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Your child’s creativity knows no bounds, so now is the time to encourage their imagination. Isn’t it every parent’s dream for their children to fall in love with words and seek comfort from diving between the pages with their favourite characters? Whether your child is already enamoured with literature or you’re trying to encourage more time spent reading, then we think we have the perfect opportunity for you.
Creating a kid’s reading area is a surprisingly simple task, but it will create a safe and cosy space where your child feels comfortable enough to relax and lose themselves in story after story. Here you will find a simple breakdown with all the hints, tips and advice you could need to bring your child’s dream reading corner to life.
1. Find the Perfect Spot
First and foremost, you need to select the perfect spot in your child’s bedroom or playroom to set up the reading corner. As the name suggests, we do recommend choosing a corner of a room to create more of a surrounding atmosphere for your child to curl up in. By picking a dedicated spot to set up the reading corner, your child will have a sense of belonging and ownership which will contribute to fostering their sense of independence.
2. Choose the Right Seating
The next step is to find the perfect seating that your child will be able to relax in for hours. For this, there are a few different options that you can consider that depend on a variety of factors, such as the child’s age, personal preference and comfort levels. Of course, you know your child best but here are a few ideas that you might want to consider.
If your child is very young, you may want to start the reading corner with a large armchair for mum and dad to hold their child in their laps and read to them. This is a comfortable arrangement for all and is a great way for you and your child to get some quiet bonding time.
For young children reading independently, you should keep it simple and comfy with a large pillow on the floor. This is the perfect option for little bottoms that can’t stop wiggling and will encourage them to sit comfortably and still for hours.
Older children can still enjoy a reading corner as there is no age limit on fiction, but they may feel more comfortable if you choose a seating arrangement they deem a little bit more ‘grown-up’. A solution to this is to choose a children’s futon seat. These comfortable chairs are plush and padded, as well as being able to convert to a bed. A perfect addition ready for sleep-overs and lazy, rainy afternoons spent reading!
3. Comfort is Key
Of course, finding a comfortable seat is paramount to comfort, but that doesn’t mean the cosiness should stop there. Pile your children’s reading corner high with pillows, plush toys and blankets that they can curl up in while they read. If you want to build on the sense of ‘private space’, you may also want to consider a children’s canopy to hang from the ceiling or a play tent. This will differentiate your child’s reading corner from the rest of the room and create more of an independent space.
4. Don’t Forget Storage
For a reading corner to be effective, it needs to be tidy and organised so that your child can relax fully. This is why plenty of storage is important, otherwise, where are you going to keep all of their books?
Keep it simple and tidy with a small bookshelf perched against one wall of the reading corner and let your child have fun organising their books the way they want to, by colour, letter, or size. Again this will help your little one to take a little bit more ownership of their own space. If space is of a premium, then opt for a hanging bookshelf or floating shelves instead. These are excellent space-saving solutions that also allow for books to be stood cover facing, allowing younger children to easily see the covers they might want to read next.
5. Light the Way
Take care to protect little eyes from straining too much in their reading corner by lighting the space efficiently. Whether you choose a reading corner by the window to ensure you get plenty of natural light, or you fill the space with child-friendly lamps, you need to ensure that your child can read with minimal strain.
6. Fill it with Books!
Finally, the most important step of them all, you need to fill the corner with plenty of books! Your child may already have a few favourites that they love to come back to, but you should consider adding a few more varied titles to allow them to learn and expand their knowledge and creativity. It is also a good idea to keep a couple of books ready in the next reading stage that your child will be progressing into so that the opportunity to develop their skills is always on hand and ready for little minds! We hope that our 6 simple steps to creating a kid’s reading corner have given you the advice you need to get started creating the perfect cosy space for your children. Shop our full range of children’s furniture and accessories for more ways and inspiration to create a fun and safe space for your kids.