ARTS AND CRAFTS: Kids' Craftroom Redo on the Cheap (part 5)

All of the big projects are done now. The space is brighter and more defined. The Wigglets have 3 separate playhouses and a whole art wall. It's looking good, but I still have a LOT of boring blank space to fill; most of it is cold, hard concrete, too.

Off to the fabric store for inspiration...

ARTS AND CRAFTS: Kids' Craftroom Redo on the Cheap (part 4)

I still had my paint supplies out, but I was running low on my free paint. So I decided to paint a border around the floor. I figured it would brighten up the boring concrete a little and would also help define the space (play area versus craft area vs off-limits area). I started out just planning on making a sidewalk design around the outside. This would give them a path between their houses. Plus, I was planning on putting an area rug in the middle anyway. No point painting something that's just going to be covered up.

ARTS AND CRAFTS: Kids' Craftroom Redo on the Cheap (part 3)

My basement is fairly large. It runs the entire length of the house, but doesn't have any dividing walls. Like most basements, it's used as my catch-all storage. That being said, it's probably not a good idea to let kids have free reign down there. I couldn't put up actual walls, because as I said in my first post, I didn't want anything permanent or even semi-permanent, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money.

Also, I didn't want to box these kids in, I just wanted to define their space a little. So, how do I provide a barrier, make it fun and keep it cheap? PLAYHOUSES! Those are definitely fun. There's no point exploring the rest of the room is they have their own little world to play in. But, cheap? Hmmmm

ARTS AND CRAFTS: Kids' Craftroom Redo on the Cheap (part 2)

Last time I posted about this project, I had just painted all of the walls in (FREE) white paint, gathered from a friend's house...

Seeing the room as a blank canvas gave me the idea to keep that theme for the kids. I would do most of the room in white with some black outlines, and they could use the entire space as a coloring book, when we weren't doing other activities.

ARTS AND CRAFTS: Kids' Craftroom Redo on the Cheap

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on children. I do not have children of my own. I do not claim to know anything about kids. In fact, kids freak me out a little.

However...

Last fall, my boyfriends kids (AKA: the Wigglets), started showing an interest in art. WOOHOO!! What I lack in knowledge about kids, I make up for with knowledge about arts and crafts. Art was a HUGE part of my childhood. And I couldn't wait to introduce them to paint and glue and GLITTER!!