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kids don't like staying in the basement playroom - what to do?
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Anonymous
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we have a small colonial - living, dinning, kitchen on main level so no extra space for kids to play in. we dedicated the entire finished basement as their play room and allow them go wild in there most of the time. however, if given choice, they always want to bring toys to the main level and play in the living room. on average they spend less than 25% of playtime in the basement.
i want to keep the main level toy-free, also not to see precious spaces under-utilized, but also understand they want to spend time with us in the same room, even when we're not engaged in their play. it could be that before this house we always had main level playroom so they're used to be on the same level, but i'm not sure. has anyone had similar experience? what did you do to entice them to spend more time in the basement play room? tks! |
Anonymous
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Not speaking from experience, but just an idea:
Make an adult sitting area in the basement and hang out down there sometimes. |
Anonymous
| how old are they? that makes a big difference in advising you. |
Anonymous
| Why don't you just put then in the attic with the flowers? |
Anonymous
| Keeping the main level completely toy-free may not be realistic, OP. Maybe you could have a rule that no more than one toy comes up from the playroom at a time, or you could have a small bin for toys and the children have to make sure the toys go back there and not leave them out, and any toys left out on the main floor "disappear." There are many ways to work this that aren't quite so either/or and don't make it so much of an enticement for the children to want to come up and play on "your" turf" and make it seem like they are being banished to the basement. I also think the basement should be a family space, not a "go wild" space. |
Anonymous
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We have a similar set up in our townhouse, and had the same "problem" - which I reframed to see as a positive thing - the kids wanted ot be where we were rather than alone in the basement! So while our basement is a complete playroom, we have a single toy basket on the main floor. DSs know to put those toys away when finished, and when company comes it's easy to move the basket out of sight.
I do rotate the toys sometimes - and the kids do it by themselves on accident - so there aren't toys that get neglected because they're in a specific place. I also find this the best time to locate missing puzzle peices, action figure legs, etc. I think it helps keep them interested in playing in all the playspaces. |
Anonymous
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OP here - tks for the great suggestions, esp. 'single toy basket/rule'. we've done something similar before with mixed results - DS likes to build train tracks and really doesn't like to take it down.
my kids are 1, 6, 8. |
Anonymous
| One possibility, perhaps a little extreme, would be the Kathy Bates/"Misery" option to keep them down there. Permanently. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, no suggestions here, but my reaction to this was "aw! that's cute they want to be with their parents!" No doubt as they get older the lure of the basement will become stronger. |
Anonymous
I think the one year old is too young to expect him/her to ever play in a completely different area of the house, the older two, not such a big deal. I would suggest having a rule that toys they want to leave out (like train tracks) have to be in the playroom. They can bring something upstairs, but it gets put away at a specific time (like before dinner) and remind them of the rule when they start to play. "You can play with that here if you want, but all the kitchen toys have to be put away before dinner. If you want to leave it out longer, it can go downstairs. |
Anonymous
| Kids want to be with their parents. Who knew? |
Anonymous
| Create more of a family room area downstairs for the entire family, e.g., TV for watching movies. We had a similar problem until we created more "warm" space for all of us to hang out. |
Anonymous
| They'll be using that basement as they become older -- especially teens. How you'll feel about that -- wouldn't know. |
Anonymous
| You can allow them to bring 1 or 2 types of toys upstairs, then they bring them downstairs when they are done. That way they have the option of playing downstairs or upstairs but it prevents a huge mess upstairs. |
Anonymous
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I like the adult hangout room idea. Take over a less used corner of the dining room or living room for some favorite toys. We keep our computer desk and a lot of rotated toys in the main living areas so we can all be together whether we are watching TV, surfing the net, sitting around after dinner, reading or playing.
You can use the basement for heavy drinking, loud late night movies and guitar practice! |