushions from floor when you leave the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Drape a large comforter over two or more sturdy wooden chairs to create an instant make believe house for dolls and stuffed animals.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The chair seats can serve as upstairs bedrooms, while the floor beneath and under the chairs is the kitchen, dining and living rooms.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>To help them decorate their homes, supply show boxes for beds, wash cloths for quilts, sponges for pillows and a host of small plastic containers for make believe tables, chairs, couches and bath tubs.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Instead of spending money on activity gyms for your living room, position two sturdy wooden chairs back to back about 4 feet away from each other.\u00c2\u00a0 Insert a broom through the rails of the chairs so that that broom handle rests on the seat of one chair and the brush side sits on the other.\u00c2\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,32,58,43,8,25,38,63,9,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1964"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1967,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964\/revisions\/1967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pcgirl.net\/mom\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}