For Kids Sake

There are many products designed specifically for kids. Some are meant to keep them safe and others to make their environments prettier.

Measure Up
One of the fondest memories a child has is being measured on the wall as a means of marking his or her height on a periodic basis. Unfortunately, these memories are gone forever when families move or redecorate. Priss Prints, the company that makes jumbo wall stick-ups for children's rooms has a product called "Growth Chart Kit". It's a mylar strip that measures to six feet and comes with frames to display photos of children alongside their measurements. The self-stick mylar film can be applied to painted walls, doors and even wallpaper and can be removed and reapplied countless times without losing its adhesive or ruining the wall surface. The photo frames can also be lifted without harming the photos.

Stick Em Up!
If you'd like to redecorate your child's room without much effort or expense consider jumbo stick-ups. They can be applied to any wall surface and it's a much easier and cheaper way to decorate than painting or papering. The designs can be affixed in a variety of ways and repositioned over and over again. Plus, the kids can do it themselves. Kits from a company called Priss Prints include the Disney characters, Sesame Street; Barbie; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Berenstain Bears; GI Joe; My Little Pony; Batman; and Land Before Time. The 3M Company carries an extensive line of well-designed press-ons called the 3M Room Decorating Kit. My favorite of these is "Zoo Review". You'll find Priss Prints at home improvement centers as well as Sears and J.C. Penney.

My Frame
When you see this product you'll say, "Why didn't I think of that!" It's a simple snap-together frame for children's artwork and is designed for horizontal or vertical wall mounting, or for tabletop display with the enclosed easel. The My Frame set includes six sheets of white drawing paper and makes the perfect lap easel for children to take while traveling. The frames come in pastel colors as well as red, green, yellow and blue and is available in museum shops as well as home centers.

Durable Furniture
The Rubbermaid Specialty Products Inc. includes super durable children's furniture made of resinite material. There are stackable chairs sized just right for children 4 to 7 . You can stack them out of the way when you need extra space . The table has four pencil trays to make play and clean up easy and they all come in blue, white, red and slate. Rubbermaid's Space Organizer line includes clear, see-through stackable boxes of all different sizes. It makes it easy to store clothes and toys.

Storing It All
And finally, speaking of getting organized, Closet Maid has the Kids Kloset Organizer Kit so you can expand your kids closet for maximum storage. The kit comes with three 24-inch shelves, one 36-inch shelf, two 41-inch support poles and complete installation hardware. The Organizer Systems are made of heavy gauge vinyl coated steel construction and are durable and flexible. There are accessories like the Kids Kloset Stuffmobile, a 3 drawer storage system, Stuffstacker and Suddenshelf. Look for them at home centers.

Children's Art
The illustrations from a children's book can be framed and arranged to create a delightful and inexpensive decoration in a child's room. It will keep a favorite story alive. Greeting cards are also good for this project. The pages can be mounted on a background of wrapping or wallpaper. Be sure the background print is dainty enough so it doesn't detract from the illustration. Cover the cardboard backing from a frame with the paper. Center the illustration carefully and glue in position. Rubber cement is perfect for mounting paper to paper, but you can also use white craft glue. Dilute it slightly with a little water so it isn't so thick.

Trim To Size
Some pages aren't the right size to fit standard frames, but can be trimmed. Don't use scissors for this. To make a perfectly straight cut, use a metal ruler and a sharp razor blade. A plastic triangle (art supply store) will help if you plan to make an arrangement with several illustrations that require lots of trimming.

Fanciful Frames
You can often find small, wooden frames at second's shops and dime stores. It's easy to make a fanciful design by adding polka dots, squiggly lines or dashes to the painted frame. Dip a cotton swab in acrylic paint and place dots or lines here and there. Your child might like to help with this.

Original Art
Mat and frame your child's original artwork. Sometimes children's art looks amazingly like contemporary paintings and when framed is interesting enough to hang anywhere in your home.

Copyright Leslie Linsley, author
Reprinted by permission HouseNet, Inc.

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