- Decorating a Child’s Room
with a Jungle Theme
- by Joey Lewitin
(When designing a child’s
room, you want to create an atmosphere that inspires and stimulates
them mentally. The room should be interesting to the child, and
should reinforce both rational thinking, and creativity. One
way to achieve this goal is with a fun science based theme, which
will present a topic in the natural world in an exciting manner.)
The jungle is a dark and mysterious
place, full of dense shrubs, towering trees, and shadows within
which any number of strange animals could be lurking. It is a
place of predators and prey. It is a place of exciting adventure.
It is also a place that is full of the opportunity for learning
more about animals, plants, and nature in general. If you present
it in the right way, a jungle-themed child’s room can be
an engaging, inspiring project that may encourage them to develop
a long term love of learning and nature.
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When preparing to develop a jungle
themed décor, the first thing you should do is research.
Get as many books as you can on the various animals and plants
that live in the jungle. Encyclopedias and websites can provide
good background knowledge, while books and magazines will give
you more specific facts. Make copies of any pictures that inspire
you, and take notes on anything that you and your child find
interesting.
When you are ready to start applying
your research to decorating the area, you will want to begin
by building the jungle’s vegetation. Buy large pieces of
construction paper in as many shades of green and brown as you
can. Lay the paper out on the floor or a large table, and trace
the various plants you learned about in your research onto the
paper. If you know the name of the plant, or anything about it,
write this on the back of the tracing. Carefully cut out the
shapes that you created using either scissors or an exact-o knife.
Always be very careful when involving sharp tools in any project
that you undertake with your child. When the plants have been
cut out you can use double sided scotch tape to adhere them to
the walls. Thumbtacks can also be used, but be careful using
them around any child for whom they may become a choking hazard.
Start with just a few trees and plants, and add more until you
feel that your jungle is dense enough. |
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Another method you can use for
creating plants is to create stencils of the many different shapes
that you want, and then trace them onto your walls with paint
or colored pencils. This will give the room more of a finished
look, and will almost certainly be more attractive than cut-out
designs. The drawback to this method is that it is much more
permanent than construction paper and removing the stenciled
drawing when you are ready for a new look will be more difficult.
To create the look of hanging
vines, dip pieces of rope into green paint and wait for them
to dry. Then string them from ceiling to wall across the room.
Be careful that the rope is out of the reach of the child, and
doesn’t present a strangulation hazard in any way. Small
monkey figurines can be hung from the rope to give it added effect.
3D plants will solidify the illusion
you are creating. To create a vegetation model, buy plastic plant
pots and attach long cardboard tubes, upright, to the bottom
of them using tape. These tubes can be found in the center of
most rolls of wrapping paper. Use construction paper to create
the leaves and the branches of your plant, then cut them out
and attach them to the top of the tube. If you find that the
construction paper is too weak to create a solid branch, try
placing two pieces of construction paper around a piece of cardboard
to provide support.
An even better way to create
a full jungle look is to bring in real plants. This should be
done cautiously and with full consideration that a child can
harm or damage a plant if they are not aware of the responsibility
of having a living thing in their room. Before adding plants
to the area, discuss with the child all of the implications that
the plant will have. It is a life, in their room, and they are
responsible for guarding the plant against harm, from themselves
and others. If you feel the child is ready, you should move only
one or two plants in at a time. Give the child some of the responsibility
for watering their plants, and carefully monitor its health.
If the youngster proves that they can handle having a living
entity in their room, you can continue to add to their plant
collection.
Once you have your vegetation
in place, you can start to populate it with the many strange
animals that live in a jungle. Using the construction paper cut
out method you used to create the wall plants, draw and cut out
some of the animals that you researched. When placing them on
the wall, situate them slightly behind some of the leaves and
branches of the plants that are already there in order to better
incorporate them into the scene.
Expand on your flat animals using
stuffed animals and statues. Animal toys and figurines can be
arranged in action poses against the plant background. Stuffed
animals can be scattered around the room, hidden behind dressers
or with faces poking out of the shadows of the closet. Using
items such as these makes the room more interactive, and turns
the whole setting into a toy.
A simple finishing touch is to
make a recording, with your child, of the various animal noises
that you would hear in a jungle. Watching National Geographic
and episodes of various other nature specials can give you an
idea of what a jungle would sound like. You will want the recording
to be at least five minutes long in order to be effective.
As you place the different elements
in the room, write technical information that you researched
on the back and underside of the items. That way, when it is
time to change the theme, you and the child can revisit many
of the facts that you learned while building the decorations.
Compliment the child on any facts that they remembered, and go
over the information to freshen it in their heads.
Working with your child to develop
a themed room offers many chances for meaningful interaction
with them. Use this experience as a way to get to know them better.
Ask them questions; find out what they like, and how their minds
work. As you develop the look and feel of the room, you will
also be developing and deepening your relationship with the child.
Children should not try any of
these ideas out themselves without the consent and supervision
of an adult. Caution should always be used in any activity that
involves a child. Make certain that none of your decorative efforts
puts your child in danger in any way
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