Warm feelings and good experiences make the house a home. If you are designing your home or just parts of it, consider these pointers for the areas that will be the main recreational spaces.

Design Considerations

• Recess lighting to allow for safe and undisturbed flights of various projectiles (balls, frisbees, bean bags, dolls, pillows, paper planes, etc.).
• Leave some parts of the floor uncarpeted. Washable floor covering is necessary for messy crafts, hobbies and odd jobs.
• Combine room layouts and hallways to give long stretches of level floor space for bowling, catch, "Hot Wheels" track, etc.
• Recess or provide cabinets to protect home entertainment equipment from knick-knacks.
• Orient the room and the furnishings towards interactive play and not towards viewing television.
• Provide ample storage space close to the family room for toys, games and other play equipment.
• Leave some space in a corner or under the stairs for private play space for children.
• Mount a chinning bar in the hallway or in a frequently used doorway.
• Make a blackboard under a hanging picture, on the back of the picture frame, on the back of a door, or as a portable mounting board.

Outdoor Spaces

Outdoor spaces are particularly challenging in our harsh climate. Don't expect to have a show garden if you intend to make your yard into valuable play space. You can, however, have a neat, well-groomed yard that provides for a wide variety of recreational activity. In planning your landscaping, consider these pointers.

• Quiet play areas (sandbox, picnic table, etc.) should be in areas that get shade when it's needed.
• Build the sandbox into the deck or patio and make a cover that sits level with the deck.
• Provide ample storage space for barbeques, bicycles, toys, and other outdoor play equipment.
• Protect basement windows and sensitive plants with sturdier bushes or garden furniture in the "line of fire" from balls, pucks, etc.
• Have lawn extend all the way to the edge of the house or a fence so that balls can be kicked or thrown to rebound without damaging plants in perimeter beds.
• Plant trees so that they form natural goal posts.
• Install a gate or mount a ladder on the fence to make retrieving errant projectiles easier.
• Paint markings on the driveway to facilitate hard surface games.
• Mount a basketball hoop somewhere on the house or garage.
• Install a yardlight or floodlight on the play area(s).
• Keep toddler play areas visible from the kitchen or other frequently used window.