In my previous post I wrote about how my plan to repurpose the old lounger cushions resulted in playroom renovation in order to move the ‘nature area trees’. I have been working on a post about the cushions and just realized that I never made a post about the trees after I finally got them moved. So now I’ve got a quick tree post to write – well, mostly just tree pictures to post.
Now that I’ve shown you the trees, I can finish the post about the cushions.
First, a bit of history…
I have four large outdoor lounger cushions. I bought them many years ago at an end-of-season clearance sale – the discounted price meant I got all four of them for less than the cost of just one toddler cot so I couldn’t resist. I briefly used them for napping children – they are thicker, wider and longer than other nap mats. They are very comfortable but also very heavy and cumbersome to set up and put away for daily naptime and take up a lot of space so I ended up getting more cots for naps indoors.
The fabric on the lounger cushions is intended for outdoor use so that is where we used them most – for napping or relaxing in tents or on the deck etc. When not in use they were stored in bags in the big shed. During the Vacation 2019 renovation, ‘Frankenshed’ was disassembled and the new toy storage shed was too small to store the large cushions so they were brought back inside and again stored with the other cots and bedding.
The small room off the main playroom is used for napping infants and storage of cots, bedding, books, and bulky items I don’t want to haul down to the basement storage area. This area is still sometimes referred to as the ‘Nature Area’ because I left the trees in there from when this used to be a play area – written about in the Nature Area and the Quiet Space posts.
Now, this is when the snowball began to form…
I recently wanted to use the big cushions for a toddler activity, but found it was very inconvenient to get them off the shelves behind the tree branches. I decided that on the upcoming long weekend I should move the trees into the main playroom. Afterall, though it did look nice having the tree branches forming a canopy over the cribs, it would be wonderful if the trees were in the playroom where everyone could enjoy them.
So, I started looking for the best place to mount the trees in the playroom…and decided that I would first need to move the toy food counter…which then meant I would need to change the block storage area. *sigh* The list of necessary changes continued to grow and after thirty plus hours of demo, rearranging, building and organizing the playroom has been mostly ‘prepped’ for the arrival of the trees but, even with a three-day weekend, there wasn’t enough time to actually move the trees.
I am pleased with the new arrangement – so far – and the children seemed to like it too. All of the children in the current group have only ever seen the trees as decorations in the nap area – never as part of the play space. They are familiar with having other things in the play environment change but probably don’t realize these trees can be relocated. I am certain they will be excited when I manage to complete the project – and with the cushion activity too whenever I get around to that.
There are still a few more little tasks to complete before the trees get moved but hopefully that will be done this weekend. The snowball forming now it the growing list of paperwork that I should be doing 🙂
It was back in 2005 that I first created a nature area in the playroom as a way to bring nature indoors. Originally it was just 16 sq ft nature loft;
It was a very popular picnic spot so in 2009 I redesigned it and doubled the size;
This new loft was also higher off the ground and under the loft was an ‘underwater’ tunnel;
Admittedly this under/over nature areas was one of my personal favorite designs but it was a nightmare to clean. The children hauling armloads of toys up and down the loft stairs was another concern.
In 2010 I abandoned the nature ‘loft’ idea and created a nature ‘area’ in one half of the small nap room off the main play room. This new nature area had both ‘land’ and ‘water’ areas with many pillows to create comfortable places to relax;
I found that having the trees up against the walls meant the nature area lost the secluded/sheltered feel that the loft had provided. So, in the next renovation I moved the trees from the border to the centre of the nature area. Moving trees is somewhat easier to do in an artificial environment 🙂
This new arrangement allowed the trees to create a canopy over the whole area and the open corners provided quiet areas to sit. It also created another problem – running in circles around the tree.
It wasn’t the circling the tree that bothered me, it was the running. The circling always started slowly – often marching and singing – but gradually became fast and reckless. Left unchecked the situation could become totally out of control.
As is often the case with direct guidance, repeated reminders to ‘walk’ were usually ignored. I much prefer to use indirect guidance so I’ve been looking for a way to add something to the environment to slow down or eliminate the running problem.
I had this chunk of tree against the wall for texture and a ‘home’ for small toy animals. I moved it over to create a sort of speed bump;
However, I was concerned that the triangular shape – that had been perfect when placed against the wall – would be dangerous in this location;
So, I placed pillows over the log and covered it with the ‘grass’ blanket. Now it is a little hill in our indoor nature area;
The babies love climbing over the little hill and curling up in the comfy relaxation corner;
Yes, I’ve now managed to replace indoor ‘running’ with indoor ‘climbing’ but it is a climbing activity that I consider acceptable for an indoor environment.
We do spend a lot of time outdoors where all running, jumping, and climbing is encouraged. Interestingly, the children are aften a lot less active outdoors. I know why. No matter how much ‘nature’ I bring to our indoor environment there is one thing I can never recreate.
The calming effect of nature cannot be replicated in an artificial indoor nature environment. To truly relax in nature you must go outside.
Cheryl's Child Care 