As development and learning experts and educators are starting to emphasize more early childhood development, parents are also making a conscious effort at providing their children from the earliest ages with stimulating and development-enhancing toys, books, CD’s and shaping their environments in ways that provide the young kids with ample opportunities to explore and enjoy exciting images, colors, shapes, sights and sounds. Accordingly, ABC and number-themed nurseries and kids’ rooms are becoming increasingly popular, as well.
Designing an alphabet-themed nursery is not just for the super-ambitious parents set on nurturing the new Einsteins of the 21st century. A kid room featuring colorful letters and numbers can be real fun and exciting. Numbers and letters can be combined with an endless number of themes such images of animals, flowers, toys, foods to create eye-pleasing and inspiring decors. Unlike most other themes, letters and numbers place no constraints on the colors. You can choose a palette dominated by pink, white and gray for a vintage look, primary colors for the quintessential, playful kid room look or the traditional baby colors of soft blues and pinks.
Bedding, curtain and floor covering choices should come first. Many vendors offer crib and youth bedding sets from ABC fabrics in a variety of colors, featuring letters of all sizes, font types and styles. Parents trying to get something truly unique for their little ones can create their own bedding or bedding quilts from the many types of alphabet fabrics available online or in arts and craft stores. Sewing your own bedding from your chosen ABC or numbers fabric allows you to create matching curtains and other decorative pieces for the room., such as wall quilts or framed prints and collages created from the perfect alphabet fabric. For a finishing touch, you can select a letter-themed rug for spaces with hardwood flooring. If rugs are not your thing, you can stock the room with a few simple cushions which you can cover in a case made from ABC patterned fabric or some special colored fabric that you can adorn with sewn felt letters or ABC embroidery.
Once the room’s basic tone is defined by the carefully selected ABC fabrics and numbers textiles, completing the letters ‘look and feel’ with similarly themed accents should be easy and fun. You can really let your fantasy and creativity run free.
Purchase simple, white lampshades and decorate them with colorful, funky letters or numbers. Create a cool and exciting garland or ‘waterfall’ for the wall from funny, edgy or classically themed alphabet cards. You can also purchase neatly colored wall letters made from soft wood materials and cut into traditional or playfully modern shapes. Using the letters you can spell out your child’s name or short simple words such as ‘car’ or ‘red’.
The toy chest and the bookshelf can easily be dressed up and showcased in ways to reflect and reinforce the letter theme. The traditional, must-have alphabet toys such as alphabet blocks, magnets and even ABC books can double as toys and as integrated pieces of the room’s decor. You can purchase ABC-themed bookends to further highlight the letters in the room.
Decorating with letters and numbers is really easy and allows creative parents to use many simple and inexpensive materials and objects that are a staple in toy stores, bookstores or arts and crafts shops. At the same time, the alphabet theme can ‘grow’ with the child or the family for many years, well into grade school. As it is less restrictive and can be easily combined with other themes at little cost, it can be easily updated or complemented with new themes of interest to the room’s growing, developing owner.
