Cool Kids Furniture

Furniture for this theme

Trains and especially steam engines are the abiding love of many a young boy (and man) and the thrill of a train journey, with its history, technology and culture, both close to home and far away. Evocative sounds and smells, its speed and particular rhythmic movement, the whistles and the dinner gong and the joy of staying up all night to watch the station master and porters rushing about on the platforms, water and food being loaded, then the fields and little villages, the mountains and the lake shores flashing by again, until the next stop. Seeing dawn's first early light making the sky blush. 'I will sleep when I get home, but I must see this.' tickets, schedules, clocks, packing cases and planning.

Stimulation and Education:

Vast continents to explore, with the whole family free to relax and absorb the experience to fullest capacity. A visit to the engine, a chat with the driver, exciting concourses of teaming stations, huge clocks, tickets, planning, maps, books and tour guides to read, geography and topography to study. Transport museums are a wonderful resource and a reason to focus on a particular project on trips to the library and video store will stand the young researcher in good stead for later studies and social interaction. It is always wonderful to meet new people get to know their customs, and sample their cuisine, even within the borders of one's own country.

Depending on the temperament and age of the child one can design a room with more or less stimulation and complexity. A child who thrives on sensory input will enjoy and benefit from a room relatively full of sounds, imagery and color.

A child who is happiest playing quietly, who focuses easily and is able to retain focus for somewhat extended periods, is more likely to enjoy and benefit from lower levels of sensory inputs, less and calmer imagery and more muted tones.

Large murals that capture the intensity and speed of train travel, the variety and texture, may be best suited to the temperament of the active child. Simpler graphics focusing on other aspects of train travel such as culture and geography, may be more apt for the quieter child.

Color Schemes:

Color too is important with regard to stimulation levels. Bright colors may increase activity levels, and therefor may easily overstimulate any child. Overwhelming a quieter child and potentially making a super active child even more hyper.

Dark colors too have an intensity that may overwhelm if used to excess. However both bright and saturated dark colors can be used to positive effect if incorporated judiciously, and in combination with balancing tones and muted foils.

Real trains are often quite dark, drab and even forboding in color, but with a little imagination, this theme provides ample opportunity for light bright imagery of stations, villages and countryside. The endless variety of scenic delights can be truly inspirational for both you and your little one.

Color Palettes:

Infants: Cream, white, pastel green, baby blue and yellow are of course the basic staples of any infant's nursery, but remember that new born babies see only contrast and little or no color, so you might want to include small areas of sharp contrasts. A black and white pillow, or a line drawing of a train beside the crib. Infants are very easily overwhelmed though so what ever it is make sure that it can be covered up or taken away if need be.

Toddlers: Sage green, grey blue, light beige, butter yellow, and small amounts of primary and tertiary colors like orange, red and green. (consider a room in light muted tones, but with a colorful railroad signal in bright primaries. This will provide useful but limited amounts of stimulation).

Children: Rust red, lime green, sun yellow, denim blues and dove grey. As the child develops cognitively and biologically their capacity to see and appreciate more subtle shades of color and tone increases. Therefor this is a good time to introduce unusual shades of familiar colors into their environment. Still remembering however to limit the very brightest hues to accents and highlights

Teens: Navy and cream, burgundy and forest green, dove grey and white. The child's ability to see color is fully developed by early childhood, but their ability to appreciate it continues to develop well into adulthood. This is the time to foster an appreciation for pleasing combinations of color, artistic interestes and talents.

Interests and Preferences:

A room that reflects the child's interests and preferences, will be more conducive to learning, as well as being a place of rest and solace.

If a child is more interested in the technological aspects of train travel you will have the opportunity to incorporate elements such as steam engine, signals, tracks and couplings.

If a child is more interested in people then they will enjoy an emphasis on travel, passenger trains, job descriptions associated with the trains, (ticket collectors, train divers, station masters etc). They are more likely to be engaged in aspects such as passing cultures, passports and landscapes.

A child still engaged in the task of learning to recognize and name objects, may enjoy the idea of a goods train, transporting different products back and forth.

Opportunities for Exploration and Learning:

Ride on or rocking trains, train beds or even train rugs may provide both child and adult with the tactile and visual cues so valuable in inspiring role play and storytelling - two of the most important tools in any child's cognitive development.

Reassuring and Comforting

Borrowing from the real world of overnight passenger trains, one might create a series of night lights, both in the child's room and in the corridors outside. Designed to illuminate and guide as well as reassure. The natural lullaby of a train's rumble clickety clack clickety clack, whether recorded or imagined, would make a wonderfully soporiphic introduction to sleep.

Feng Shui

The train theme may potentially introduce an emphasis on images of fire, and metal. If this is the case, then one would be advised to use more wooden furniture, (avoid metal lamps and bed frames for example), and introduce balancing images of (or even real) plants and water.

Budget versus Time and Talent

For those with a little time, some artistic talent and or a little creativity, the joys and rewards of painting walls and furniture are tremendous.

Try stencilling a row of trains accross one wall - either at the skirting board, at the child's eye level or along the top of the wall close to the ceiling.

For the more adventurous one might try customizing a bunk bed to look like a train. A wood panel attached to the side of the bed, from the level of the bottom bunk to the floor, painted with train wheels.

The walls beside each bunk may be painted with simple landscapes of fields, signals and sheep.

For those with less time there are a great many wonderful themed beds and murals to choose from.

Click here for Nursery Rhymes and Songs related to the Trains theme