How to Decorate Your Child’s Room for Educational Purposes
A child’s room is sort of their sanctuary away from the rest of the world. It is their place to be free from most supervision and judgment. Think of it as like their mancave. It matters to them how it is decorated and the vibes that it gives off. After all, I can still remember from back when I was a child and I had pictures of the Fonz and the Monkees hanging in my bedroom even though it was in the 1990s. But once again, it was my space to be free of the judging eyes of others.
As a Parent
You have to keep this in mind when raising your own children. They have to believe their bedroom is the safe place for them away from everything else. This should also mean that they get to provide input on how the space is decorated. It does take a bit of bravery on the parent’s end to allow this, but you have to cut those apron strings sometime. Plus, you don’t have to give them total control and can still retain some vetoing privileges in case they want to do something a bit crazy (like painting their room black).
It Can’t Be All Posters
Give your child some guidelines to follow when decorating their room. Let them begin with the paint color. As long as the paint isn’t too outlandish, let them choose the color. It might not be what you would have picked, but you can always repaint it later on in your life. Furthermore, let the kid participate in the painting process. Let them gain some experience with this skill.
Next, brainstorm some ideas on just what to hang on the walls. Allow them a poster or two of their favorite celebrity or cartoon character, but also include a few educational items. Something that is in style are large world maps where kids can study and mark down where they have been and where they would like to go.
One of the best items hanging on my classroom wall was a gigantic map of the United States that was probably five feet by four feet in size. There were always a few kids that would ask to look at the map during the day and they would be there for ten minutes memorizing even the littlest details. These were third and fourth-grade students, and it gave them a love of maps that they didn’t have before.
Create Their Own Library
Too many kids are forced to have their books thrown about or stored in the closet merely because they don’t have their own bookshelves in their room. The books aren’t doing them any good in the closet or under the bed. Building a few hanging bookshelves is inexpensive to do and can be completed in a couple hours. This will lead to them taking pride in their books and keeping their room tidy. A child that reads often has a better chance of being academically successful than those who do not.
A Lamp Next to the Bed
Once again, if you make their bedroom an environment that promotes learning, they will benefit from it. Having a cool lamp next to their bed will allow them to read at night before falling to sleep. This is a habit that hopefully they will continue for the rest of their lives.
If Your Child Is a Toddler
If your child is still quite young, hang the alphabet somewhere in the room along with a list of number one through twenty. They will eventually learn them if you go over these things with them every now and then. Letter identification is the first step towards reading as it will build up their phonics skills.
These are merely a few ideas on how to make your child’s room educational as well as their safe haven. Providing them decorations that they can learn something from is ideal. After all, they will be spending at least eight hours in there every day if not more. Might as well take advantage of all this time.
If you would like to hear more ways to improve your child’s learning, iAchieve can help. We offer a Young Learners program that is perfect for toddlers and parents to help them identify the certain topics they should be learning at this age. You just might get a few more ideas on things to include in your child’s room!
Written by Ryan Crawley
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