Yesterday I shared two of my favorite Playful Learning classes. Playful Learning Spaces was the first eCourse I took from Mariah. I signed up for this class a few years ago and fell in love. The Playful Learning style is exactly what I want in my home, the homes of my students, and in my classroom. I have shared the books and eCourses with countless parents in my classroom over the years.
Today, I’d like to share a space in my own home that has become a family favorite. Welcome to our living room.
When my kids were really little, I thought of this as a formal space. I had really beautiful lamps and over priced pillows with really pretty tassels. Guess what… no one ever went into the formal room! They knew I’d freak out if they used my pillows in their forts. There were no games or puzzles in this room, and really nothing to do except sit. In my brain, I was planning how I could add a bonus room above my garage because the kids needed a place to play. Then one day, it came to me. I had plenty of space in my house. We just didn’t use it. Long story short – I sold the fancy stuff on Craigslist, bought some fabric to make pillows and curtains, and hit Target for lamps, cheap decor, and an ottoman to throw our feet up on.
Just like that, we had our bonus room.
I moved all of the board games and magazines into this room too. Yes, we even broke down and bought a tv, so it could be a video game space when my son had friends over.
Then, Mariah came along.
One of her Playful Learning eCourse lessons was about looking around your house to find unused nooks, and make way for playful learning. At the time, my son kept all of his guitars, stands, music, and amps up in his room. I decided that if they were downstairs, where we all live and play, he’d use them more. As a result, he does in fact play more. I play more often too. Just yesterday I grabbed a guitar, flipped to Amazing Grace, and played just for fun. My daughter even ran down and picked up a guitar to join me. It was only 3 simple chords and 10 minutes of time, but it was something we did together. More importantly, it was something that we wouldn’t have done together if the guitars had been hiding upstairs.
Why, yes, there is even a microphone in this space! Call us crazy!
If you have kids, you know exactly which songs we are hearing belted out these days.
Let it go. Let it go. Can’t hold it back any mooo-ooore. Yep, that microphone plugs right into the guitar amp and there is some serious Frozen going on! My daughter has also been taking piano lessons and we had just enough space to fit a small keyboard. It’s not fancy, but it does the trick.
I’d have to say that creating this Playful Space for music has added some noise, but it’s a joyful noise.
Happy music making!
