A Home that Supports Family Bonding

In my Family Friendly Interiors work, I often encounter families who want to create a playroom just for the children.  When I hear this, I strongly urge them to reconsider.  A room designated just for toys often goes unused.  Children like to be where the action is.  They like to be around their parents, even if they are playing parallel to their parents, they like to be near.  Humans are social animals and we enjoy company.

Rather than a playroom, I recommend a library, a study, or a family room.  There are many ways to create a space for each member of the family within each of these scenarios.  A shelf or cabinet for children can be added in any of these rooms and creates a welcoming atmosphere for all members of your family.  Creating space for a child to play in the same room where you are reading supports feelings of togetherness and connectedness, strengthening the family bond.
Another room where it is important to work together as well as parallel is the kitchen.  The best way to encourage your children to participate in the kitchen is with a Learning Tower.  Once we added the Learning Tower, my child was instantly invited to take part in food preparation and cleaning.  I have made so many meals along side a dish-washing toddler.  As they grow taller, we were able to lower the platform, keeping them engaged in a meaningful and purposeful way.
Have you created a family friendly space in your home?  Tell us about your FFH for a chance to win a Learning Tower!
Together with Little Partners,we are giving away a Learning Tower to help you create a Family Friendly kitchen.  Follow the Rafflecopter link for your chance to win!

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25 thoughts on “A Home that Supports Family Bonding

  1. My 16-month old daughter definitely loves to be where the action is, so we’ve designated cabinets in the kitchen with “her” kitchen supplies, as well as the bottom shelf of the pantry. A corner of the living room has a bookshelf for her toys and a small table. She also has her own drawers in the bathroom where she can put her things.

  2. It is so true that children like to be where the action is! There are so many times that my 22 month old will bring toys or books into the kitchen while I cook, so I can only imagine what exciting discoveries and opportunities a tool like the learning tower would offer! My son has a cabinet with shelves for books in the living room as well as a shelf of toys. In each room he can find a shelf or space that allows for him to be apart of daily activities (instruments, reading, grooming) or to contribute to our home (small cleaning tools, cooking utensils,).

  3. We have 4 littles and all of our rooms are family friendly, except my gym (too dangerous). They love to help fold laundry, cook, and just being helpers! It’s so important to get them involved early and make them feel important, an essential part of the family.

    1. Sounds like you have so many opportunities with 4! Wonderful that you involve them in laundry! My little’s always liked loading the washer!

  4. Our kitchen is family friendly! We love to just gather there to bake or cook and my little ones LOVE to help! They have a little table to help me with the prep work!

  5. Our living room/dining room is a big open floor plan, so we created a whole zone for our daughter that’s right in all the action too.

  6. We let the twins basically take over the family room. They have their own chairs like mom and dad and a small table and chairs too. They have cubbies and bins for their toys and we expect them to be with us and let us play.

  7. We have a very small home, and pretty much everywhere is “family friendly.” Anything I don’t want the kids to access is in high cupboards that they know they need to ask me to access. We are minimalists at heart, so it isn’t too difficult to keep everything kids-safe. 🙂

    1. Sharon, minimal is a great way to go, helping keep the order in the house helps support ordered thought in young children.

  8. We have our main family room also as a playroom. She has a cardboard playhouse and all her toys in the living room. My daughter can be involved when we’re in there and I love being able to see her play with her dad while I’m in the kitchen since its an open floor plan.

    1. Katie, open floor plans are so supportive of family activity and bonding. Thank you for sharing!

  9. My living room is family friendly! We have a 3 year old and 8 month old so we’ve got various toys, seating options and baby gates set up to keep everyone entertained and safe!

    1. Stephanie, great to hear you have created a space to welcome all members of your family. I love the great design options now available for children’s chairs, do you have a favorite chair you’ve been able to add to your space?

  10. Most of our home is family friendly we camp in our living room, draw in our dining room, and play in all the bedrooms. The kitchen is fun for my toddler to help make pancakes!

    1. Pancakes! What fun! Pizza dough is one of my favorites with little ones. They love to add all the ingredients , knead the dough…and the rise time is wonderful in supporting their developing patience.

  11. Ou living room & family room is family friendly for sure! The area in front of our fireplace houses our boy’s toys because it is where we spend the majority of our time as a family!

  12. I think our living room is family friendly. We have a “toy room” but it is really more like a “toy storage room”. We encourage my son to bring his toys out into the living to play with us here. It just keeps the toys out of the way so we aren’t tripping over, or stepping on, any Spiderman or Lego toys!

  13. Our kitchen looks out into the family room and that’s where we tend to hang out all day!

  14. We have an open floor plan so our kitchen, dining, and living room are family friendly for our toddler and three dogs. I’ve noticed lately that our toddler has been very interested in trying to see what we are doing in the kitchen when we are cooking and I have to pick him up a lot. A learning tower would be a big help and learning tool for him!

  15. The family room aka the playroom is kid friendly! But really, the whole house is open to the kids within reason for safety.

  16. Wait. What. A Learning Tower? Did I miss something? I don’t have a Learning Tower but it sounds like I need one…

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