Where do your children play???

**skinnyminny**

Hi, hope this is the right place to post but basically i live in a two bedroom house and my 4 and 2 year old share a bedroom but have always played downstairs in the living room since we moved in to this house as we used to live in a bedsit so it was all cramped in one orom and we kind of got used to having them play in front of us, but we have just redecorated the living room and my oh has put all of the boys toys in their room and seems to think they are old enough to play upstairs while i potter about the house and then come downstairs if they wish to watch some telly and play in the garden and stuff, but to be honest i feel really uncomftable letting them play alone, but obviously can't be sat in their room with them all the time. There is nothin in their room apart from theri beds a wardrobe and loads of toys and my 4yo is really good and plays nicely where a smy 2 yo is mischevious:D.

Do your children have play rooms or do they play upstairs, or in the front room with you or do you have set play times where you dedicate say an hour to sitting and playing with them.

Just curious really, i would love to have my living room back but am also a creature of habit and change scares me:rotfl:

kindofagilr

I dont have children yet, but I woudlnt feel comfortable with the 2 year old playing in their room where you cant see him.

I think I would have them playing downstairs

viktory

Both my children had their toys moved out of the living room into their bedroom/s at roughly the same age as your children. There does come a point when the living room should be 'given back' to the adults and used as a haven and refuge for the adults. Having said that, I was happy for the children to play in the lounge with one or two chosen toys that would be taken back upstairs when play was over. To be honest, I think they liked having the space as much as we did.

They watched all their videos in the living room, although they had the option of watching them in their rooms.

Finally, they also spend a lot of time in the garden and then when they were older, they played out the front (we lived in a cul de sac). Finally, they spread their wings and travelled to parks with their mates. I think this taught them independance in easy stages.

madnessandmayhem

I have 2 boys agd 2 and 6 and they share a room,and they will go up there and play quite nicely together (although very messily!!!) but they do have some toys downstairs as welland they will play downstairs. We only have a small house so I like that they go and play upstairs sometimes, so especially on wet, cold days i don't feel like i'm 'caging' them in! I did start by being upstairs with them (not always in their room-tidying bathroom, our room etc) until I felt that they could play nicely together. My hubby alays tries to get all the toys up there and says they can play up there, but i feel it's their house as well, and that they should be able to play in ther as well. Could you try to just have a small box of toys in there and the rest in their room. I don't let them have 'little bits' downstairs though like lego-they can bring it down to playt but it doesn't live there-i can't be doing with all the bits!!!! lol you could try it with them playing in their room and see how it goes-it might take a while for them to get used to it!

Jet

My son was about 4 when I moved house and made a point of putting all his toys in his room as there simply wasn't enough room downstairs anyway. However, at age 2, there would be no way he would have played upstairs on his own.

How about a compromise, in that their toys are "kept" in their bedrooms but they can bring one or two toys downstairs to play with. That way you don't end up living in a toy room but you can keep an eye on them.

Loopy_Lobes

I agree with the above poster. Let them have a couple of toys downstairs at a time, explain that they must put those away before getting more. My daughter is 2 and I wouldn't let her play where I can't see her just yet. At the age of 4 they're a bit more sensible but still need quite a close eye kept on them.

bylromarha

We have a conservatory with a box of downstairs toys in. The kids can use those downstairs in the living room and conservatory.

Remaining 80% of toys are upstairs in their bedrooms. We bring down bits they want to play with, sometimes let them play alone or together in bedrooms. This is messy as they don't tidy away before getting new toys out-i far prefer bringing toys downstairs as they are made to tidy them away before they can bring something else down!

they are 5 and 3. They've been playing in this way since 2.5/4.5

MERFE

Sounds similar to our house too. Only 2 bedrooms one 4 year old and one 3. We have been slowly moving toys out the lounge upstairs but their room just wasnt big enough. OH came home early on Tuesday and said he wanted to swap the bedrooms round so the kids had the larger room (not alot in it - technically the same size, but the one the kids were in has the airing cupboard taking up alot of room). So before I went to work we spent all afternoon moving furniture and their new room seems huge and ours is just cosy.

We have managed to get all the toys out the lounge and moved upstairs except one row of books on the bookshelf, a shelf with jigsaw puzzle and ds roller skates. They do bring the odd thing down and dont play in their room much more than before, they are mostly on their bikes at the mo or in the paddling pool and if the weather is pants they come in and watch a dvd or arts and crafts (also kept downstairs and under lock and key grr messy kids).

We have had toys in their room since christmas and ds was 2 then and would probably spend max 5 minutes up there playing with his trains before he would come and find me. He has grown up alot faster than dd I think as he has her to copy and they are so close in age.

If you are really concerned could they not play in the bedroom whilst your cleaning the bathroom, putting away clothes, cleaning upstairs etc then you can still keep an eye on them and when your finished you can do a more structured play downtairs with them.

claireac

All the replies seem to mention getting your living space back, which is great, but what about missing out on the interaction with your child? I love nothing more than watching my 3yr old dd playing, seeing her imagination grow as she gets older. I

My daughter has the majority of toys in her bedroom, but knows she can have whatever she wants downstairs during the day. We clear it up together at the end of the day.

lauhen

I am lucky sort of in that i have a play room upstairs, this is where the majority of the toys are, the rest are in both their bedrooms, my son is 2 nearly 3 and my daughter is 7. We use to have alot of toys in the living room, there were two big baskets full and two fairly large lift up trunks full. A few months ago i had enough, i was fed up with picking up a hell of a lot of toys every single day, so i moved it all upstairs into the rooms i mentioned. i figured that they could make as much mess as they want in the playroom and i could just shut the door. The bedrooms still need to be tidied quite often but no one else sees that as it is upstairs.
My son plays in the playroom after he wakes up in the morning, and just before bedtime, and also if i go and have a bath then i will put him in there to keep amused. If my daughter is home then he will play upstairs with her quite happily, but when she is at school he doesnt go up and stay on his own, but i refuse to bring all the toys back down, as i feel he is capable of being independent enough. He is allowed toys downstairs, i am not a dragon, he has a trolley bag that he overfills and brings toys down that he wants to play with at that time, as long as they go back when the day is done, i dont mind.

The reason that i did this was because on an evening when they are in bed, i just need me time, i dont want to be tripping over toys, it relaxes you when you have a tidy room.

Just let you son bring toys down, but teach him to put them away. Although my daughter is 7, i we havent mastered the art of tidying up yet with her.

onlyroz

My boy (age 4) tends to play downstairs but I try to encourage him to store his toys in his bedroom. Never happens - so there tends to be a purge every few days where I drag them back upstairs again. He's starting to play in his room a bit more - I don't really mind where he plays as long as he's safe and happy.