| In our basement is a place for our kids to learn and | | | | You can also bring home a child sized kidney shaped |
| create. It's not a fancy space, but it's practical, spacious | | | | table just like the ones in a preschool classroom. |
| and kid friendly. A kids' art and craft desk, a computer | | | | These tables are just the right height for children and |
| just for children, a piano keyboard, a bucket of | | | | they have loads of space for multiple projects. Chairs |
| instruments, an easel, and two kids' tables with kid | | | | that match are readily available. You'd be amazed at |
| sized chairs fill the space. The floor underneath our | | | | the options that are out there. |
| "Learn and Create Space" is linoleum that holds up well | | | | When I set up a space for our kids to learn and create |
| against spills and abuse. Messes can be made here | | | | I was deliberate. I considered everything I had learned |
| and explorations are welcome. It a good place for | | | | about kids, because I wanted to give my own kids a |
| noisy play too. Our "Learn and Create Space" | | | | really good place to grow. I traveled back to my |
| welcomes children to come, play and discover. | | | | undergraduate years, when I studied art and education, |
| We call this basement space the "Art Area," but a lot | | | | and I thought about what I had learned about |
| more than art is made here. The art easel is used to | | | | environments that fostered creativity. I visited my |
| play school, our kid's computer teaches keyboarding, | | | | graduate school days when I read text books filled |
| the art desk sets the stage for creative exploration, a | | | | with suggestions for helping kids learn to read and |
| band plays using the available instruments, and the kid's | | | | develop their basic academic skills. I reflected on the |
| table and chairs are perfect for crafting and other | | | | many classrooms that I taught within. I remembered |
| projects. Once I filled the space my kids moved right in | | | | the spaces I created for students and I remembered |
| and began to play. Today, it's a "hot spot" in our home. | | | | the students that filled the spaces. I drew on my own |
| Everyone small loves to do what they do best in our | | | | experiences as a teacher and a creative person. I |
| "Art Area." | | | | pulled all of this knowledge together to make the |
| When I was a kid I lived at the kitchen table. I liked the | | | | perfect space for my own children to learn and |
| space the kitchen table gave me. I could go back and | | | | create. There's never been a day that I've regretted |
| forth between activities there. At one end of the table | | | | the energy and resources I tapped into to make our |
| would sit some test questions that needed review. At | | | | "Art Area." My kids love their "Create and Learn |
| the other end a watercolor painting might be drying. | | | | Space" and they use it every day. It's just perfect for |
| More towards the middle of the table an afternoon | | | | them. |
| snack would, perhaps, sit half consumed. I was a kid, | | | | As I sit at my computer I can look at all the evidence. |
| so my stuff had a way of spreading like spilled milk. By | | | | It's the evidence that my kids are learning and creating. |
| the end of the day the table was often buried in all my | | | | Their art desk is covered in paper airplanes, buttons |
| projects. I'm lucky my parents tolerated my tendency | | | | glued to construction paper, pipe cleaners loaded with |
| to spread out. The freedom to fill the kitchen, with all | | | | beads, and feathers poked into a three inch diameter |
| the activities for the day, allowed me a greater | | | | Styrofoam ball. The art easel is dressed with a |
| opportunity to learn and create. | | | | newsprint pad that is opened to a drawing of stick |
| I am thankful that my parents allowed me to take over | | | | figure people playing roller hockey. There's also a table, |
| the kitchen table. Today I like to offer my own children | | | | about two feet high, that's stacked with unfinished |
| the same freedoms. This is pretty easy since there | | | | crafts that will soon get attention. A little chair sits and |
| are so many new ways to set up a space that's just | | | | waits for someone to fill it. It won't take long before |
| right for busy kids. My favorite new space maker is a | | | | someone does fill it, because my kids can't wait to use |
| kid's table and chairs. Children don't have to prop | | | | their space to learn and create. They know it's just |
| themselves at the kitchen table, or sit on their knees | | | | perfect for them, because they're the ones that use it |
| anymore. These tables are just the right size for | | | | and they're the ones that love it. |
| comfortable sitting. The kid's tables are just the right | | | | Take some time to make a "Learn and Create |
| height for a child, and chairs that are "just right" are | | | | Space" for your children. You're children will love it and |
| easy to find. Today you can find matching table and | | | | they'll use it. It's an investment you won't regret, and it |
| chair sets, or you can mix and match if you prefer. | | | | will bring a lifetime of returns. |