It's a frequent predicament; decorating a toddler nursery with the right child furniture. Your child has advanced beyond teddy bears and pastel decorations, and is ready for a motif that looks more ?grown up" but still maintains that feeling of innocence. You also want child furniture that's as practical as it is pretty. After all, your child's grown more active and curious. He loves to fool around, read, and now and then subject his toys to the noisy battering and kicking.



Design ? The initial move is to settle on a theme. Look at your child's character and individual favorites. Does he adore cars or animals, cowboys or aliens? Is she spellbound with fairy tales or stories of jungle safaris? If you're not certain, then focus the options to two and allow your child to pick and choose ? the room becomes more unique if your child helped to arrange it.

Functionality ? When purchasing child furniture, check functionality and design. The stools are supposed to be well-built, and make use of non-leaded paint. Look for surfaces that are easy to wipe clean and have rounded corners. Desks should have an adequate amount of room to accommodate paper and crayons, tea sets or books. After all, this is your child's ?work space". Special bonuses are shelves or compartments where you can stash away little boxes for art materials, puzzle pieces and other bric-a-bracs.

Safety ? The benefit of purchasing specialty children's furniture is that you're just about reassured that they have coped with safety rules and are constructed for a child's dimensions (at least he won't tip over as he tries to scramble up a chair!). And naturally, the nice-looking design encourages the child to sit and play. This is his table, his chair, and for toddlers, that sense of ownership is a huge factor in building self-esteem. He is developing to be more self-sufficient, and the role of parents is to provide just enough freedom in secure surroundings ? like an area where everything is child-friendly. Here he can be left for hours, discovering how to play independently and investigate on his own, without mum perpetually worried that he'll break something (or his neck). That alone makes investing in specialty child's furniture worthwhile.

Tables and chairs will definitely encourage your child to spend countless hours engaging in pretend play, or reading, drawing, and writing. Think of this set as the stage for your child's creativity. With no table or chair, your child will be constrained to do these activities on the floor, while hunched over, or lying on his stomach. This is tiring and ultimately bad for his posture.

Book cases will encourage a child's love for reading, so books must be kept available. He should be able to grab a book whenever he wants to, and then return the book himself (unless you want to develop the habit of picking up after him each time!)

Toy storage is important if you want to avoid toys becoming misplaced or damaged if they are left haphazardly on the floor. The most effective toy storage ought to have special compartments to separate the assorted items in his ever-growing collection. Teaching your child to organize toys (stuffed animals on one shelf, blocks on another) also aids him in building up abstract thinking.