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Curl Up With a Book – Creating a Nook For Your Child

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March 30, 2012

In a recent article we discussed the necessary ingredients for pulling together fun, creative spaces and playrooms for your child. We are going to go through each one in a new designing series, designing for kids. This first article shows how to pull together a book nook; a reading space for your child.

Reading nooks are spaces or areas that inspire your child to read – inviting creativity and thought. Reading nooks can be anywhere in your house. They do not have to be in your child’s room, instead you can find space in a corner of the dining room or family playroom if needed. Talk with your child, discussing together where the reading nook could be. Preferably it should be somewhere that is quiet most of the time.

Reading nooks require fabulous seating, but not expensive seating. I absolutely adore Land of Nod beanbags. They are my favourite; gorgeous colours and quite durable. But you can also get creative. In the past, I have used groups of pillows of different sizes, couch cushions, and when money has been tight I used floats (blow-up snow tubes with a blanket on top). The point is – you can pull together an inspiring reading nook with or without a ton of money.

Book racks that display the front of the books are a must. They are inviting and a constant creative inspiration. Book racks are fairly easy to buy or make. There are large ones that cover a significant portion of the wall space, and small ones that can go wherever you can slot them in. You can also make a book rack out of spice racks. Leave them as is or paint them a fun color. If you cannot or do not want a book rack, open large bins with books work great because the books are still facing out so your child can flip through them easily.

The space itself should be bright and inviting; this is easy to accomplish with fun wall decor and a fabulous lamp or light pendant. Other fun, but not necessary accessories you can add to the space; hanging paper lanterns, pom poms (these are very easy and inexpensive to make yourself). You could even make your own mobile by tying word cards, ribbon, fabric, disc colours or small toys.

Now we need books, lots and lots of books. Fun and colourful children’s picture books can inspire creativity in art, writing, speaking and thinking. Some of our absolutely favourites include; The Goodnight Train, Happy to Be Girls, Charlie and Lola, and classics from Eric Carle, Little Critter and The Berenstain Bears.

What do you put in your book nook?

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